aps email guidelines policy practice netiquette. aps email guidelines arlington public schools...

APS Email Guidelines

Policy

Practice

Netiquette


Arlington Public Schools recognizes that electronic mail (email) is a valuable communication tool. Staff members are provided with district email accounts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communication both within the organization and with the broader community.


Because electronic mail messages are routinely backed up to prevent loss of data in the event of a computer failure, users of electronic mail systems need to understand that information that has been "deleted" from one's own mail file may still exist in a "backed-up" form.


A jury awarded the plaintiff $20 million in a gender discrimination case against USB Warburg. Driving the award was the fact that the company presented one view of its actions with the plaintiff, while recreated emails demonstrated a vastly different picture of what occurred in the workplace.


Users of our electronic mail system need to understand that any information may be discoverable in legal proceedings and available to other parties under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Electronic information that contains information related to a student’s education may also be considered part of an education record under the Family Educational Rights and Policy Act (FERPA).


In 1995, Chevron settled a sexual harassment suit with four female employees for $2.2 million, in part because of email dissemination of the Internet joke "25 reasons why beer is better than women."


It is not the school system’s regular practice to access staff email. However, the school system has the right to access and disclose the contents of staff email messages as required by the system’s legal, audit, and legitimate operational purposes.


As emails are composed, it is important to remember that messages can be forwarded or distributed to other individuals, in whole or in part.


A female employee sent a salacious email and risqué joke to male colleague at work. From his work station, he forwarded it to 13 friends and colleagues in several different countries, who then forwarded it to more friends. At the end, it was estimated that 10 million people worldwide received it.


When considering the security, privacy or confidentiality of anything sent via email, it should be thought of as essentially the same as any other kind of mail; it is not completely secure.


When It is not the school system’s regular practice to access staff email. However, the school system has the right to access and disclose the contents of staff email messages as required by the system’s legal, audit, and legitimate operational purposes.


As emails are composed, it is important to remember that messages can be forwarded or distributed to other individuals, in whole or in part.

There should be no expectation of right to privacy in anything sent via email, as it is not a secure form of communication.


Because staff members are responsible for all email sent from their account, they must take care to protect access to their account by keeping their password confidential and by logging off when they leave their computer, and keeping portable devices secure.


One stolen laptop at the Veterans Administration had personal and confidential information on16,000 live patients and 2,000 deceased patients which was potentially compromised.


Staff members should respond to emails in a timely fashion, just as they would to a phone call or handwritten message, but the response does not have to be by email. One may choose to respond in other ways (e.g., telephone call, note, conference).


Email communication is most effective when it is brief, to the point and constructive in tone. If staff members receive email that requires substantive discussion, they should follow up by phone or face-to-face. Topics should not be discussed in detail in email.


Parents are encouraged to use email as a preliminary method of contact in order to set up a phone or face-to-face meeting.


If parents are interested in receiving progress updates or other confidential information about their child through email, APS staff should first receive acknowledgement from the parent that they understand email is not a secure form of communication and that there can be no guarantee of privacy. For example: “I will be glad to email you a weekly summary of J.L.’s progress, given that you understand that email is not a private or secure form of communication.”


When communicating student progress with parents, responses should consist of a brief summary statement. For example: “Good Afternoon. A.D. continues to make satisfactory progress in math. Classroom activities were completed on time today. However, A.D. needed verbal reminders to stay on task during social studies. Thanks for your support.”


If a teacher chooses not to use email as a communication tool or feels like the topic is too sensitive for an email reply, here are a few generic responses:


“Thank you for your email. Given the nature of the communication, I would prefer not to respond to your concern by email. In order to best address your concerns and quickly answer your questions, please feel free to call me at (insert phone number) and I will be happy to discuss this with you further. Thank you.”


“Thank you for your email. I feel this concern is too sensitive for email. I would prefer to speak in person regarding this matter. I will call you on (state the date and time) to discuss this matter further. Thank you.”


Information shared with parents should be relevant to the sender’s knowledge of the student, area of subject level expertise, and qualifications. Email messages should not contain identifying information about any student other than the parent’s child.


If staff members feel parents are using email excessively and/or inappropriately, they are encouraged to contact their immediate supervisor to address the situation.


When replying to an email with multiple carbon copies, you should only reply to the sender unless your response is pertinent to all the recipients of the original email.


Email messages should be formatted using professional practices for other written correspondence. Such practices include using proper spelling and grammar and not using slang or all capital letters. (Writing in capital letters is the equivalent of shouting.)


Include a professional signature at the bottom of your email, including your full name, job title and email address.


APS email correspondence should never include:

• Gossip, malicious or slandering content

• Negative discussion

• Non-APS business


Remember that email is a quick way to send a message, but it is not necessarily the best way to send a message.

aps email guidelines policy practice netiquette. aps email guidelines arlington public schools...

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