Records, roles & compliance
Role-based access control, an audit trail of every record view, and student records that survive even the school.
In short
Pearspark treats student records like the legal documents they are: role-based access with per-user overrides and caseload scoping, an audit log of every record view (who, what, when, IP), one-click transfer records packets, full data export with no lock-in — and records escrow, so transcripts stay retrievable even if the school closes.
Who can see what, decided by you
Built-in roles cover the usual cases; custom roles and per-user overrides cover the rest. Caseload scoping lets a counselor see exactly the students they serve and no one else. Teachers see their classes; families see their children; the activity log sees everything.
An audit trail that answers questions
Every view of a student record is logged — who opened it, what they saw, when, from where. When a parent or a board member asks "who accessed this," you answer from a log, not a guess.
Transfers in ten days, not ten phone calls
When a student leaves, one click builds the records packet a receiving school expects: cover sheet, immunization record, attendance by school year, and the full transcript. Withdrawal reasons stay internal — they never print. Every packet generation is logged as a records release.
Records that outlive the school
Small schools sometimes close — and student records must not vanish when they do. Pearspark holds an escrow copy of every student's permanent records (transcript and attendance history) that survives even account deletion, releasable to families and receiving schools afterward. It's included with every school, and of the fifteen systems we reviewed in August 2026, none publishes an equivalent — one describes something partial and the rest say nothing about it at all.
What's included
- Role-based permissions with custom roles
- Per-user permission overrides
- Caseload scoping (per-student or per-grade access)
- Audit log of every record view, with IP
- One-click transfer records packet
- Withdrawal reasons kept internal-only
- Records escrow: permanent records survive school closure
- Full JSON export anytime — no lock-in
All of it is part of the flat price — $50/month including 20 students, then $2.50/student, stepping down with volume (see the bands). Nothing on this page is a paid add-on.
See it done in 60 seconds
All 15 videosReal screen recordings, one task per minute — no fluff.
Common questions
Is Pearspark FERPA compliant?
FERPA applies to schools, not to their software vendors. Pearspark is built for FERPA-covered record keeping — role-based access, per-student scoping, and a full audit trail of record views — and acts as a school official under the school's direction; how is written out in the FERPA section of the privacy policy at /legal/privacy. Formal compliance rests on your school's own policies and agreements: your annual FERPA notice to families, your directory-information policy, and who at the school holds which permission. Write support@pearspark.com to talk through data-processing terms for your board.
What happens to student records if our school closes?
They survive. Pearspark keeps an escrow copy of each student's permanent records — transcript and attendance summary — that persists even if the school's account is deleted. Families and receiving schools can request them afterward: free for as long as the school is a customer, and $15 a packet once the account has closed.
Can we get our data out?
Always. Rosters, grades, and the library export to CSV from the app, and a complete JSON export of everything is available — your data is yours, no exit fees.
Comparing this with what you use now
Records, roles & compliance is part of the argument in these comparisons. Each one is sourced, last reviewed July 2026, and says plainly where the other system is the better choice.
Try it in your own school
See records, roles & compliance working on video — one minute per task — then set it up yourself. Your first 30 days are free.