BEA - School Board Use of Email

SCHOOL COMMITTEE  USE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION


Use of email and other electronic communications (including but not limited to texts, chat programs and social media) by school committee members should conform to the same standards of judgment, propriety and ethics as other forms of school committee-related communication.Committee members shall comply with the following guidelines when using email in the conduct of committee responsibilities:


  1. The School Committee shall not use electronic communications as a substitute for deliberations at Committee meetings, for other communications or business properly confined to Committee meetings, or in any way to defeat the purposes of the Freedom of Access Act.

  2. Committee members should be aware that electronic communications and email attachments received or prepared for use in committee business or containing information relating to committee business are likely to be regarded as public records which may be inspected and copied by any person upon request, unless otherwise made confidential by law.

  3. Committee members should avoid reference to confidential information about employees, students or other matters in email communications because of the risk of improper disclosure. Committee members should comply with the same standards as school employees with regard to confidential information.

Legal Reference:  1 MRSA § 401 et seq.

20-A MRSA §§ 6001-6002

20 USC § 1232g

Cross Reference:  GBJ - Personnel Records and Files

JRA -Notification of FERPA Rights

GBCC - Employee Use of Cellphone and other Electronic Devices

GCSA-R - Employee Computer and Internet Use Rules

Adopted:   February 12, 2013 

Revised:   November 14, 2024