Leaders' Edge
Topic: Legal, Social, and Ethical Issues
Archiving E-Mail
I recently heard that e-mail I receive from parents or community members regarding school issues might fall under 'Sunshine,' or open-records laws. Is this true?
This is new territory for school districts, and there have been at least two instances recently where requests were made for districts to turn over copies of emails that had been sent to school officials. In each case the email was provided to the requestor.
Although there do not appear to be any state laws that currently require districts to keep email for a specified length of time, it is a good idea for districts to develop policies about how long emails should be saved before being deleted and for making back-up copies in the event that a request is made later. It is certain that destroying email after a request has been made is a violation of the law.
Check with your district office to see if there is a policy in place.
Submitted by:
Susan Brooks-Young
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Flexible Keyboards for PDAs
Leaders' Edge Coordinator: Susan Brooks-Young
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