A PTA should maintain copies of many important documents. WSPTA has a document to assist local PTAs and councils with these timelines called the Records Retention Timetable. The information in this document is gathered from the IRS, various Washington state entities, and PTA experiences.
There were several changes to this document in 2025 due to new guidelines and updated recommendations. See below for the updates and what those changes mean for your PTA.
Insurance Certificate: In previous versions of this document there was one reference to insurance. It mentioned that the insurance certificate should be kept for 3 years. In the updated version you will find 3 different references to insurance:
- Insurance renewal records should be kept for 3 years.
- Insurance claims and payouts should be kept for 5 years.
- Insurance certificates should be kept permanently.
We realize that the updated guidance regarding insurance can be concerning since your PTA has most likely been following the previous advice of saving it for 3 years. Don’t panic. We can only do what we can with the information provided. Be sure to update the process your PTA has been using and move forward with the corrected recommendations.
Membership and board of director roster: In previous versions of this document, we stated you needed to keep rosters permanently. That advice has been changed to:
- Membership and board of director rosters should be kept for 5 years.
New recommendations: Previous versions of this document did not include these recommendations now listed below:
- Current copies of any volunteers’ food worker card should be kept on file.
- Current copies of any state/city/county permits should be kept on file.
To find the full Records Retention Timeline go here and click on the Secretary drop down.
If you have any further questions, please contact your region director at ptareg#@wastatepta.org (replacing # with your region number).