There is a certain irony to the controversy that blew up on social media in the final days of this year’s local election campaign over the leak of confidential digital communications of the Board of Education. A school board member eventually identified himself as the source of the leak in the face of a pending investigation of the breach by the school board. David Freedman explained that he hoped to underscore the hypocrisy of his board’s allegations of “back room politics” by other elected officials; his leaked e-mail from the Board of Education’s former attorney, which in turn solicited e-mailed comments on an upcoming board discussion on terms of the superintendent’s contract, eventually ended up on Facebook. Mr Freedman saw this digital discussion as a circumvention of the “proper process” of conducting an executive session in a duly warned board meeting. However, the leak itself, followed by the release of a text message on an associated topic by board member Kathy Hamilton that also ended up on Facebook, went so far beyond the bounds of proper process that Mr Freedman’s point was quickly drowned out in the subsequent din of condemnation.

The idea that e-mails and text messages can constitute a kind of virtual “back room” is not new. More than a decade ago, the state’s Freedom of Information Commission issued a proposed draft declaratory ruling that e-mail and voicemail communications by public officials on the conduct of public business constitute public records and are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The ruling was never formalized, but it has become the accepted guide for applying the provisions of the law to digital communications. The FOI Commission considers e-mail and voicemail communications among a quorum of public agency members to be a “meeting” of that agency when the communications relate to a matter over which the agency has jurisdiction.

So, once the Board of Education recovers from its indignation over the actions of Mr Freedman and Ms Hamilton, it may want to consider its obligations under FOIA for its intraboard e-mail and text communications when it addresses substantive board business — like the terms of the superintendent’s contract. Granted, the confidential nature of contract discussions may be exempt from disclosure under the act, but they are public records nonetheless and must be retained either temporarily or permanently in accordance with guidelines established by the state Public Records Administrator. We suspect this confidential and protected information is currently spread informally through the messaging apps and e-mail inboxes of school board members’ various Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail accounts, the contents of which are routinely scanned by those companies for marketing purposes. So much for confidentiality.

While technology has presented us with vast improvements in instant and efficient communication between individuals, it has also provided a convenient means to bypass the protocols and processes that ensure governmental accountability. Reconciling the two under the terms of FOI laws may be difficult, complicated, and perhaps too big a task for Newtown’s array of boards and commissions to accomplish on their own. Sadly, some boards still seem to have difficulty with easy FOI requirements, like advanced warning of executive sessions with specific language.

A town like Newtown, which prides itself on its innovation and know-how, has to get this right. Fortunately, the Freedom of Information Act offers a path out of the confusion over how to keep governance open and accessible to the public. It empowers towns and cities to create freedom of information advisory boards “to facilitate the informed and efficient exchange of information” on the provisions of the act and to serve as a “liaison to the FOI Commission for educational purposes.” And it does not involve retaining yet another attorney. The state commission will even provide a model local ordinance to accomplish this.

Now looks like a good time for Newtown to create such an advisory board. It makes so much more sense than trying to work out all these problems and frustrations on Facebook.