THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410210356
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Because of a lack of storage space, Chesapeake public schools are making plans to destroy hundreds of old student records that date from the 1950s.
The records are of special student testing and are separate from students' regular high school transcript files, which are preserved on microfiche after graduation. Regular high school transcripts and records will not be destroyed.
The files marked for destruction are the results of special testing kept by school nurses, social workers and psychologists for such things as learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
``Most of these records are of students that didn't graduate,'' said Dianne Cannaday, a secretary with the Central Files office where the records are kept. But some cases include testing data of special education or gifted and talented students dating back to 1951.
To demonstrate the lack of storage space, Cannaday pointed out one small room with about 100 file cabinets and 50 boxes brimming with student records.
``These are not your standard high school records,'' she said. ``After a certain period of time, this information isn't useful anymore. For example, the psychological testing has to be done every three years to be valid.''
The 98 cubic feet of records will be destroyed this November and any students that wish to obtain copies of their files must contact the school system by Nov. 1.
The school system got permission from the state about two years ago to destroy the special testing records. Last fall, it disposed of about 1,800 of them. That was the first time Chesapeake schools destroyed any student records, Cannaday said.
Last year, when school officials sent out letters alerting the former students at their last known addresses, 90 percent of the letters were returned unopened.
So this time, Cannaday said, they will skip that step and simply advertise on cable television and through the newspaper. And from now on, Chesapeake schools will hold records of special testing for only a decade before they are destroyed.
The school system accumulates about 300 to 400 of these records annually, and every fall, as enrollment increases, so does the paper trail.
More testing also is being conducted now than ever before.
``Now we're seeing a lot of what they call `crack babies,' '' Cannaday said. ``So as your social problems increase, your school system problems increase and that leads to more testing.'' And more records. MEMO: The files will be destroyed on Nov. 4. If you wish to obtain copies of
any of the Category II information, please request in writing by Nov. 1
the specific information you wish to have, Address your request to:
Central Files, Chesapeake Public Schools, Edwards-Wilson Center, 2107
East Liberty St., Chesapeake, Va. 23324. More information is available
by calling 494-7614.
by CNB