School Law Bulletin #2001/08

North Carolina’s public records law applies fully to the state’s public school systems. The General Assembly has made this clear in the basic public school law—Chapter 115C of the North Carolina General Statutes (herein- after G.S.). The public records law, in general, requires that all documents made or received by public officials and public employees in the course of their duties be considered public records open to inspection by anyone, unless some statutory provision makes them confidential. Chapter 115C contains two separate provisions regarding personnel records, an all-employees statute and a teachers-only statute, that together provide for limited confidentiality and create a limited exception to the public records law for personnel records. These two provisions must be read in light of one another.