6320

JUVENILE RECORDS

6320

State law provides that a principal must receive written and verbal notification of juvenile court proceedings alleging or finding that a student in attendance is delinquent.  Juvenile Court notifications are confidential and are not public records.  The principal shall protect the confidentiality of juvenile court information at all times.

6320.1

The notifications received by the juvenile court counselor are not to be a part of the student's official record.

6320.2

Immediately upon receiving the notification, the school principal shall place the notification records in a safe, locked storage that is separate from the student's other school records.

6320.3

The principal may not make a copy of the juvenile court notifications.

6320.4

The principal must keep the juvenile court notifications until receipt of notification of one of the following:

A.

the principal receives notification that the judge dismissed the petition;

B.

the principal receives notification that the judge transferred the matter to the superior court; or

C.

the judge granted the student's petition for expunction of the records.

When the principal receives notification of any of the above actions, the principal must shred, burn, or otherwise destroy the documents to protect the confidentiality of the information.

6320.5

Written notifications of juvenile court proceedings are only to be used to protect the safety of, or to improve the educational opportunities for, the student or others.

6320.6

Upon receipt of each document, the principal must share the document with those individuals who have:

A.

direct guidance, teaching, or supervisory responsibility for the student; or a specific need to know in order to protect the safety of the student or others.

B.

those individuals who view the documents must indicate in writing that they read the document and they agree to maintain its confidentiality.

6320.7

If the student graduates, withdraws from school, is suspended for the remainder of the year, is expelled, or transfers to another school, the principal must return the documents to the juvenile court counselor and, if applicable, must provide the counselor with the name and address of the school to which the student is transferring.

6320.8

Failure to maintain the confidentiality of these documents as required by this policy is grounds for dismissal of a non-career employee or a career employee.

Legal Reference: G.S. 7A-675.2, G.S. 115C-404

Adopted: May 17, 1999