District 207 Parent and Student Communication Guidelines

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION

All electronic communication is subject to FOIA and most electronic communication is a student record.

Communicating with Students:

• Staff should never use a personal email account to communicate with a student.
• Staff should not contact students from their personal cell (call or text) or their home phone number.
• Staff should use district email, Google Chat through the district email, school phone (classroom or office), Remind or ParentSquare to contact students. If a staff member contacts a student in another way because of an emergency situation, the staff member should alert their immediate supervisor as soon as possible (within 3 hours) to share that a student was contacted utilizing a means outside of the guidelines.

Communicating with Parents:

• Staff should never use a personal email account to communicate with a parent.
• If they choose to do so, staff can contact parents from their personal cell (call or text) or their home phone number but this is not recommended.
• It is recommended Staff should use district email, a school phone (classroom or office), Remind, ParentSquare or the *67 function to contact parents.

Emailing with Parents and Students

• Remember that ALL emails and Google Chat are subject to public disclosure (Freedom of Information Act and potentially student record request). Write all email and Google Chats as if it will be published in the Chicago Tribune.
• Never use your personal email account to communicate with a student or parent.
• Communicate with parents in a timely manner. (A good rule of thumb is to return a call/email within 24 business hours.) 
• Keep emails with parents clear and concise as possible. A response to negative email from parents should be dealt with over the phone or in person – not over email if at all possible.
• Keep the tone professional at all times with parents. Use a salutation and an ending.
• Copy an administrator if you feel the situation warrants. Avoid using the blind copy and instead forward the email to others if needed.
• An email is a step to a phone call when involving a negative situation with a parent. Back and forth over email is unproductive and causes messages to be misinterpreted. (A good rule of thumb is that by the third exchange, you should be speaking.)
• If the tone of an email is unproductive by a parent, speak with an administrator before deciding on a response.
• Please consider using a professional email signature and a professional email picture.

Emailing with Other Staff Members

• All email and Google Chat, including internal (staff to staff) email and Google Chat, are subject to public disclosure (FOIA and potentially student record requests).
• If an email or Google Chat contains student information (i.e. full name or just first name or initials), the correspondence can become part of the student record. Write emails about students as if they will be read by the parent. 

Calling Parents and Students

• Staff should not contact a student (call or text) using a personal device (cell phone, home phone, etc.). In the case of an emergency situation, the staff member should alert their immediate supervisor (within 3 hours) to share that a student was contacted via personal phone or home phone.
• Staff should use a school phone (classroom or office), Remind or the *67 function to contact students.
• Staff can contact a parent using a personal device (cell phone, home phone, etc.) if they choose but it is not recommended. It is ideal if staff use a school phone (classroom or office), Remind or the *67 function to contact parents.
• Respond to parent calls during the work week to avoid being seen as always “on call.”
• Staff should not give out their cell phone number to students and avoid giving their cell phone number to parents.
• If you feel a call with a parent is going to be difficult, speak with an administrator for help.
• You have the right to end a call if you’re being harassed/treated disrespectfully. Calmly share that you are hanging up and someone will be in contact. Immediately let your department chair, principal or supervisor know.

If you have any questions related to these guidelines or communication in general, please contact Brett Clark at [email protected] or 847-692-6158.