Frequently Asked Conventional Non-Public School Questions - Student Records/Transcripts

Are there any criminal statutes which address academic fraud?

Yes.  See G.S. 14-118.2; G.S. 14-122.1; G.S. 14-117 and G.S. 14-225.  These criminal statutes are enforced by local law enforcement officials.

Also, read carefully the article "What You Need to Know about Diploma Mills."

How long must a North Carolina non-public school retain its student academic records?

North Carolina non-public school laws do not speak to this question except to require that the nationally standardized test result records for students enrolled in grades 3, 6, 9 and 11 be retained at the school office for one calendar year. 

Therefore, each North Carolina non-public school chief administrator develops his/her own policies on the retaining of other student records.  Most North Carolina non-public school student academic records for grade K-8 levels are usually disposed of sometime after the student has successfully graduated from high school.

Academic records for grade 9-12 students who have graduated from the school are kept indefinitely.  Originals of academic records for K-8 students transferring to another local conventional school are usually hand-delivered to them by a school staff member and signed for by a school official at the conventional school accepting them.

Is there a standard type of transcript design followed by both public and non-public schools?

Yes.  The National Association of Secondary School Principals has designed and markets such a transcript form. 

You may contact them by clicking on the organization's name.

May a conventional North Carolina non-public school withhold student records, subject grades and transcripts for students whose financial account is delinquent?

Yes, provided the North Carolina non-public school does not participate in any federally-funded programs.  The vast majority of North Carolina non-public schools do not participate in them. 

Student immunization records, however, must always be released when requested by the next conventional school which the student will be attending.  The withholding of student academic records, report cards, etc. by North Carolina non-public schools until a student's financial account is paid in full is a long standing, perfectly legal and acceptable practice for non-public schools to utilize in collecting past-due accounts. 

Virtually all private colleges and also North Carolina non-public schools use this technique as a method of last resort.  No one in state government has legal authority to deal with this type issue.  Such a problem can only be resolved by the student's parent/guardian and the North Carolina non-public school involved. 

North Carolina non-public school student enrollment contracts usually contain a statement informing the parent/guardian in advance about the school's policies and procedures concerning overdue student financial accounts. 

Read the North Carolina Attorney General's legal opinion on this subject. G.S. 115C-554 and 562 exempt North Carolina non-public schools from the public school requirements about the transferring of student records which are described in G.S. 115C-288(j) and 403(b).

Must North Carolina non-public schools make its student records available to students, parents or the general public upon request?

No, provided the school does not participate in any federal government funded programs (Most North Carolina non-public schools do not participate in them). 

Each North Carolina non-public school establishes its own policies concerning release of student records.

What are the laws governing non-public school student record maintenance?

G.S. 115C-554 and 562 exempt non-public schools from all public school laws relating to student record keeping. 

North Carolina's non-public school statutes require that the non-public school make and maintain only student attendance, immunization and nationally standardized test result records. 

Non-public school laws do not address student academic or disciplinary record keeping requirements. 

However, it is suggested that you read the student record maintenance requirements for North Carolina's public schools by clicking here.

What happens to North Carolina non-public school student academic records, transcripts, etc. when the school terminates its operation?

North Carolina non-public school law does not address this topic. 

Neither DNPE nor the North Carolina Archives and Records Section of state government in Raleigh keep individual non-public school student records.  When a non-public school terminates operation, it forwards all original student academic records directly to the next conventional schools where the students will be attending. 

However, academic records for those students issued high school diplomas from the school (as well as present grade 9-12 students next going into a home school setting) are kept together as a group indefinitely.  The school's graduates are then able to later obtain high school transcripts when requested. 

The school then usually notifies DNPE where the high school transcripts and academic records for its graduates will be retained along with an address, telephone number and contact person. 

This information is then entered permanently into the school's file at DNPE.  Graduates from terminated schools seeking transcripts should click here to see if DNPE has such information in its files for that terminated school.  Individual student records are often kept permanently either: 

1. In the central student record-keeping office of the local public school system;
2. At a local church in which the school formerly operated;
3. At another local non-public school which is still in operation or;
4. By the last chief administrator or a school board member at the time the North Carolina non-public school terminated operation.

Taking the GED test at a local North Carolina Community College to obtain a GED diploma for college entrance might also be another way for a graduate of a terminated non-public school to successfully gain admission into college. 

The graduate, however, should first discuss this possibility with the admissions officer from the college to which the graduate is seeking admission.