Every UFT member has an official school file. There is only one official school file. Any additional folders, notes or critiques cannot be used as official records against the employee. This file may contain an employee's observation reports, annual evaluation sheets, licensing information, salary documents, and in certain cases, disciplinary material.
No material derogatory to a teacher's conduct, service, character or personality shall be placed in the files unless the teacher has had an opportunity to read the material. The teacher shall acknowledge that he/she has read the material by affixing his/her signature to the letter. Signing this material does not signify guilt or agreement with the letter. The employee's signature is simply to acknowledge that he/she has received and read the document.
You have the right to respond to any disciplinary letter in your file. Your response will be attached to the filed copy. (Be sure to consult your chapter or district representative before attaching your response.) Upon appropriate request, an employee shall be permitted to examine and copy all of the documentation in his/her file. Letters to the file will be permanently removed from the employee's file three (3) years after the latest incident referred to in the letter, provided disciplinary charges do not follow. An incident that has not been reduced to writing within three months of its occurrence, exclusive of the summer vacation period, cannot later be added to the file.
To learn more about your official school file, read Article 21A of the contract.