Challenging Student Records & Unexcused Absences

According to North Carolina General Statute § 115C402, each North Carolina public school student’s official record “shall be permanently maintained in the files of the appropriate school after the student graduates, or should have graduated, from high school unless the local board determines that such files may be filed in the central office or other location designated by the local board for that purpose.”

The student’s official record must contain, at a minimum, the following information:

• adequate identification data including date of birth;
• attendance data, grading and promotion data;
• such other factual information as may be deemed appropriate by the local board of education having jurisdiction over the school wherein the record is maintained; and
• notice of any long-term suspension or expulsion imposed along with the conduct for which the student was suspended or expelled.

The superintendent or a designee of the superintendent must remove from the student’s record a notice of suspension or expulsion if all the following conditions are met:

(1) One of the following people requests for removal of the notice:

1. The student’s parent, legal guardian, or custodian
2. The student, who is at least 16 years of age or is emancipated.

(2) The student either graduates from high school or is not expelled or suspended again during the two year period starting from the date the student returned to school after the expulsion or suspension.

(3) The superintendent or her designee determines that “the maintenance of the record is no longer needed to maintain safe and orderly schools.”

(4) The superintendent or her designee determines that “the maintenance of the record is no longer needed to adequately serve the child.”

Even if no request is made by a parent, guardian, custodian or eligible student, a superintendent, or her designee, can remove any notice of suspension or expulsion from a student’s official record if all the other above criteria (conditions (2)-(4)) are met.

Additionally, each local school board’s policy on student records must include information on the procedure for removal of notices of long-term suspension and expulsions.  Local school board policies can be found by clicking on the following link: School Board Policies.

Parents have the right to inspect and review their student’s education records, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), state statute, and local school board policies. Learn more about FERPA and your rights by visiting the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy website here.

Request & Review a Student’s Education Records

Parents can send a writtenrequest to review their student’s records to the principal. We recommend emailing the request to the principal and keeping a copy of your request for your own records. Click here to find a template that can be used to make this request. A student’s records must be presented within 45 days of the request. School administrators are not required to provide a copy of the student’s records unless it is impossible for the requester to review the records. However, many schools will provide physical or digital copies free of charge.

If the school does not respond to the request for records within 45 days or denies it, parents have a right to take action. If the student is under 18 years old, parents can file a complaint with the federal Student Privacy Policy Office if they were denied access to their student’s education records. If the student is 18 years old or older, the student holds rights related to their education records and must file a complaint to report the denial of a records request.  Review instructions on how to file a FERPA complaint on the federal Student Privacy website.

Challenge Inaccurate or Misleading Records

If parents see inaccurate or misleading information in their student’s records, they can request changes. For example, they can challenge the number of unexcused absences in the student’s attendance record (see additional steps below) or request the complete removal of a suspension from the student’s file (see additional considerations below). Follow these steps to request changes:

1. Email the principal: If parents discover a document in their student’s records that is inaccurate or misleading, they can request that school administration change the record. We highly recommend emailing this request to the principal. After the request is made, the principal will decide to keep the record as is or make the requested change. The principal must decide whether to change the record within a reasonable time of receiving the request.
2. Request a hearing: If the principal decides not to change the record, parents can request a hearing under federal law (34 CFR § 99.21). The request for a hearing can be made by emailing the principal. If, after the hearing, the student’s records are not changed, a parent can add a written statement to the student’s file explaining why the record is inaccurate or misleading. The school’s administrator must keep that written statement in the student’s file for as long as the file is maintained and must share the written statement whenever sharing the student’s record(s) challenged as being inaccurate or misleading.
3.  File a Grievance. Parents and students have the right to a hearing to challenge inaccurate or misleading information. However, there is no right to a hearing to challenge grades unless parents can provide proof that a grade was calculated inaccurately. Also, there is no right to a hearing to challenge substantive decisionsby the school such as teacher comments or opinions in a progress report. Parents can file a grievance to challenge decisions that are not eligible for a hearing. School districts’ grievance policies may vary, so one should refer to the district board policy (usually Policy 4010 “Student and Parent Grievance Procedure”) for guidance. Most districts require a grievance to be filed within 30 days of receiving an administrator’s decision. Learn more about filing a grievance on our website, where we have compiled resources including a template that can be used to write a grievance.

If the student is under 18 years old, parents have the right to file a complaint with the federal SPPO if (1) the school denied them the opportunity to amend their student’s records (for example, if administrators fail to respond to a request for records or deny parents a hearing); or (2) if the student’s personally identifiable information from the education records was improperly shared without prior written consent. If the student is 18 years old or older, the student holds rights related to their education records and must file a complaint to report any of the violations listed above. Refer to the federal Student Privacy website for instructions on how to file a FERPA complaint.

Challenge Unexcused Absences:

Parents concerned that the school has inaccurately recorded unexcused absences should review their student’s attendance record. North Carolina’s compulsory school attendance law (NCGS § 115C-378) allows school administrators to excuse students from school for “sickness or other unavoidable cause.” In addition to sickness, a student’s absence may be excused due to:

• state-ordered isolation due to health risks;
• the death of an immediate family member;
• medical or dental appointments;
• student is party to or subpoenaed to testify in a court or administrative proceeding;
• religious observance in compliance with local school board policy;
• prior approval to take advantage of valid educational opportunity, which may include travel; and
• other reasons established by the local school board.

If parents disagree with the unexcused absences in a student’s file, they can follow the steps above to challenge any inaccuracies. First, they can email the principal to request changes and explain why the record is inaccurate. That email can include the dates of those absences, the reason for each absence, and mention of any notes or other information shared with school staff to excuse the student on those days. If the principal does not agree to make changes, parents have the right to a hearing and should request a hearing in writing by emailing the principal.

Parents should refer to school district’s board policies to understand how they must notify the school of an absence to have it excused (usually Policy 4400 “Attendance”). Often, schools require a written excuse stating the date and reason for the absence and signed by a parent or guardian to be delivered to the student’s teacher within three days of the student’s return to school. However, districts may require a doctor’s note after a student has missed a certain number of days. Also, districts may require doctor’s notes for medical or dental appointments.

Unexcused absences may affect a student’s grade promotion. Additionally, ten or more unexcused absences in a school year could result in a truancy referral. Please refer to our resources about Truancy & School Avoidance for more information about what steps schools must take before making a truancy referral.

Challenge & Remove Long-Term Suspensions and Expulsions:

As outlined in North Carolina General Statute § 115C-402 above, parents who wish to have a long-term suspension or expulsion removed from a student’s record can

• Make a request in writing to the district superintendent to remove the suspension(s).
• The following persons can make the request for the removal:
  • the student’s parent, legal guardian, or custodian
  • the student, if the student is at least 16 years old or is emancipated

The law does not specify a timeframe for a superintendent to remove records after receiving a request. However, it could take up to one year. Parents may want to request their student’s records a year after a request for removal has been made to confirm that the superintendent has removed the suspension from the record.

If the suspension or expulsion should have been removed but was not, parents or an eligible student can file a complaint with the federal Student Privacy Policy Office as outlined above.  Refer to the federal Student Privacy website for detailed instructions on how to file a FERPA complaint.

Parents may refer to the steps above or their school district’s board policies for further guidance regarding the removal of long-term suspension records (usually Policy 4345 “Student Discipline Records”).

State law only refers explicitly to long-term suspensions. Most – if not all – school districts in North Carolina do not have a procedure for removing short term suspensions from student records. However, some school districts specify in their board policies how long short-term suspensions may remain on record (five years, for example). Additionally, some districts may specify the factors a superintendent can weigh when deciding whether to maintain short-term suspension records longer than that (school safety, for example). Parents may refer to school board policies to determine whether your district offers any guidance on short-term suspensions (usually Policy 4345 “Student Discipline Records”).