Stevensville  School District

PERSONNEL

Employee Electronic Mail and On-Line Services Usage

Electronic mail (“e-mail”) is an electronic message that is transmitted between two or more computers or electronic terminals, whether or not the message is converted to hard copy format after receipt and whether or not the message is viewed upon transmission or stored for later retrieval. Electronic mail includes all electronic messages that are transmitted through a local, regional, or global computer network.

Because of the unique nature of e-mail/Internet, and because the District desires to protect its interest with regard to its electronic records, the following rules have been established to address e-mail/Internet usage by all employees:

The District e-mail and Internet systems are owned by the District and are intended to be used for educational purposes only.  While occasional personal use is allowed, employees should have no expectation of privacy when using the electronic mail or Internet systems for any purpose.

Users of district E-mail and Internet systems are responsible for their appropriate use.  All illegal and improper uses of the electronic mail and Internet system, including but not limited to extreme network etiquette violations including mail that degrades or demeans other individuals, pornography, obscenity, harassment, solicitation, gambling and violating copyright or intellectual property rights are prohibited.  Abuse of the e-mail or Internet systems, through excessive personal use, or use in violation of the law or District policies, will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

All e-mail/Internet records are considered District records and should be transmitted only to individuals who have a need to receive them. If the sender of an electronic mail or Internet message does not intend for the mail or Internet message to be forwarded, the sender should clearly mark the message “Do Not Forward”.

In order to keep district electronic mail and Internet systems secure, users may not leave the terminal “signed on” when unattended and may not leave their password available in an obvious place near the terminal or share their password with anyone except the system administrator.  The district reserves the right to bypass individual passwords at any time and to monitor the use of such systems by employees.

Additionally, District records, e-mail/Internet records are subject to disclosure to law enforcement or government officials or to other third parties through subpoena or other process.  Consequently, the district retains the right to access stored records in cases where there is reasonable cause to expect wrong-doing or misuse of the system, review, store and disclose all information sent over the district electronic mail systems for any legally permissible reason, including but not limited to determining whether the information is a public record, whether it contains information discoverable in litigation and to access district information in the employee’s absence.  E-mail/ Internet messages by employees may not necessarily reflect the views of the District.

Except as provided herein, district employees are prohibited from accessing another employee’s electronic mail without the expressed consent of the employee. All district employees should be aware that electronic mail messages can be retrieved even if they have been deleted and that statements made in electronic mail communications can form the basis of various legal claims against the individual author or the district.

Electronic mail sent or received by the district or the district’s employees may be considered a public record subject to public disclosure or inspection.  All district electronic mail and Internet communications may be monitored.

Policy History:
Adopted on: February 2002
Revised on: July 2010