PACT Charter School

Original Creation Date: May 18, 2021
Last Approved By: PACT Charter School Board of Directors
Last Approved Date: August 4, 2021
Year Reviewed: 2021-2022

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to document the desire of the PACT Charter School Board of Directors to allow PACT Charter School representatives to send and accept electronic signatures to conduct official business to the extent permitted by law and to outline the extent to which PACT Charter School will send, accept, and rely on electronic signatures.

General Statement of Policy 

The PACT Charter School Board of Directors delegates to the Superintendent of Schools the authority to determine the extent to which PACT Charter School will send, accept, and otherwise create, generate, communicate, store, process, use, and rely upon electronic signatures to and from other persons. For an electronic transaction to be valid, each party must agree to conduct the transaction electronically. If a law prohibits a transaction from occurring electronically, the transaction must occur in the manner specified by law.

Definitions 

1. Authentication. Authentication is the process used to ascertain a person's identity or the integrity of specific information. Authentication ensures that the user applying an electronic signature is who they say they are and is authorized to sign.
2. Electronic signature. An electronic signature means a digital or digitized signature made by electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted with the intent to sign the record.
3. Transaction. Transaction means an action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons relating to the conduct of business, commercial, or governmental affairs.

General Standards 

1. This policy only applies to transactions between PACT Charter School representatives and parties that have consented to conduct transactions by electronic means. Consent to conduct transactions by electronic means is determined from the transaction’s context and surrounding circumstances, including the parties' conduct.
2. An electronic signature is attributable to a person if it was the act of the person. The act of the person may be shown in any manner, including a showing of the efficacy of any authentication or other security procedure PACT Charter School applies to determine the person to which the electronic signature was attributable. The effect of an electronic signature shall be determined from the context and surrounding circumstances at the time of its creation, execution, or adoption, including the parties’ agreement to engage in an electronic transaction if any.
3. Electronic signatures shall be retained with their associated records according to PACT Charter School’s regular records retention schedule.

Authority and Responsibilities 

1. Superintendent of Schools is delegated authority to determine the extent to which PACT Charter School will accept and use electronic signatures to facilitate transactions involving official PACT Charter School business.

2. The Superintendent of Schools shall adopt and implement all system procedures necessary to accept and use electronic signatures to the extent determined by the Superintendent of Schools. PACT Charter School’s system procedures shall be developed in consultation with other appropriate PACT Charter School personnel and shall ensure that all legal requirements are met. Any potential operational risk associated with using an electronic signature must be offset by the anticipated benefit of receiving electronic signatures. Consistent with Minnesota law, these system procedures may specify:

3. The manner and format in which the electronic records attached to the electronic signatures will be created, generated, sent, communicated, received, and stored and the systems established for those purposes;

4. The type of electronic signature required, the manner and format in which the electronic signature must be affixed to the electronic record, and the identity of, or criteria that must be met by, any third party used by a person filing a document to facilitate a transaction;

5. The control processes and procedures that will ensure adequate preservation, disposition, integrity, security, confidentiality, and auditability of electronic records; and

6. Any other required attributes for electronic records specified for corresponding nonelectric records or reasonably necessary under the circumstances.

7. Nothing in this policy is intended to authorize any individual to provide an electronic signature on behalf of the PACT Charter School Board of Directors or PACT Charter School unless they have been granted such authority pursuant to a delegation of authority by the  PACT Charter School Board of Directors, a specific PACT Charter School Board of Director’s policy or the law.

8. PACT Charter School may maintain official records in an electronic format provided that the relevant record retention schedule is updated to reflect electronic record management and that the electronic records are trustworthy, complete, accessible, and durable.

Legal References: 

Minn. Stat. § 325L.01 et seq. (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act)

Minn. Stat. § 123B.09, Subd. 1 (School Boards Powers)

Minn. Stat. § 123B.02, Subd. 1 (School District Powers)

Minn. Stat. § 15.17 (Official Records)

SN4, LLC v. Anchor Bank, fsb, 848 N.W.2d 559, 562 (Minn. App. 2014)