HIT: email policies

[Janice Bjorke <jbjorke@EMRY.NET>]

First of all thanks so much to everyone who replied to my question last =
week about how your districts handle email.  I really appreciate the =
input.  I am not including everyone's response below because it would =
just be too long, so I just included samples of a few.  I am not =
including names, but have included geographical locations because I =
thought it was interesting to see!=20

First the statistics:

43 total responses:
5 totally against using district email for personal use
3 had policies stating it should be for educational uses, but knowingly =
looked the other way
35 totally encouraged the use of email

I'll start with the more positive attitudes first!

No guidelines here because they want to encourage us to use it.
We are permitted a mini-grant to pay for an at-home connection thru our =
a-site
(it's cheap for the text only) and they have been generous about giving =
those
out.  It irritates me tho that at least one teacher uses it ONLY for =
personal
stuff - at school and thru her home connection.  She will maybe cause
guidelines to be written.  don't know if this will help or not.  Elaine
PS - I do both personal and work at both sites and figure it balances =
out, in
case you were wondering, altho the bulk is work related.      Fayette, =
Ohio

Our staff uses it for personal use.  No problems.  Most have hotmail
addresses.  Students use it for personal use, so why not staff?
 Cambria, WI.=20

Janice - Our district has had e-mail in some schools for 2 years and=20
in all schools for this school year.  We are encouraged to use it for=20
in-school and in-district communication and have no restrictions on=20
using it for personal contacts.  Are personnel in your district=20
allowed to make personal phone calls?  Are they allowed to write a=20
letter on their break times?  Seems like the same issue.=20
Fayetteville, AR=20

Janice.  Our tech coordinator encourages use of email by teachers and
therefore does not want to say no to personnal use.  Our corporation =
policy
states that it is for educational use.  So I guess if teachers email
family...they are learning to use email.  At first teachers were trying
everything..personnel mail...greeting cards, etc. but now I have not =
heard
of much of that going on.  I have gotten a few teachers doing keypal
projects across the world.  We will be giving students email account, =
which
I anticipate some problems with, but since policy says it is for
educational purposes,  I will not let students use it in the media =
center
during the school day to do electronic notepassing.  Hope this answers =
your
question.
Alexandria, IN=20

The rule may have some merit(?????), but how do the powers that be =
propose
to enforce this?  Will it be someone's responsibility to go into =
teacher's
mailboxes and check?  One principal I taught under always said, "I'll =
get
your time," meaning that if we needed to do something personal during =
the
day, like a phone call (or an e-mail), we were professional enough to do
what was needed to still get done what we needed to.  Teaching is a
profession -- meaning that those who practice the profession are
professionals!!!    Springfield, NE=20

Every kind of use!  Hook teachers and administrators any way you can!=20
We do!        Pocahontas, AR =20

My district encourages teachers to use it as a means to improve their
expertise with computers.  It is a real shame to have to be around =
control
freaks!
Good luck!      Kansas City, MO =20

TENET--the TExas Education Network--originally said use only for
educational purposes....they decided that keeping in touch with people
is educational.  The idea of getting folks to use the technology was it
was more attractive if the people could contact their families....

personally, I'd say--does the school forbid any personal phone calls?  I
think people should be careful no to abuse this--but if I'm not mistaken
their planning periods are their own--they can call the doctor or Uncle
Joe if they choose.......Our district doesn't have a policy because so =
few people have their own
accounts     Lubbock, TX    =20

We are a private school but thought you could use my .02! Our teacher
and staff email accounts are *their* accounts. We do not place any
restrictions on them, we do not monitor them, they are considered
private just like their snail mail. We have never had a teacher neglect
his or her duties to conduct family business via email and don't ever
expect this to happen. Hope this helps!      Atlanta, GA

********************************         =20
I'm at home so I don't have the exact wording in front of me, but our =
district
policy states something like "to be used for educational purposes only"
regarding e-mail use.  I think that is totally logical AND reasonable in =
an
educational setting!  Newark, NY

Our district expects the email to be used for educational purposes.  Elm =
Grove, WI=20

We are not allowed to use school equipment for personal business ---=20
that would include e-mail expect for professional reasons.  Frederick, =
MD=20

**************************************
Our district has the policy that it must be used for professional use
only, but it is not enforced.  I question the validity of this way of
thinking.  A teacher must feel comfortable with a new media before
he/she will incorporate it into their classroom.  I believe the
"personal" practice improves the skills of the teachers and isn't that
what every school districts want...teachers with fine tuned skills!
Good Luck    Elkton, MD=20

Our district has a policy which says that email is only for school use =
and not for personal use.  However, I don't know of anyone who doesn't =
use it for personal use.  My principal is aware that many of the staff =
in our building use it for personal use and he feels it is OK.  How else =
will they become proficient users of they don't use it?  I know he even =
uses it for less than professional reasons, such as electronic birthday =
cards to staff, etc.  So, I guess my building staff isn't too worried =
about what will happen if the district comes down on us.   Maple Grove, =
MN



Well, if you got this far you are really interested in this subject!  =
Thanks again for everyone's help.  I am trying to get a more reasonable =
policy in place for my district! =20

I really appreciated everyone's help!

Janice Bjorke
LMS Crownhill Elementary
Bremerton,  WA
jbjorke@emry.net

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