Email Guidelines for Staff and  Students

Staff using e-mail to correspond with parents and students must use only the board's e-mail system to receive or send e-mail.  A staff member cannot make e-mail the only option for communicating with parents.  Similarly, neither a student nor a parent can demand that a staff member correspond via e-mail.

Staff using e-mail to correspond with parents and students must adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The staff member should clearly set out the expectations for parents with respect to response times.  e.g. staff will respond to student and parent e-mail within three school days.  These response times should be set by the school.
2. Staff who are corresponding with students or parents must use only the board's e-mail system to receive or send e-mail.
3. All emails to and from parents and students must be saved in an e-mail folder for a period of one year.
4. E-mail must never be used to discuss contentious, emotional or highly confidential issues.  These issues should be dealt with face-to-face or by phone.
5. As the employer the board has the right to access and disclose the contents of staff e-mail messages as required by the board's legal, audit and legitimate operational purposes.  However, it is not the board's regular practice to access staff e-mail and any such access must be authorized by the Superintendent of Human Resources Support Services.
6. As staff are responsible for all e-mail sent from their account they should take care to protect access to the account by keeping their password secret and by logging off when they leave the workstation.
7. E-mail messages to parents should be consistent with professional practices for other correspondence.  This includes grammar, format and salutation.
8. E-mail messages may be accessible under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Staff member to parent e-mail communication

Acceptable

• General information about class activities - curriculum, homework, tests, special events.
• Arrange for meeting/telephone call regarding a student issue including a general description of the issue, e.g. "I would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your daughter's attendance."
• Follow-up on an issue that has previously been discussed.

Unacceptable

• Any discussion related to other students.
• Personal information about other students.
• Specifics about a sensitive student issue which was not initiated by the parent or had not previously been discussed with the parent, e.g. "I am concerned that your son failed the last three tests and was not at school again today."
• Any discussion related to other staff.
• Any discussion related to the staff member's performance.
• Any sensitive student information that would normally be discussed face-to-face or by phone, e.g. "I am concerned that your daughter may have a learning disability."

Staff member to student e-mail communication

Acceptable

• Discussions specifically related to class activities - curriculum, homework, tests, special events.

Unacceptable

• Any discussion related to other students.
• Personal information about other students
• Discussion about personal life of staff member or student (home life, vacations, relationships).
• Sensitive information regarding the student's performance.

Staff Contacts at Hazel McCallion