MURRIETA —— In what appears to be a tentative settlement to a lawsuit filed in January, the Murrieta school district will agree to create e-mail accounts for its five trustees and keep official electronic correspondences for at least 90 days, according to a memo penned by an attorney for the district.

"There is a proposed settlement," said Patsy Wells with Superintendent Chet Francisco's office. "Our attorney is out of town for two weeks and will be preparing a settlement agreement for review when he returns."

The man who filed the lawsuit, conservative public interest attorney and district board candidate Richard Ackerman, said Wednesday he is pleased with his lawsuit's outcome.

"This is an accountability issue," Ackerman said, adding that his goal was to "get the district in compliance" with the California Public Records Act. The law requires public agencies to make a host of district documents available upon request.

The trustee named in the lawsuit, Austin Linsley, said Wednesday the legal challenge was unnecessary and Ackerman could have simply asked the district to create the accounts.

"Our job is to educate kids, not to do this stuff," Linsley said. "My only comment would be setting up those e-mail accounts is a great idea and could have been done without having filed an action. We are not being forced to do this."

Ackerman filed the lawsuit against Linsley, a Murrieta Valley Unified School District trustee, in early January. Ackerman alleged Linsley had violated state law by deleting e-mails pertaining to district matters on his personal account.

The lawsuit came two days after Ackerman filed a public records request with the district seeking Linsley's e-mails on district issues for the past three years. Ackerman said he filed the lawsuit as a result of a newspaper report in which Linsley said he deletes his e-mails.

With an official settlement nearing, Ackerman said district officials have been cooperative and understanding.

"They could have tried to fight me," Ackerman said of the district. "A lot of times, they'll give the district's attorney fighting orders. … They didn't do that. They worked toward getting it resolved."

The July 1 memo written by an attorney for the district to Ackerman states that "this letter will confirm that the district has agreed to provide all board members with district e-mail addresses for official business.

"This letter shall also confirm that the district has agreed to develop a policy whereby e-mails concerning official business received by the district will be retained by the district for at least 90 days," according to the memo, written by John Dietrich of the law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud and Romo, which is retained by the district.

District administrators declined to comment on the matter, noting that the settlement has yet to be made official. Dietrich did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.