North Carolina § 115C-325 - 2. (See Editor's note for applicability) Personnel files.

§ 115C-325. 2. (See Editor's note for applicability) Personnel files.

Maintenance of Personnel File. - The superintendent shall maintain in his or her office a personnel file for each teacher that contains any complaint, commendation, or suggestion for correction or improvement about the teacher's professional conduct, except that the superintendent may elect not to place in a teacher's file (i) a letter of complaint that contains invalid, irrelevant, outdated, or false information or (ii) a letter of complaint when there is no documentation of an attempt to resolve the issue. The complaint, commendation, or suggestion shall be signed by the person who makes it and shall be placed in the teacher's file only after five days' notice to the teacher. Any denial or explanation relating to such complaint, commendation, or suggestion that the teacher desires to make shall be placed in the file. Any teacher may petition the local board of education to remove any information from the teacher's personnel file that the teacher deems invalid, irrelevant, or outdated. The board may order the superintendent to remove said information if it finds the information is invalid, irrelevant, or outdated. Inspection of Personnel Files. - The personnel file shall be open for the teacher's inspection at all reasonable times but shall be open to other persons only in accordance with such rules and regulations as the board adopts. Any preemployment data or other information obtained about a teacher before the teacher's employment by the board may be kept in a file separate from the teacher's personnel file and need not be made available to the teacher. No data placed in the preemployment file may be introduced as evidence at a hearing on the dismissal or demotion of a teacher, except the data may be used to substantiate G.S. 115C-325.4(a)(7) or G.S. 115C-325.4(a)(14) as grounds for dismissal or demotion. History (2013-360, s. 9.6(b).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 9.6(j), as amended by Session Laws 2017-157, s. 2(m), provides: "Subsection (b) of this section becomes effective July 1, 2014. G.S. 115C-325.1 through G.S. 115C-325.13 , as enacted by this section, shall apply to all teachers on one-, two-, or four-year contracts beginning July 1, 2014." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2013.'" Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.5, is a severability clause.