Can you access your old "Pemanent file"

Don't know the answer though I like the concept based on your guilt--you naughty child! lol

Yes, they do. For some of us, it's a bit....think. Of course, I was the rarest of rare; mine was filled with mostly good bits. You can usually access it, but only after you graduate. Your parents can, of course, access it at pretty much any time, even though the school may have some limits (such as needing principal's permission, for example).

It used to be kept in a manila folder, updated a few times each year (new report cards, yearbook photos), with some people having it updated quite often (suspensions, awards, other notes on behavior). Some schools may have gone to a more electronic system, so it would be possible to hack into your record. Otherwise, it would be harder (not only would you need to sneak in, but you would need to forge the paperwork).

[Grades, of course, were kept in electronic format early on, but were printed out at the end of the grading period, so they would be easy to hack into even if the school used only the dead tree version.]

FR

I remember (now this is going back a loooong way, mind you - and no, I won't say how long ) getting a huge file right before graduation - that had everything in it. I'm thinking it was that permanent file, with only transcript-type things kept by the school. But I can't swear to it. I just remember seeing stuff that went back ages.

I knew someone who was disqualified from becoming an FBI agent because of something in his permenant record.

The school gave him a hard time about giving him his record. He finally got it after threatening a lawsuit.

He won't tell what was on his record, and by the time he got it, he had given up on the FBI and was working on Wall Street.

I do know that sometimes they'll transfer files from one school to another when a student moves. As in, they'll actually send records in an envelope to the new school. I assume those are permanent records.

I used to work in my high school's office (by work I mean I sat around and listened to teacher's talk about each other, but anyway...) and one day an FBI agent came in, asking about the records of a prospective agent. He'd graduated something like 10 years before and the secretaries said that we still have his files, they just weren't in the office. So someone would have to go somewhere else (a holding place, I assume) to get the papers, which is what happened. Apparently, they keep them for a pretty long time.

As far as I know, the records don't hold a ton of information. Transcripts, some notes, maybe scholarship information or something. No examples of work (though, actually, when I graduated 6th grade we got examples of our work from 1-6 that they school apparently kept for all the time).

I don't know if it matters that I went to a small school, or not...Maybe it's different with larger schools?

Permanent school records DO exist. Where/how school districts maintain them or for how long, though, is something I don't know.

Long ago when I was a student and moved, the new school distict sent for my records and added to them starting with the new school I attended.

I have been told that teachers could write things in the permanent record about the student but I don't know if that it really truly. I also had one of my children's teachers tell me just a few years ago that the permament record consists of little more than grades and attenance.

I honestly don't know - I used to swear I was going to go look mine up but never did, figuring I would just get mad at what teachers wrote about me!

I may vary from school district to school district. Where I work they keep the files until the student requests it, I assume most people never do. But if a former student were to request the file, the school has to give it to them...Hope that helps.

It may not just be the schools...

I worked in a bank for a short while, processing paperwork for archival. The banks keep reams of info on you, but the first item in the file is usually the ID you opened your account with.

I once worked on a file for a man who had kept the same bank account since childhood. His parents must have lost his birth certificate, because the account had been opened using his 3rd grade report card as proof of identity. There, sitting on top of the documentation of this man's entire financial history, the teacher's comment: "John is a slow child." Every time the man goes into the bank to chase something up: "John is a slow child." When he applies for a home loan: "John is a slow child."

The moral is, you will never escape 3rd grade entirely. Make the best of it.

I was a primary school secretary in England in the 90s. When children changed schools or moved on to secondary schools, their records were sent to the next school. In the records were copies of every report card (at the time, they were hand-written with a complete textual description of how you were doing in each subject), any letters home, details of suspensions, etc. What the secondary school did with the records when you left their hallowed halls, I don't know. Interesting question. Some of the little toads did quite damning things in their early years, which I often wonder were indicative of how they were going to turn out as adults. There were definitely children we had pegged as the ones most likely to be spouse abusers (charming on the outside, cruel as all get out on the inside but claiming innocence when found out), prostitutes (yes, even at aged 6 we had some sexually provocative females), etc. If those children had effective counselling and changed their ways, it would be such a shame if their past as a 9-year-old held them back in later life.