The School Board of Polk County
Bylaws & Policies
Unless a specific policy has been amended and the date the policy was revised is noted at the bottom of that policy, the bylaws and policies of The School Board of Polk County were adopted on November 12, 2013 and were in effect beginning November 12, 2013.
 

7540.05 - ELECTRONIC MAIL

The School Board is committed to the effective use of electronic mail by employees of the District in conduct of their official duties. The intent of this policy is to assist employees in using electronic messages. It is not meant to limit or discourage the use of electronic mail for conducting District business. Rather, it is to establish a framework for the proper use of electronic mail as an official business tool.

As required by State law, the following statement shall be posted in a conspicuous location on the District’s website:

 

"Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail regarding official business to the District or any of its employees. Instead, contact the District or individual employee by phone or in writing."

 

The District complies with all Federal and State laws pertaining to electronic mail. State and Federal law exempts certain documents and information within documents from disclosure, no matter what their form. Before electronic mail is released pursuant to a public records request, all exempt information in it must be redacted.

The Board does not authorize the use of its proprietary computers and computer network ("network") to accept, transmit, or distribute unsolicited bulk e-mail sent from the Internet to network e-mail accounts. In addition, Internet e-mail sent, or caused to be sent, to or through the network that makes use of or contains invalid or forged headers, invalid or non-existent domain names, or other means of deceptive addressing will be deemed to be counterfeit. Any attempt to send or cause such counterfeit e-mail to be sent to or through the network is not authorized by the District and is prohibited by Part III of Chapter 668 of State law. Similarly, e-mail that is relayed from any third party's mail servers without the permission of that third party, or which employs similar techniques to hide or obscure the source of the e-mail, is also an unauthorized use of the network, and is prohibited by Part III of Chapter 668 of State law. Further, the District does not authorize the harvesting or collection of network e-mail addresses for the purposes of sending unsolicited e-mail.

The District reserves the right to take all legal and technical steps available to prevent unsolicited bulk e-mail or other unauthorized e-mail from entering, utilizing, or remaining within the network. Nothing in this policy is intended to grant any right to transmit or send e-mail to, or through, the District’s network. The District's failure to enforce this policy in every instance in which it might have application does not amount to a waiver of District rights.

Unauthorized use of the network in connection with the transmission of unsolicited bulk e-mail, including the transmission of counterfeit e-mail, may result in civil and criminal penalties against the sender.

F.S. 119.011, 257.05, 668.60 et seq., 668.701 et seq.

© Neola 2011