<body><div>In the wake of the departure of North Platte School Supt. Todd Rhodes, the school board took steps Monday to restrict the superintendent’s access to emails they send and receive in their board work.The board discussed the privacy of the emails and Google documents at length Monday before setting a new policy for keeping their emails separate and secure.Emails that have been sent and received on the district’s email system are stored in what’s called a “Google Vault,” a digital tool for communications that are sent by “Gmail” or through “Google Docs.” Teachers, staff, students and administrators as well as school board members, use that email system.The board is concerned about their privacy, in large part because Supt. Todd Rhodes frequently looked at board members’ emails without their permission or full knowledge. The board asked the district’s IT department for the number of searches of their emails and Google documents in in the last year that were made by:<ol><li>The superintendent’s office.</li><li>The technology department. </li><li>The student services department.</li></ol>According to the records, the school superintendent looked at the board’s emails the most, by far — 214 times between March 14, 2025 and March 14, 2026 (see table below.)Rhodes was the superintendent during all but two weeks of that time, resigning on Feb. 27. President Emily Garrick said later that the board were unaware that the superintendent could even access their emails. The new policy 2018 states that access to school board records in the district’s Google Vault system is only allowed:<ul><li>By board authorization.</li><li>For legal requirements, such as court subpoenas.</li><li>For emergency or security needs.</li><li>For technical support.</li></ul>Policy 2018 also makes it clear that all the board’s communications that are related to school board work, including those sent from personal devices such as cell phones, are subject to public records laws.The board unanimously approved the new policy over their own emails, and they are considering similar revisions regarding staff and student Gmails and Google docs.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3LuItN_1ASnWBJ400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3LuItN_1ASnWBJ400" width="749" height="228" ><figcaption>Source: North Platte Public Schools</figcaption></figure>Here is the pertinent section of the revised policy: ———————-North Platte School District Policy 2018 – Unanimously adopted April 13Access to board member email accounts is permitted only under the following limited circumstances:1. Board authorization – The board authorizes specific access by vote and defines the scope and purpose.2. Legal requirements – Access is required for legal reasons, such as complying with a subpoena, court order, public records obligation, litigation hold, or direction from district legal counsel. Whenever practicable, the affected board member(s) shall be notified prior to access.3. Emergency or security needs – Access is necessary to respond to an immediate threat to district operations or system security. Such access shall be limited in scope, documented, and reported to the Board President as soon as practicable.4. Technical support – Access is content-neutral and required for system maintenance, troubleshooting, or account recovery. Staff shall avoid viewing message content whenever possible. Any inadvertent exposure to content shall not be used or disclosed except as required by law.Except where prohibited by law, affected Board members shall be notified when their email account is accessed.———————- © 2026 The North Platte Bulletin. All rights reserved!</div></body>

Block Source: North Platte Bulletin

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

In the wake of the departure of North Platte School Supt. Todd Rhodes, the school board took steps Monday to restrict the superintendent’s access to emails they send and receive in their board work. The board discussed the privacy of the emails and Google documents at length Monday before...

NP school board tightens access to their work emails

NewsBreak

In the wake of the departure of North Platte School Supt. Todd Rhodes, the school board took steps Monday to restrict the superintendent’s access to emails

NP school board tightens access to their work emails

Comments / 1