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BEA - School Board 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 School 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:

  1. The School 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.
     

  2. 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 Falmouth Public Schools for their official communications.
     

  3. 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:
IJND - Falmouth Schools Website
IJND-R - Website Guidelines
JRA - Student Education Records and Information

Adopted:  February 26, 2007

Revised:   March 18, 2019