I was wondering if the schools consider e-mails as “In writing” or not. I know that for “important documents” they need to be sent certified mail and I know the old rule”If you write it down be prepared for anyone in the world to see it”.
I just wonder if they print out every one and put in your child’s file or not.There have been many e-mails sent back and forth that would be helpful for our son’s sake.Our opinions, questions, statements, and the responses that we get back.Should I print them out and send a copy to the school?
I have teachers that do not respond, teachers that do respond, but have an unpleasant tone that you can get from just the written word. As well as answers that support my theory that they are dropping the ball.
The problem is….there is so many.
If I may, How does everyone else handle this subject and what are your opinions?
Thanks,
Sue
Re: e-mails equivalent to "In writing" ?
Oh yes! these are written documentation as well as Fax. They can deny they recieved yours,but can’t deny you recieved theirs. If you are sending,I would follow up with snail mail,but if they are sending it counts…
Re: e-mails equivalent to "In writing" ?
There is a case in employment law, where an employee was late in filing his expense report, so he asked his boss by email, if he should file it anyway even tho it was beyond the company’s stated time for filing expense reports. His boss emailed back to go ahead and file it anyway. His company denied it because it was filed too late. He appealed the decision, I don’t remember if it was thru union arbitration or what, but the legally binding decision was that because the emails included the parties’ “Christian names”, they were considered signed. The employee had printed out the emails, both sent and received, and they included the names, so his company had to pay the expense report, it was considered an enforceable contract.
You should print out, or back up onto floppy disk, copies of the emails you send and the emails you receive. They can be used by you later if necessary. If you desire, you can also mail copies [or better yet, hand carry them] to the school, ask the secretary to date stamp your copy and the school’s copy, and include a letter that you are requesting they be included in your child’s file.
I doubt that school personnel print out and place in your child’s file each email communication. For something really important, snail mail is the way to go. Absent some local school regulation, certified mail isn’t any different from or better than regular mail and you don’t need to use it unless you are going for the scare effect. Certified mail sent “return receipt requested” will at least tell you that they got it, but doesn’t have any independent significance beyond that unless you are trying to serve a legal complaint. At that point, you might be better off with a lawyer, who will know (or should know) exactly what is required to initiate a formal complaint. What I do is save a copy of each email I send or receive to a folder on my computer, which I back up periodically. It is likely that any emails sent or received on school computers are archived, and could be recovered but I prefer to keep my own copy. It is a good practice to keep copies of any communications you have with the school because you never know what may be significant later. I do this even though I am generally pleased with the services my child receives.
Andrea