Michigan CA-60 student records are the cumulative folders every public and charter school in the state keeps for each enrolled child, following the student from first enrollment through graduation, transfer, or withdrawal. The name comes from the retention rule: schools must hold the folder for 60 years after graduation. Federal law (FERPA) and Michigan’s Revised School Code together set what goes in the folder, who can look at it, how quickly a parent must be given access, and how to fix mistakes.
What Is Inside a CA-60 Folder
A CA-60 is the physical or digital file that travels with a student through the Michigan school system. It generally contains:
- Transcripts of courses taken and grades earned
- Attendance records, including absences, tardiness, and enrollment dates
- Standardized test scores and state-mandated assessment results
- Proof of identity, such as a copy of the birth certificate
- Any approved personal curriculum or individualized academic plan
- Withdrawal and transfer paperwork
- School photographs for each year of enrollment
- GED test results, when applicable
Errors in the folder can follow a student for years, showing up in college applications, financial aid decisions, and employment background checks that reach into education history. That is why the access and correction rights below matter.
Who Can See the Folder
Two overlapping privacy laws control disclosure. FERPA, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, prohibits any school receiving federal funds from releasing personally identifiable information from education records without parental consent, with a defined list of exceptions.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 1232g – Family Educational and Privacy Rights2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 380.11363Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 380.1135
Parents hold these rights while the student is a minor in K–12. When the student turns 18 or enrolls in a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights transfer to the student, who then controls access, disclosures, and correction requests.4Protecting Student Privacy. Eligible Student One carveout: a school may still share records with parents without the student’s consent if the student is claimed as a dependent for federal tax purposes.
Schools have to notify parents and eligible students of their FERPA rights every year, including the right to inspect, request corrections, consent to disclosures, and file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. The notice does not have to be individually addressed, but it must be placed where parents will actually see it, with accommodations for parents with disabilities or whose primary language is not English.
How to Request Access to a CA-60
Submit a written request to the school for your child’s records. FERPA sets the outside limit at 45 days from the date of the request.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 1232g – Family Educational and Privacy Rights Michigan is stricter. Schools must provide access within 30 days, free of charge, and the shorter Michigan deadline is what applies.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 380.1136
Keep a copy of the request and any response. If you later need to file a complaint, that paper trail is the backbone of the case.
Correcting an Inaccurate Record
If a parent or eligible student thinks the CA-60 contains inaccurate or misleading information, they can ask the school to amend it. The school has to decide within a reasonable time. If it agrees, the record is corrected. If it refuses, the parent or student has a right to a formal hearing.5Protecting Student Privacy. FERPA
After the hearing, one of two things happens. If the school agrees the record is wrong, it amends the file and notifies the parent or student in writing. If the school stands by the entry, the parent or student can place a written statement of disagreement in the file. That statement must remain attached to the contested part of the record for as long as the record exists, and the school must disclose it whenever it shares that part of the record.5Protecting Student Privacy. FERPA
This process is for factual errors and misleading entries. It is not a route to challenge a grade a parent or student disagrees with.
Directory Information and How to Opt Out
FERPA lets schools release a limited category called “directory information” without individual consent. It includes a student’s name, address, phone number, date and place of birth, field of study, participation in activities and sports, dates of attendance, degrees and awards, and the most recent school attended.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 1232g – Family Educational and Privacy Rights
Before releasing any of it, the school has to give public notice of which categories it plans to treat as directory information and give parents a reasonable window to opt out. Michigan goes further: schools must develop a specific opt-out form that lists every intended use and lets a parent block individual categories.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 380.1136 Submit the form promptly if you do not want your child’s information appearing in publications, yearbooks, or shared with military recruiters. A school that releases directory information for a student whose family has opted out is violating FERPA.
When Schools Can Share Records Without Consent
Written parental consent is the general rule, but FERPA lists exceptions where schools can disclose without asking first. The ones that come up most with CA-60 records:
- School officials, including teachers, counselors, and administrators, who have a legitimate educational interest
- Another school where the student is enrolling or seeking to enroll
- Financial aid purposes tied to aid the student has applied for or received
- Health or safety emergencies
- Judicial orders and subpoenas, with a general obligation to make a reasonable effort to notify the parent first
- Accrediting organizations carrying out accreditation functions
- Authorized government representatives, including the Comptroller General, Attorney General, Secretary of Education, and state or local education authorities for audit or evaluation purposes5Protecting Student Privacy. FERPA
Michigan’s ban on selling student data to for-profit businesses applies even when a federal exception would otherwise allow disclosure.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 380.1136 Anyone who receives records under one of these exceptions cannot pass them along to additional parties without separate authorization.
How Long the Folder Is Kept
Michigan’s General Schedule for Public Schools, maintained by the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget, requires schools to keep CA-60 folders for 60 years after graduation. That is the “60” in the name. Whether the school stores the record on paper or digitizes it, the obligation is the same: the file has to remain intact, accessible, and confidential for the full retention period.
What to Do If a School Will Not Comply
Parents and students cannot sue a school for FERPA violations. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that FERPA does not create a private right of action, so the only route is the federal administrative process. Complaints go to the Student Privacy Policy Office at the U.S. Department of Education. The complaint must be in writing, contain specific factual allegations, and be filed within 180 days of the violation or within 180 days of when you learned about it.6Protecting Student Privacy. File a Complaint
You can send the complaint by email to FERPA.Complaints@ed.gov or by mail to the Student Privacy Policy Office, 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20202-8520. The Department encourages trying to resolve the issue with the school first, but that step is not required. Investigations can take months. If the office finds a violation, it typically issues a corrective action plan rather than moving to cut federal funding.
The statutory penalty behind FERPA is severe: the U.S. Department of Education can require corrective action, and if a school does not comply, it can withhold further federal payments, issue a cease-and-desist order, or terminate the school’s eligibility for federal education funding.7Congress.gov. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): Legal Issues In practice, the federal government has never actually pulled funding from a school for FERPA violations. The realistic outcome of a complaint is an investigation and a corrective action agreement, backed by significant administrative and reputational pressure on the district.
Keep every piece of correspondence with the school, including your original written request and any response or refusal. Those documents are what the Student Privacy Policy Office will ask for first.