Focus On:  Arlington, Texas Independent School District

The Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas, is one of the longest-term users of Intersect Systems’ RSM Retention Schedule Manager software and RCAMS Records Control and Management System software. With 60 campuses and an enrollment of over 55,000 students, AISD is the seventh largest school district in Texas. In 1997 AISD completed a new four thousand square foot climate-controlled records management center with a capacity of six thousand standard size containers, plus accommodations for diskette and cassette tapes. A current expansion will add space for an additional 12,000 containers at another location. The AISD records center is designed for efficient and ergonomic operation. The design of the center includes a mobile lift and a container conveyor system, eliminating the need for employees to lift containers. Today, the AISD Records Management Center tracks and maintains over four hundred different types of records including over 200,000 student records, 8,000 professional service records, 7,500 inactive auxiliary personnel records, and over 8,000 special education records. The facility archives records for over one hundred central administrative departments and schools in the District, as well as twenty-six other district locations. The computer systems installed in the Records Center include three networked Windows-based computer systems connected to a Local Area Network server located off-site, a laptop computer, and various printers and backup devices. The Records Management Center staff consists of Mr. Joe Harry, Records Management Officer; Ms. Shirley Lee, Records Specialist; and a part-time assistant. Joe Harry describes the operation of the center: “Incoming containers are required to have a packing label that matches the RCAMS software data entry screen. When we receive incoming records containers, we group them by record type on the conveyor system. A computer entry station at the conveyor is used to enter the data from the packing label into the RCAMS software system.” “A feature of the RCAMS records management software allows us to create a data entry template to eliminate entry of repetitive information; therefore grouping the incoming containers by type helps expedite the data entry process. "A location is assigned for the container at this time, and the container is then moved to the mobile lift to be transported to the space assigned. As the container moves to the mobile lift, the next incoming container moves into position at the data entry station.”   A continuing service of the AISD Records Management Center is locating and checking out records. Joe Harry describes the process: “The RCAMS software system has a query function that allows us to quickly locate a desired container and record. Further, for frequent look-ups, we can name and save a query, and recall and modify it as appropriate for convenience.” Harry adds, “The RCAMS software creates a check-out form which we use for signing out a record. It also tracks the date the record is due back and will generate an automatic overdue notification letter.”

“We can also run queries on destroy dates. In addition, the system allows us to set restrictions for legal, historical, or audit holds on records containers. This insures that even though a container has met its specified retention period, we will be aware of these restrictions when preparing lists of containers to be destroyed, and can exclude those on hold for pending litigation, etc., from destruction.” Harry makes the point that a well organized records management program can result in substantial savings for an organization. For example, if the 4,325 containers currently archived in the AISD Records Management Center were located in the typical modern office building, they would require 540 four-drawer filing cabinets at a cost of $72,900 and require 3,020 feet of floor space. Further, such storage arrangements scattered throughout a building can also make it difficult to locate records as needed. Timely destruction of records leads to additional savings. Harry points out that the 1,110 containers disposed of during the 1997-98 school year would have required an additional 139 four-drawer filing cabinets at a cost of $18,225. Another substantial area of savings results from the convenient location and retrieval of records using the RCAMS software system. The AISD Records Management Center retrieved approximately 2,500 records during the 1997-98 school year. Based on the national average cost for records retrieval, this service would have cost $38,425 by conventional methods. Harry also points out that the ability to conveniently and quickly locate and retrieve records has other significant benefits as well. By locating documentation concerning various bids and questionable or disputed contracts, the Records Management Center helped the Arlington ISD recover an estimated $200,000 in monies due the district. In summarizing the operation of the Records Management Center, Harry says, “The software from Intersect Systems has played an important role in our success. We use the RCAMS Records Control and Management System to manage the AISD Records Management Center on an ongoing basis. In addition, we used the Intersect Retention Schedule Manager software to create our Control Schedule, using the retention schedule data from the Texas State Library, which is published in digital form by Intersect Systems. We continue to use the Intersect Retention Schedule Manager software to maintain and update our Control Schedule. This software also allows us to publish subsets or sections of our Control Schedule by department, with just the Retention Items of concern to each particular department, for the convenience of the various department managers.” Joe Harry and Shirley Lee are happy to have records managers as well as anyone concerned with records management visit the Records Management Center, and to share their experiences in planning, designing, and operating the AISD Records Management Center. They do ask that visitors call in advance to arrange a mutually suitable time for a visit. The AISD Records Management Center can be reached at (817) 459-7685. The AISD Records Management Center is located at 1204A Arkansas Lane in Arlington, in the Arlington ISD Service Center complex.