A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download and PRINTING.

September 20, 2010

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

 Subject: Required use of the Texas Records Exchange System (TREx)

All districts and open enrollment charter schools are required to use the Texas Records Exchange System to transmit student records and high school transcripts electronically when a student transfers from one Texas school district to another (TEC 7.010). Texas Education Code requires that, at a minimum, the following information be sent electronically within 10 working days of receiving a request for a student’s records from a school in which the student has enrolled. (For a complete list of data elements that may be sent through the system, see Appendix A of the TREX Data Standards at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=2147484047 ).    

• Student ID
• First Name
• Last name
• Gender
• Hispanic/Latino
• American Indian
• Asian
• Black/ African American
• White
• Date of Birth
• District ID
• Campus ID
• Campus Name
• Campus Phone
• Academic year
• Current Grade level
• Course or grade completion
• Teachers of record
• Assessment Instrument Results
• Receipt of special education services including the placement in a special education program and the individualized education plan developed.
• Personal graduation plan

Required information that is only available in hardcopy must be scanned and attached to the electronic record sent through TREx. The availability of a scanner is a requirement for use of the TREx application. Copies of birth certificates and social security cards are not required to be sent through TREx. However, these documents may be scanned and transmitted securely as attachments.

Transcripts for College Admission

In addition, public school districts, open enrollment charter schools, and public institutions of higher education in Texas are required to participate in the exchange of electronic transcripts. When sending a high school transcript to a college or university on behalf of a student seeking admission, please be aware that colleges and universities require the following information for admission or placement. Failure to provide this information in the TREx xml file may result in delays and duplicate requests to the student or the campus registrar to forward the required information.

• Class size
• Class rank
• Date of class ranking
• TAKS scores (are sent to the College electronically but are not part of the transcript)
• Graduation date
• Graduation plan

Because transcripts are sent to colleges and universities from TREx through the UT SPEEDE server, attachments cannot be transmitted through SPEEDE.
Training and Documentation
The Education Service Centers are available to provide training on the TREx system. In addition TEA provides the following information on the TEA TREx web site at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3190.

• TREx User Guide
• 8 TREx Video Tutorials (each approximately 10 minutes long)
• Training materials presented to the Education Service Centers   
• New Features by release level
• Data Standards by release level
• Frequently Asked Questions

TREx Help Desk
The TEA TREx Help Desk is available from 8:00 to 5:00 by phone at (512) 463-7246 or by email at  TREx@tea.state.tx.us.
If you have any questions regarding the TREx system, please contact:  TEA Enterprise Data Management at 512-936-6348.
A copy of this letter has been sent to the TEA Campus Administrator and TREx listservs.
Sincerely,

Melody Parrish, Director
TEA Enterprise Data Management