Project Overview

The Records Retention Project Overview is available on the ASBOA web site.

Summary of Development Process

The Work Group held face-to-face meetings which were very useful for brainstorming and gaining varied perspectives. The group collaborated through the use of google drive and conference call updates.

· Presentation from Gina Coish from Privacy and Information Management Task Force (PIM) that developed similar tools for school jurisdictions in Ontario

· Presentation from Kathleen Brow and Mathew Paliga, Analysts, Strategic Services and Governance Division, Alberta Education - Records Management

· Presentations from Fatima Parvez, Acting Supervisor, Corporate Records, from Calgary Board of Education. CBE has used the PIM model to develop their retention schedule.

These presentations led to the decision to use functions for the schedule. This has become an industry standard and is employed by Alberta Education, PIM and CBE. The Group spent considerable time reviewing the functions used by PIM and CBE to ensure they were reflective of all Alberta school jurisdictions.

The record series and scope notes were first created based on PIM and CBE models. The Group spent considerable time reviewing each record series to ensure they were reflective of all Alberta school jurisdictions.

Finally the Group reviewed the retention periods. The first step was to check all record series that had legal requirements for retention. The Group was fortunate to have access to CBE’s citation list to base this on. CBE’s list was developed through a file law review completed an information management consulting company. The legal citation for each record series was reviewed to ensure they made sense and that the retention period appropriately reflected the legislative requirements. The second step was to review those record series that did not have a specific legislative requirement. Based on group discussions an appropriate operational value was determined.

Decisions about the various record series and their retentions were based on the wisdom of the group, and thereby representative of a broad cross-section of boards. Consequently the final documents are generic in nature and must be customized to fit the needs of each individual jurisdiction.

Summary of Roll Out Process

Donna Molloy, Information Management and Training Professional, was contracted to provide a 3-hour workshop at each ASBOA Zone. The workshop was designed to include decision makers (Secretary-Treasurers) and implementers (record management staff), and to provide an overview of the tool along with guidance for developing a plan to implement it. Workshops were held on March 24, 2017 in Zone 4 and on April 7, 2017 for Zone 3. Workshops for Zones 1 & 2 are scheduled for June.

Tom Anderson, Provincial Archives of Alberta, reviewed the draft schedule to determine which record series would be of interest to archives and would therefore require a permanent retention value.

Fatima Parvez reviewed the schedule to determine which record series may include Personal Information Banks (PIB). FOIP has requirements around identifying PIBs. Record series flagged as PIBs often require additional levels of security, particularly with electronic records management.

Stuart Rennie, JD, MLIS, BA (Hons.), Lawyer, Records Management Consultant, was contracted and reviewed the federal legal citations and provided guidance on some areas of the schedule.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The ASBOA Records Retention Work group would like to acknowledge the following - without these resources this vital resource would not exist:

· PIM Taskforce

· Calgary Board of Education

· Alberta Education Records Management

· Stuart Rennie, Lawyer, Records Management Consultant

· Tom Anderson, Provincial Archives

· Donna Molloy, MPA, MLS, Information Management and Training Professional

And the school boards of the Work Group members for allowing our members the time required to complete this endeavor:

• Aspen View (Athabasca)
• Calgary Board of Education
• Edmonton Catholic
• Edmonton Public
• Foundations for the Future (Calgary)
• Northern Gateway (Whitecourt)
• Peace River
• Peace Wapiti (Grande Prairie)
• Pembina Hills (Barrhead)
• Rocky View (Airdrie)
• Wetaskiwin