E-Mail Retention in Texas - A possible solution!
Posted by Dirk D Dykstra at 4/17/2006 9:12 PM and is filed under Management Articles,Educational Technology 
The Issue:
I was under the impression that all school email was considered public documents and as such should be retained for three years. However, at a meeting last week I was told that I do not legally have to archive email and should NOT be doing so because of the possibility (and danger) that it will be requested in an investigation. I have searched and it still seems to me that the policies referenced indicate that I should be keeping it. What is your understanding?
My Suggestions:
This e-mail problem can be handled with expensive archiving, strict e-mail category policies or a simple directive. If your district directs your staff to use e-mail for transitory information only, then there are no retention requirements. Your directive needs to include the note that if they do send an e-mail that is more than transitory they will be responsible for all retention requirements. I also recommend you have your school attorney review the directive first. Below you will find the links to Texas' Records Management web site. They have a specific e-mail section and policy to peruse.
(3) Transitory Information, 1.1.057 - Records of temporary usefulness that are not an integral part of a records series of an agency, that are not regularly filed within an agency's recordkeeping system, and that are required only for a limited period of time for the completion of an action by an official or employee of the agency or in the preparation of an on-going records series. Transitory records are not essential to the fulfillment of statutory obligations or to the documentation of agency functions. Examples of transitory information are routine messages (can be recorded on any medium, such as hard copy message slips or in an electronic format on e-mail and voice mail); internal meeting notices; routing slips; incoming letters or memoranda of transmittal that add nothing of substance to enclosures; and similar routine information used for communication, but not for the documentation, of a specific agency transaction. Retention: AC (after purpose of record has been fulfilled).
What this usually means is that you, as an e-mail administrator, do not have to archive any of the school's e-mail unless you decide you want to. However, you need to make sure that the directive is presented properly to your staff and that it is enforced by administration. For those schools that require all official communications to go through an administrator, this is already being enforced. Remember, all policy changes and directives that could have serious legal ramifications should be approved by your attorney or other legal experts. The law changes with every judge's ruling and a dime here may save a dollar there.
Now there is one other key point here. E-mail is a public record! If a staff member's e-mail is requested and they have not deleted it, they must produce it. You could be tasked with helping make that happen. If the staff member has archived their e-mail on their computer you still may have to retrieve it. You also may have to produce any e-mail still in the system. There is no substitute for teaching your staff the proper use of their e-mail and the legal ramifications of pressing the send button on an e-mail with poorly chosen words.
Dirk D Dykstra
What this usually means is that you, as an e-mail administrator, do not have to archive any of the school's e-mail unless you decide you want to. However, you need to make sure that the directive is presented properly to your staff and that it is enforced by administration. For those schools that require all official communications to go through an administrator, this is already being enforced. Remember, all policy changes and directives that could have serious legal ramifications should be approved by your attorney or other legal experts. The law changes with every judge's ruling and a dime here may save a dollar there.
Now there is one other key point here. E-mail is a public record! If a staff member's e-mail is requested and they have not deleted it, they must produce it. You could be tasked with helping make that happen. If the staff member has archived their e-mail on their computer you still may have to retrieve it. You also may have to produce any e-mail still in the system. There is no substitute for teaching your staff the proper use of their e-mail and the legal ramifications of pressing the send button on an e-mail with poorly chosen words.
Dirk D Dykstra
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