Data retention & deletion

At a glance

• Who uses it: Districts aligning AmplifyED with their records-retention schedule.
• Purpose: Document the configurable retention policy and the deletion paths.

Configurable retention

Each organization sets Case retention (years) under Administration → Organization. The valid range is 1 to 25 years. The default for a new org is 7 years.

Retention applies to closed cases. Active cases are retained indefinitely while open.

How retention deletion works

• A scheduled job evaluates closed cases against the retention window.
• Cases past the window are flagged, then hard-deleted along with their notes, follow-ups, and messages.
• The deletion event itself is audit-logged (the case ID and deletion timestamp remain in the audit log even after the case record is gone).
• Audit log entries are retained for 7 years independent of case retention.

On-demand deletion

Student record deletion

When a student leaves the district and your records schedule says delete:

1. Students → open student → Delete (admin only).
2. Confirm. The student, every case attached to them, and every note on those cases are deleted.
3. The deletion is audit-logged.

Case redaction

If a specific note contains content that should not be in the record, an admin can redact it. The note's body is cleared; the note's existence and authorship remain in the audit log.

Customer offboarding

When a district terminates the AmplifyED relationship:

1. A bulk export package is delivered during the grace period.
2. After the grace period, all customer data enters retention deletion per the org's configured policy or per the termination addendum, whichever is shorter.
3. Backups roll off within 30 days of primary deletion.

Step-by-step: change your retention window

1. Administration → Organization.
2. Edit Case retention (years).
3. Click Save. The change is audit-logged.

[SCREENSHOT: admin-org-retention-field] Administration → Organization with the Case retention field highlighted, showing the 1–25 year selector.

Tips & best practices

• Align the value with your district's official records-retention schedule, not your IT default.
• Shortening retention does not retroactively delete in-window cases — it only changes when future cases will be deleted.

Related articles

• Data ownership & exports
• FERPA overview
• Organization setup

FAQ

Do backups respect retention deletion? Yes. Backups roll off within 30 days, so customer data is fully removed from primary storage and backups within that window after the deletion event.

Can we suspend retention deletion for an investigation (legal hold)? Yes. Email security@amplifyed.app to place a legal hold on a specific org, school, or student. Retention deletion is paused for the affected records until the hold is lifted.