Student Email

Bellwood-Antis School District Student Email Guidelines

Email can be a powerful resource for students to increase communication and collaboration between their teachers and peers and has therefore become a useful tool in the Bellwood-Antis School District.

The following document outlines expectations regarding the use of email in the educational setting.

Uses for Student Email

Students are encouraged to check their email daily.

Teachers may send email to their students to communicate reminders, course content, pose questions related to class work, etc.

Students may send email to their teachers with questions or comments regarding class.

Students may send email to other students to collaborate on group projects and/or to assist with school classes.

Students may use email to apply for accounts and receive information directly related to school activities (i.e. College Board or educational website accounts).

Student Email to Staff

Students are encouraged to email staff concerning school-related content and questions.

However, there will be no requirement or expectation for staff to answer student email outside of their regular workday, although they certainly may if they choose. For example, an unanswered email to a teacher would not excuse a student from submitting an assignment.

Student Email Permissions

Our Microsoft Office 365 system controls email messages that are both sent and received.

General Email Guidelines for Students

The student Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) covers email as well as other technologies. Below is a general summary of guidelines related to email.

Email is to be used for school-related communication only.

Do not send harassing email messages or content.

Do not send offensive email messages or content.

Do not send spam email messages or content, chain mail or any other type of unauthorized distribution of unsolicited mail.

Do not send email containing a virus or other malicious content.

Do not use email to transmit materials in a manner which violates copyright laws.

Do not send or read email at inappropriate times, such as during class instruction.

Do not send email to share test answers or to promote cheating in any way.

Do not use the account of another person.

Do not reveal personal details about self or others in email communication.

Students must immediately inform a teacher/trusted adult if they receive an offensive email.

Staff must inform relevant IT staff and the building principal if they become aware of any student misuse of email.

The failure of any user to follow the email expectations will result in the loss of privileges, disciplinary action and/or appropriate legal action.

Student Email Monitoring

All student email will pass through Securly, a tool the BASD uses to monitor student email and web activity. We encourage parents to opt into the Securly app to take full advantage of the District’s monitoring tool.

Rules/filters are set up to monitor student email for profanity, harassment, and other inappropriate content. These rules are adjusted as necessary.

Student email that is identified as inappropriate will be referred to school administration.

Filtering is not perfect. The BASD will adjust filtering if/when issues are brought to our attention.

Expectation of Privacy

Email messages are not secure or private. Confidential information should not be sent via email.

District email is subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.

The District provides email to aid students and staff in fulfilling duties and responsibilities and as an educational tool. However, the District’s electronic mail system and its constituent software, hardware, and data files are owned and controlled by the District.

At any time and without prior notice, the school district reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review, and store any and all usage of the network and Internet as well as information sent or received in connection with this usage. Because files remain the property of the school district, no individual should have an expectation of privacy regarding such materials.

We encourage parents to review their child’s email regularly.

Consequences for Misuse of Email

Violations of the BASD Acceptable Use Policy, including all guidelines referred to above, may result in restrictions, suspension or revocation of electronic use privileges by the Director of Technology or designee.

Users violating any of these privileges and responsibilities may face additional disciplinary action as appropriate.

Student Privacy Laws and Policies

Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA): The school is required by CIPA to have technology measures and policies in place that protect students from harmful materials including those that are obscene and pornographic. This means that student email is filtered. Mail containing harmful content from inappropriate sites will be blocked.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): COPPA applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. No personal student information is collected for commercial purposes. This permission form allows the school to act as an agent for parents in the collection of information within the school context. The school’s use of student information is solely for education purposes.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): FERPA protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents rights to review student records. Under FERPA, schools may disclose directory information (name, phone, address, grade level, etc.) but parents may request that the school not disclose this information.

1. The school will not publish confidential educational records (grades, student ID #, etc...) for public viewing on the Internet.

2. The school may publish student work and photos for public viewing but will not publish personal identifiable information.

3. Parents may request that photos, names and general directory information about their children not be published.

4. Parents have the right at any time to investigate the contents of their child’s email and Apps for Education files.

These guidelines, established in October 2021, will be monitored and evaluated regularly taking into account any incidents which may occur or technological developments which may require a change in expectations.

Downloadable version of these guidelines are available (here).

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines, please contact:

Michael W. Lingenfelter
Technology Coordinator
Bellwood-Antis School District

(814) 742-2279
[email protected]