4118.4 - 4218.4 - Electronic Mail - Surveillance Notice

Personnel — Certified and Non-Certified

4118.4/4218.4 - Electronic Mail

Electronic 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.

All District electronic mail systems are owned by the District and are intended for the purpose of conducting official District business. District electronic mail systems are not intended for personal use by employees of the District and employees should have no expectation of privacy when using the electronic mail systems. In accordance with the District’s Acceptable Computer Network Use Policy 4118.5/5218.5, employees may make limited incidental personal use of District computers, network, email systems and Internet services as long as such use does not interfere with the employee’s job duties and performance, with system operations or other system users. “Limited incident personal use” is defined as use by an individual employee for appropriate, lawful, brief and occasional personal purposes. Employees are reminded that such personal use must comply with this policy and all other applicable policies, procedures and rules.

Users of District E-mail systems are responsible for their appropriate use. All illegal and improper uses of the electronic mail system, including but not limited to pornography, obscenity, harassment, solicitation, gambling and violating copyright or intellectual property rights are prohibited. Use of the electronic mail system for which the District will incur an expense without expressed permission of an administrator is prohibited.

Electronic messages are not for private or confidential matters. Because there is no guarantee of privacy or confidentiality, other avenues of communication should be used for such matters. Except for directory information, student records will not be transmitted by electronic mail. Care should be taken when forwarding an electronic mail message. If the sender of an electronic mail message does not intend for the mail to be forwarded, the sender should clearly mark the message "Do Not Forward."

In order to keep District electronic mail 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 electronic mail system administrator. The District reserves the right to bypass individual passwords at any time and to monitor the use of such systems by employees.

The District retains the right to 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.

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 Board, the District or the District’s employees may be considered a public record subject to public disclosure or inspection. All Board and District electronic mail communications may be monitored.

District employees will be subject to disciplinary action for violation of this policy.

The Superintendent will ensure that all District employees have notice of this policy and that each District employee is given an acknowledge form to sign stating they have received and read the policy. The form will be maintained in the employee’s personnel file.

(cf. 5125 - Student Records)

Legal Reference:

Connecticut General Statutes

The Freedom of Information Act.

31-48d - Employers engaged in electronic monitoring required to give prior notice to employees

Policy Adopted: October 2018

WINDSOR LOCKS PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION

Windsor Locks, Connecticut

NOTICE

Pursuant to the authority of Connecticut General Statute Section 31-48d, the Board of Education hereby gives notice to all its employees of the potential use of electronic monitoring in its workplace. While the Board may not actually engage in the use of electronic monitoring, it reserves the right to do so when determined appropriate by the Board or the Superintendent of Schools in their discretion.

"Electronic monitoring," as defined in Connecticut General Statute Section 31-48d, means the collection of information on school District premises concerning employees’ activities or communications, by any means other than direct observation of the employees. Electronic monitoring includes the use of a computer, telephone, wire, radio, camera, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical systems. The law does not cover the collection of information (A) for security purposes in any common areas of the Board of Education premises which are open to the public, or (B) which is prohibited under other state or federal law.

The following specific types of electronic monitoring may be used by this school District in its facilities:

• Monitoring of e-mail and other components of the school District’s computer system for compliance with policies.

• Video surveillance of employee parking areas for security purposes.

• Telephone monitoring (office, professional calls only) for quality control and performance assessment.

• Monitoring of electromagnetic card access system for security purposes.

The law also provides that, where electronic monitoring may produce evidence of misconduct, the school District may use electronic monitoring without any prior notice when the Board and/or the Superintendent have reasonable grounds to believe employees of the school system are engaged in conduct that (1) violates the law, (2) violates the legal rights of the Board of Education or other employees, (3) creates a hostile work environment, or (4) violates Board policy or regulation.

Questions about electronic monitoring in the workplace should be directed to the Superintendent of Schools or members of the administrative staff of the District.