BOARD POLICY 166

166         -     E-Mail Communication

The Board of Education acknowledges that e-mail facilitates communication among board members and can be a valuable tool. However, board members shall remember that when they communicate via e-mail to other board members on district matters, these communications represent school district records that can be subject to public disclosure. Thus, board members shall adhere to the following guidelines when using e-mail:

1.Confidentiality. No e-mail is confidential, personal or private. E-mails can be subject to open records law. Board members shall not say anything in e-mail that would be inappropriate in a board meeting.

2.Open meeting laws. Board members shall not use e-mail for deliberations on district matters. State open meeting laws require that all board meetings be open to the public. An e-mail deliberation involving a quorum of board members could constitute a meeting under state open meeting laws.

3.Signature line. Board members shall have their names on their e-mail system so the authorship of each e-mail communication is apparent.

Approved:           January 15, 2004

Revised:               November 18, 2004

Revised:               October 18, 2007