Watch What You Write in E-mails

May 10th, 2010 By: Diane Trim in Articles, Teachers' Corner

It almost goes without saying: don’t write anything online or in an e-mail that you wouldn’t tell your principal or your students’ parents. What starts out as a casual e-mail between colleagues about Jonah’s classroom outbursts or Sami’s frequent absences can escalate to a full-blown incident. Electronic communication is a terrific thing: it creates a record, it is efficient, and it’s nearly instantaneous. It’s also a terrible thing: it creates a record, it is efficient, and it’s nearly instantaneous.

Once you click Send, your e-mail message is no longer your own. You don’t control its security in someone else’s InBox, you don’t control who reads your message, and you don’t control what others think of your message.

E-mail and FERPA. School e-mail etiquette goes beyond just being prudent. It turns out that your school e-mail can be considered part of a student’s record if you mention a student’s name. In April, the Kentucky attorney general’s office concluded that e-mails about students are indeed part of the student record, protected under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Like transcripts and absences, parents could request to see all e-mails about their child.

When you e-mail the guidance counselor about Colin’s lack of motivation in third period, the e-mail had better be strictly factual. Do not include your opinion that Colin won’t amount to anything if he doesn’t start cracking books turning in assignments.

The idea that your school e-mail is a part of a student’s record isn’t new. It’s just that now the notion is more official. FERPA’s standard has always been that any records the school maintains about a student is part of the student’s official school record. Since the school district maintains the e-mail system, keeps track of and backs up teacher e-mails, those e-mails are considered part of a student’s record.

Of course, parents can’t request to see your personal e-mail account, but it’s still not a great idea to write about your students in any way other than factual. You never know where that e-mail will end up.

Hand-written notes. The school district doesn’t maintain a record of your sticky notes or ask you to turn them in with your grade book at the end of the school year. You don’t need to worry about hand-written notes. It’s O.K. to let your substitute teacher know that she needs to pay close attention to the kids in the right-hand corner because they’re often off-task. You can add a sticky note to a test that you’re sending to the special education teacher. Those notes aren’t part of the student’s record. You don’t need to save them, but it’s still a good idea to stick to facts about a student and not offer your opinions. You never know if a scribbled note might find its way into the hands of a parent or your principal.

The take-away is no different for teachers than for students. We advise students never to write anything that they wouldn’t want their preacher, teacher, parent, coach, or boss to read. The rule holds true for us, as well.