BEA: SCHOOL COMMITTEE 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 Committee members should conform to the same standards of judgment, propriety and ethics as other forms of School Committee-related communications. School Committee members shall comply with the following guidelines when using email and other electronic communications in the conduct of School Committee responsibilities:
A. The School Committee and its members shall not use email or other electronic communications as a substitute for deliberations at official meetings; for other communications or business properly confined to School Committee meetings; or in any way to defeat the purposes of the Freedom of Access Act.
B. School Committee members should be aware that emails (including attachments) and other electronic communications received or prepared for use in School Committee business or containing information relating to School Committee 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. In some cases, such communications may be subject to state record retention requirements. For these reasons, School Committee members are well-advised to use the email addresses issued by the school unit for their official communications.
C. School Committee members shall avoid discussing information about school employees, students or other confidential school matters in email or other electronic communications because of the risk of improper disclosure. School Committee members are expected to comply with the same standards as school employees with regard to confidential information.
School Committee members shall have no authority to speak on behalf of the School Committee unless specifically designated by the School Committee to do so, and shall make it clear that they are speaking in their individual capacity when posting or engaging in other activity on social media by doing the following:
A. Posting in a clear and conspicuous place on their own social media pages the following language:
· “The views expressed on this page and all posts and other activity (including, but not limited to, responding to posts and comments, blocking users, and liking posts and/or comments), including those related to school business, are my own and are not being undertaken on behalf of, and do not necessarily represent the views of, Kittery School District or its School Committee. The Kittery School District and its School Committee have not endorsed or approved this page or its content or other activity.”
B. Posting the following language with any social media post related to school business:
· “The views expressed in this post are my own and are not being posted on behalf of, and do not represent the views of, Kittery School District or its School Committee. The Kittery School District and its School Committee have not endorsed or approved this post or its content.”
Adopted: September 1, 2024
Cross Reference: GBJ – Personnel Records and Files
IJND/IJND-R – School Website and Social Media
JRA – Student Educational Records
Legal Reference: 1 MRSA § 401 et seq.; 20-A MRSA §§ 6001-6002; 20 USC § 1232g