ARLINGTON, VA—School districts across the country adopted a communications policy Monday allowing employees to acknowledge an email without undergoing the separate process of reading it.

"We wanted to formalize what was already working," said district spokesperson Elaine Porter. "Or happening. We haven't reviewed the distinction."

The policy offers three approved responses: "Thanks, noted," "Circling back," and "Looping in Brenda." Brenda, who was not consulted, has been placed on administrative leave to catch up.

Messages marked urgent will retain that designation until archived. Attachments are considered read once someone mentions them in a meeting, regardless of whether the mention is "I couldn't open the attachment."

Parents praised the improved response times. "I used to wait three days to find out nobody knew where my son's bus was," said Martin Ellis. "Now they don't know almost immediately."

Teachers were instructed to demonstrate compliance by replying to a training email. Those who read it discovered that no reply was necessary and were flagged for noncompliance.

The district has appointed a coordinator to distinguish emails that require action from emails that merely contain the words "action required." The position reports to Brenda.

Porter said the new policy would be reviewed at the end of the semester. Asked what it replaced, she searched her inbox, paused, and said she would circle back.