Fort Zumwalt School District is among almost 40 agencies selected as recipients under the Secretary of State’s Local Records Grant Program. The program, established by statute, reimburses agencies up to $20,000 for approved records management projects.
Board of Education Secretary Jamie Marks first learned of the grant through a professional development networking group. After consulting with a Local Records Fields Archivist, she completed the application.
“This grant provides the perfect opportunity to enhance our records management process and allow digital access of our fragile Board of Education minutes dating back to 1949,” she says. Currently, all historical FZSD records are on paper, an estimated 85 three-ring binders containing more than 31,000 documents from open and closed session minutes. Marks hopes the grant is the first in a series that would provide support for the multi-year project.
"This is the beginning of a records preservation program for our school district and we will be seeking future grant funding to digitize the remaining series of records,” she says. “We are excited about the grant. This digitization project will benefit the district and public for years to come.”