SMITH ADDRESSES E-MAIL POLICY VIOLATIONS
With a special election, political activists were busy last week encouraging debate and discussing the issues. School officials, meanwhile, were reminding employees to refrain from that discourse.
Superintendent Robert Smith issued a memorandum Tuesday, March 4, to all employees, informing them of a violation of technology procedures and calling their attention to rules regarding proper use of school network resources. The notice came in response to an e-mailed communication between Barrett Elementary Assistant Principal Yolanda Smingler and Teri Battles, Barrett’s instructional technology coordinator.
On Friday, Feb. 28, Smingler sent Battles an invitation to a March 2 reception for Democratic County Board candidate Walter Tejada, asking the tech coordinator to distribute the invitation further. Both women used Arlington Public Schools’ e-mail accounts.
Smith became involved in the matter after Mike Lane, an Arlington Republican activist, notified the superintendent of Smingler’s e-mail. Responding to Lane, Smith wrote, “In this instance, as I understand it, an e-mail originating on a home computer was transmitted to a school e-mail account and then on to another home computer for the purpose of advertising a political event.”
Use of school e-mail accounts, even at home, is subject to the restrictions prohibiting political activities. The Arlington Public Schools Policy Implementation Manual forbids “Using the Internet or APS network for political purposes or activities, religious activities, or any type of gambling.”
“The staff members who violated the procedure have been advised of the violation and their action has been treated as a personnel issue requiring a disciplinary response,” Smith wrote to Lane.
As a matter of policy, school officials do not comment on specific personnel matters, but the Policy Implementation Manual states, “Anyone found to have engaged in illegal, unauthorized or unethical practices will be subject to disciplinary action that could result in termination of system access, termination of employment and/or criminal prosecution, if appropriate.”
Punishments aren’t set in stone, said Linda Erdos, Director of School and Community Relations. Instead, disciplinary action could mean just about anything, from a verbal warning to a letter in someone’s personnel file to firing. “It all depends on the circumstances, the severity, any prior violations that may have occurred,” and other considerations, Erdos said.
In Smith’s memorandum to all public school e-mail users, he called the violation “unfortunate,” and advised all users to take note of technology guidelines and the potential consequences for not following them.
E-mails sent or received via the school network are considered part of official school records, and the Policy Implementation Manual warns, “Remember, e-mail privacy is an illusion.”
BOARD APPROVES SNOW MAKEUP SCHEDULE
Students will soon need to wake up 15 minutes early and will come home 15 minutes late. At a Thursday, March 6 meeting, school board members made one modification to a proposal for making up days lost this year to inclement weather. The original proposal, drafted by Superintendent Robert Smith, would have added 30 minutes to the end of each school day this year, beginning March 17.
Instead, board members decided to split that time between the beginning and end of the day. The additional time will make up for some of the nine weather-related cancellations this year.
Students will also have to attend school on March 28, a day originally scheduled for teachers to report third quarter grades. Some employees have criticized the decision to take away a teacher workday, but Smith said the proposal was the best way to provide instructional time when students most need it — early in the year. Under the new plan, only one makeup day will be added to the end of the year.