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Email template to ask a school to send your child's records to a new school

Your child has changed schools and the new school is waiting on the old one for a transcript, attendance history, immunization record, test scores, or a special education plan. Schools call this a records transfer, and it is usually triggered by a request from the new school. In practice the request sits in someone's inbox. Meanwhile your child may be placed in the wrong math class, or special education services stop until the paperwork arrives. Emailing the former school yourself, with the new school's contact copied, is the fastest way to move it. The federal student privacy law, known as FERPA, lets a school send records to a school the student is transferring to without extra consent, so there is no reason for delay.

Before you send

  • Your child's full name as it appeared on the old school's roster, their birth date, and the grade and years they attended.
  • The name of the new school, its registrar's name and email, and its mailing address. Many schools will only send official records school to school.
  • A list of what the new school actually needs. Ask them first. It is usually the transcript, attendance, state test scores, immunization record, and any IEP or 504 plan.
  • Any release form the old school requires. Some districts have their own, and sending it with the first email saves a round trip.
  • Whether the old school claims you owe fees for lost books or lunch. Ask about it up front so it does not surface as a surprise hold.
Subject Records transfer request for [child's full name], [grade], to [new school name] 
Hi [registrar's name or "Registrar"],

My [son / daughter] [child's full name] (born [birth date]) attended [old school name] from [start year] through [end year] and has now enrolled at [new school name] in [city, state].

Please send [his / her] complete education records to the new school. They have asked for:

- Official transcript and current-year grades
- Attendance record
- State test scores
- Immunization record
- [IEP or 504 plan and most recent evaluation, if applicable]

The new school's registrar is [name], [email], [mailing address]. I've copied [him / her] on this email so you can coordinate directly.

[Child's name] is currently without [a class placement / special education services] until the records arrive, so I'd be grateful if they could go out by [date, about a week away]. If you need a signed release from me or if there is any outstanding balance on the account, please let me know today and I will take care of it.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • The typical reply is a short "sent" within a week. Ask the new school to confirm receipt, because records get sent to the wrong fax number more often than you would think.
  • If the old school says it needs a release, sign it the same day. If it says records are on hold for an unpaid fee, ask for the exact amount and a receipt once paid; a school cannot hold a child's immunization record or IEP over a library book.
  • If two weeks pass, email the district office and ask who oversees student records. Under FERPA you also have the right to see the records yourself within 45 days, which is a useful backstop.
  • If the new school is treating your child as missing records, ask it to place your child provisionally based on the report card you have, rather than waiting.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get my child's school records sent to the new school 
Hi StandIn,

Please get my child's records sent from the old school to the new one and confirm they arrived.

My child: [full name, birth date, and current grade].
Old school: [name, city, state, years attended, and the registrar's email if you have it].
New school: [name, registrar's name and email, and mailing address].
Records needed: [transcript, attendance, test scores, immunization record, IEP or 504 plan, or others the new school listed].
Anything outstanding: [fees the old school might claim, or none that you know of].

Send the request, sort out any release form or fee, follow up until the old school confirms it sent everything, then check that the new school has it.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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