Student Records

Access to Student Records

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulates what may be contained in student records and who may have access to them. Parents of students under 18, or students over 18, have the right to inspect such records and to object to material in them. They also have the right to deny access to those records to anyone except school district employees with a legitimate educational purpose for reviewing them. Both federal and state regulations provide for the transfer of education records from one district to another for enrollment purposes without parental permission.

Discipline records are not maintained as a part of a student's permanent academic record.

Copies of Records/Transcripts

Students Currently Enrolled

A parent/guardian of a currently enrolled elementary/middle school student may receive one copy of his/her child's school record at no cost during each school year. A fee of $5.00 may be charged for each subsequent copy provided during the school year.

High schools will charge $5.00 for each copy of a high school transcript.

No charge will be assessed to send a copy of a K-12 student's records to another K-12 school.

Students No Longer Enrolled

If it has been 5 years or less since the student was enrolled in a Pickens County school, contact the last school attended for school records. Requests must be made in writing. A fee of $5.00 will be charged for each transcript requested.

If it has been more than 5 years since attending a school in Pickens County, requests for school records must be submitted in writing to the SDPC Accountability, Information & Technology Services Records Department. The fee is $5.00 per record.

Please provide the following information: (1) your current name, (2) your name as it was in school, (3) last school attended, (4) last year attended, (5) date of birth, (6) current phone number, and (7) address to which the record is to be mailed.

You must also sign your current name to the request.

Make check or money order payable to School District of Pickens County and mail to School District of Pickens County, Attn: Records, 415 Ann Street, Pickens, SC 29671.

Information is not given over the phone.

Records cannot be faxed because of the print quality of the microfilmed record.

e-Transcripts

By using e-Transcripts, current SDPC high school students can request transcripts without going through the guidance department. With the South Carolina e-Transcript project, students in the district's four high schools have a safe, electronic way to order official transcripts for colleges, universities and scholarship funds nationwide.

There's no cost to send e-Transcripts to participating South Carolina colleges and universities. Students will pay $3.00 to out-of-state colleges and universities receiving the electronic transcripts or to nonparticipating in-state institutions. A $5.00 fee is required to send hard copies. All payments are made online at the time of request.

Additional information and complete instructions are located here.

Transfer of Records

Students who are transferring to another school must be checked out of the current school by the school counselor. The counselor will complete proper records and make arrangements for the transfer. Please notify the counselor one week in advance of the transfer to allow for sufficient time to prepare transfer documents.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Records

Requests for Individualized Education Program (IEP) records for a student currently enrolled in a school should be made through the school the student attends. IEPs for students previously enrolled in the district should be made through the SDPC Instructional Services division, Curtis A. Sidden Administration Building, 1348 Griffin Mill Road, Easley, SC 29640. All requests must be submitted in writing.

Changes in Information

It is essential for the school to have a student's current address and phone number at all times. Also, the school must always have an alternate emergency number so that parents/guardians can be reached.

Our emergency contact system allows us to communicate with all parents by telephone and email to provide timely information about emergencies, school closings, absences and school events. Because the system uses contact information from our student database, parents should always make sure that the school has correct contact information.

Please notify the school immediately with any change in address, phone number, email address or emergency phone number, or update your information online through the Express Update Gateway.

Student Records – Policy JRA

Purpose: To establish the basic structure for maintenance of and access to student records.

The principal of each school is the legal custodian of all student records for that school.

Students and parents/legal guardians will have access to their school records. The schools will notify parents/legal guardians and adult students of the following.

  • type of records kept

  • procedure for inspecting and copying these records

  • right for interpretation

  • right to challenge data thought to be erroneous, the procedures for expunging such data or inserting a rebuttal statement

  • right to lodge a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education if mandates are not adequately implemented

Cumulative record folders for all students will be kept in each school office. The educational records or school records include all materials directly related to a student that a school maintains. Records and notes maintained by a teacher, administrator, school physician or school psychologist for his/her own use, and which are not available to others, are exempted from this definition.

The school will require prior written consent before information may be divulged to third parties. Exceptions to this rule exist for school district employees who have legitimate interests in viewing the records, officials in other schools in which the student seeks to enroll, and military recruiters who seek student contact information. At the time of transfer, parents/legal guardians may review the material.

State and national educational organizations that require student data for confidential research and statistical purposes are also exempted from the parental consent prerequisite. An exemption also exists for material under court order, although parents/legal guardians must be notified of the order.

The district, with certain exceptions, may disclose directory information, which may include names, addresses, telephone listings and dates of birth, without first obtaining written parental permission. However, the district must define directory information to the public before disclosures.

The superintendent will establish administrative regulations for compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and other applicable acts and regulations.

The principal will maintain juvenile criminal records and information provided by the department of youth services in accordance with this policy and applicable district procedures.

The principal will destroy such juvenile criminal records upon the juvenile's completion of secondary school, or when the juvenile reaches 21 years of age, whichever occurs earlier.