Book: B

Section: Board Governance and Operations

Title: SCHOOL COMMITTEE USE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL

Code: BHE

Status: Active

Adopted: April 3, 2002

Last Revised: June 25, 2024

Prior Revision Dates: 10/29/19

 

---

 

PORTLAND BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

USE OF EMAIL

AND OTHER ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

 

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

 

A.        The Board shall not use email or other electronic communications as a substitute for deliberations at Board meetings; for other communications or business properly confined to Board meetings; or in any way to defeat the purposes of the Freedom of Access Act.

 

            B.        Board members should be aware that emails (including attachments)and other electronic communications received or prepared for use in Board business or containing information relating to Board business are likely to be regarded as public records. Public records may be inspected and copied by any person upon request, unless otherwise made confidential by law, and in some cases may be subject to state record retention requirements.  For these reasons, Board members are well-advised to use the email addresses issued by the school unit for their official communications.

 

            C.        Board members shall avoid reference to information about employees, students, or other confidential matters in email or other electronic communications because of the risk of improper disclosure.  Board members are expected to 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

                                    IJND/IJND-R – Portland Public Schools Web Site and Guidelines

                                    JRA – Student Education Records and Information

 

Adopted:         April 3, 2002

 

Revised:          October 29, 2019

 

Reviewed:       June 25, 2024

 

BoardDocs is intended for the use of subscribers and licensed customers. All users are required to read and follow the acceptable use policy.