Student Email Use

The Smithfield School Committee provides email accounts to students and expects that such accounts be utilized in accordance with the provisions of the District’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) as well as this e-mail policy.

Issuance of Account and Student Responsibility

Our student domain is presently “spsstudents.org.” Accounts are issued for the purpose of access to the Google Suite (or “GSuite”) of applications, including but not limited to, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Classroom and other products. Students in grades K-5 do not have access to a Gmail but do maintain a Google account for access to any of the other aforementioned classroom appropriate tools, as determined by their teacher and or school administration. This means K-5 students cannot send or receive mail, either internally or externally.

Students in grades 6-8 have an active email account that is within the district only. This “walled garden” allows for academic and school-related communication from other members of our email domain (Smithfield-ps.org) such as fellow classmates, teachers and school and district administrators.

Students in grades 9-12 have full rights in Gmail to send mail to and receive email from any domain.

With the issuance of an account, students are expected to maintain account security through the use of a complex password. At grades K through 5, this complexity is simply an eight-character or better word with numbers and or symbols. Students at grade levels 6 and up are expected to maintain a secure password and change it often.

Student account as the official channel of communication

A student email account is an official account for use by and for Smithfield public school students. Students are not to share or use other personal email accounts for school work or school district-related communications other than as a secondary or tertiary emergency communications contact email. All official student communications should originate from the student account.

Email as a record

The School District Technology Department may conduct monitoring of messages and accounts when necessary for compliance with the district policy and for investigation of school-related behavior matters when directed by administrative personnel. Only Information Technology staff and school administrators have access to the archives.

Transmissions are School Department property and should not be considered confidential or private. By using the School Department’s information technology systems, the user is expressly consenting to such monitoring.

The School Department’s information technology systems store and record information transmitted via email, and this record cannot be permanently deleted by the user.

Acceptable use

Each year parents and or guardians sign the Acceptable Use Policy, which governs student activity online and in the classroom using digital tools, including e-mail, provided by the District. Google account access is a privilege, not a right, and therefore entails responsibility. Students are responsible for good behavior on the school's computer network and in the use of its software resources. If a student is uncertain about whether a particular use is acceptable or appropriate, he or she should consult a teacher or school administrator for appropriate guidance.

Prohibited uses

Students may not use email to solicit or sell any product, service or material. Solicitation for student or school-sponsored events is allowable if it meets with School and District policies for fundraising and is subject to School Committee review and or approval. Email is provided for educational and other school-related activities and should not be used to promote any business, organization or cause that is not operated by or sanctioned by the Smithfield Public School district.

Students may not use email to intimidate, harass or otherwise bully a fellow student or school system staff member.

Archiving and access to records

Student email and drive contents are archived on the GSuite system and available for export for legal purposes and transfer to other systems as deemed necessary. Exiting students (no longer enrolled in Smithfield Public Schools but not yet graduated) may request a 48-hour window to access their account for any creative content and intellectual property, unless: 1. They are subject to a violation of the AUP that results in school expulsion, 2. A student is currently under arrest and or subject to a criminal matter that would be affected by any release of such records. Students who graduate will have access to their email for 90 days for use in school and college communications and are expected to relieve their account of any creative content and intellectual property at that time. Exceptions to this procedure can be requested via their school principal and or the Director of Technology.

ADOPTED: January 6, 2020