Red Unified School District Social Media Policy

1.Purpose

Thepurposeofthispolicyletteristolayouttheexpectationsofthedistrictwithregard
tostaffandstudentuseofsocialmedia.Theintentofthepolicyistoclarifythe
expectationsofdistrictleadershipregardingtheuseofsocialmediaanddigital
communicationplatforms.

2.ScopeandDefinitions

Socialmediaasusedinthisdocumentshallrefertowebsites,mobileapplicationsand
communicationsplatformsthatare1)usedtoconnectpeopleand2)availabletothe
public.Theseapplicationsinclude,butarenotlimitedto,toolssuchas:

Facebook(includingMessenger)
Twitter
Google+
LinkedIn
Instagram
Snapchat
Tumblr
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Flickr
Vine
Blogs(variousplatforms)

Thispolicyiscreatedwiththeunderstandingthatsocialplatformsarevariedand
constantlychanging.Socialmediawillbeusedtorefertoanysimilarlyfunctioning
platform.

3.GeneralPrinciples

Socialmediahasbecomeanintegralpartofthelearningexperienceforstudentsand
teachers.Itcanbeusedtoconnectaroundcontentandcurrentevents,serveasa
professionaldevelopmenttool,andasavectorfordifferentiation.Assuch,thedistrict
recognizestheeducationalneedforsocialmedia.

Thedistrictalsorecognizesthatsocialmediacanserveasavaluableconnection
platformforstaffwhentheyleavethebuilding.Thedistrictrecognizestherightofstaffto
maintainapersonalonlinepresencethatisseparatefromtheirdutiesasprofessional
educators.

However,itisimportanttorecognizethatthelinesbetweenpersonalandprofessional
livesareeasilyblurredonsocialmedia.Thispolicyexistsasasignposttohelpguide

staffandstudents.Itisimportantthatifyouhaveanyquestionaboutaparticularsocial
mediaissuethatyoubringittotheattentionofdistrictleadership.

4.SocialMediaInteractionwithStudents

Staffmembersarerequiredtomaintainaprofessionalrelationshipwithstudents.Any
communicationwithcurrentstudentsonsocialmediamustbedistrictrelatedandwithin
thescopeofstaffsprofessionalduties.ItisimportanttonotethattheChildrensOnline
PrivacyProtectionAct(COPPA)requiresparentalconsentforanyonlinecontentthat
collectspersonalinformation(suchasfullname,addressandphone)fromchildren
under13.Suchinformationiscommonlyrequiredtoregisterforsocialmediaplatforms.

Staffmembersareencouragedtousedistrictadministeredcommunicationmethods
(suchasassignedemailaccounts)tocommunicatedirectlywithstudentsaboutofficial
matters.Intheeventthatthereisaneedtocreateasocialmediapresence(foraclass
projectorclub,forexample),thenstaffwillbeaskedtocreateaprofessionalidentityfor
thatpurposewheneverpossible.

Staffshouldnotconnectwithcurrentstudentsorparentsonsocialmediaforanyreason
otherthantofacilitateclassroomorprofessionalcommunicationandthese
communicationsshouldoccurondistrictprovidedcommunicationtools.Ifastaff
memberwishestocreateasocialmediasiteforeducationalpurposes,theymust
requestapprovalbysubmittingthe
SocialMediaSiteAuthorizationForm
.Ifthesocial
mediasiteisapproved,thestaffmembermusthaveparentpermissionfortheir
son/daughtertobeamemberofthatsite.Friending,Following,orotherwise
connectingwithcurrentstudentsortheirparentsoutsideoftheeducationalcontextis
stronglydiscouraged,unlessthestaffmemberandstudent/parenthaveapreexisting
familyorpersonalrelationship.

5.StaffUseofSocialMedia(OnDuty)

Staffuseofsocialmediaduringinstructionaltimeshallbelimitedtoonlythatusewhich
supportstheeducationalmission.Staffareexpectedtolimitusetothosetasksand
interactionsrelevanttotheirspecificteachinggoals.Useofpersonalsocialmedia
accountsduringtheeducationaldayisexpresslyprohibited.

Socialmediaisoftenusedasamediumforsharingresourceswithstudents.Media
usedineducationalsettingsfallunderseverallawsregardingproperuse.Allmedia
(print,audio,video,electronic)iscoveredbycopyrightlaw.

Useofmediaineducationalsettingsmaybeallowedunderthefollowingexceptions:

CreativeCommonslicenses
link

FairUseguidelinesforcopyrightedmediaineducationalsettings
MediathatispartofthePublicDomain

link
link

6.StaffUseofSocialMedia(OffDuty)

Thedistrictrecognizesthefreedomofspeechandexpressionrightsofeachstaff
member.However,employeesareencouragedtorecognizethattheirfreedomsexist
withinthecontextofaverypublicandsacredroleasaprofessionaleducator.
Employeesshouldbeawarethattheirposts,evenifprivate,couldendupbeingviewed
byschoolanddistrictleaders,fellowstaffmembers,students,parents,andthe
communityatlarge.Aspaidrepresentativesofthedistrict,staffmembersshouldstrive
tomaintainprofessionalismatalltimes.

Specifically,staffshould:

Refrainfrompostingconfidentialinformationaboutstudents,parentsorstaff
Refrainfrommakingnegativepubliccommentsaboutstudents,parents,orstaff
Refrainfrompostingspecificinformationaboutschoolordistrictpolicies,
procedures,orinternalevents
Maintainaprofessionalbearingbynotpostingillicitorillegalphotosorcontent
Notengageinbehaviorofanintimidatingorharassingnature

Districtpersonnelwillbeexpectedtoreceiveannualprofessionaldevelopmentondigital
literacyandsocialmediabestpractices.
Staffwillbeprovidedwithacceptableuse
trainingregardingdistricttechnologyandnetworks,aswellasupdatedinformation
aboutanyadjustmentstothispolicy.

7.StudentUseofSocialMedia

Studentuseofsocialmediaduringinstructionaltimeshallbelimitedtoonlythatuse
whichsupportstheeducationalmission.Staffareexpectedtolimitusetothosetasks
andinteractionsrelevanttotheirspecificteachinggoals.Studentuseofpersonalsocial
mediaaccountsduringtheeducationaldayisstronglydiscouraged.

Atthestartoftheschoolyear,studentswillcompleteageandtool/deviceappropriate
trainingwithregardstocomputerandinternetsafetyandacceptableuse.Thetraining
willcoverthetopicsof:

acceptableuseofdistrictequipmentandnetwork
socialmediasafety
digitalcitizenship/cyberbullyingwhileusingdistrictandpersonal
computers.
propersearchtechniques
informationsecuritybestpractices

RedUnifiedSchoolDistrict
SocialMediaSiteAuthorizationForm

Employeeswhoinclineincreatingandmaintainingadistrict/schoolsocialmediasitemustfirstcompletetheRed
UnifiedSchoolDistrictSocialMediatraining.Oncethetraininghasbeencompleted,filloutthefollowing
authorizationformalongwithdocumentationofcompletionoftheSocialMediatrainingtoobtainapprovalfromthe
schoolprincipalordepartmentsupervisor.Ifapprovalisgranted,acopyoftheauthorizationformmustbekept
onfileattheemployeessiteandallemployeeswhohaveaccesstothesite(siteadministrators)mustkeepa
copy.Boththesitesupervisorandthesocialmediasiteadministratorarefullyresponsibletoregularlymonitorthe
siteactivityandwillnotifytheirschoolsupervisor
immediately
ofanymisconductonthesite.

Date:
_______________

EmployeeName:
_________________________
School/Department:
________________________

EmployeeTitle:
_________________________
DistrictEmail:
______________________________

NameandURLofsocialmediasite:
___________________________________________________

Purposeofsite:
__________________________________________________________________

SocialMediatrainingcompletiondate:
_____________
Documentationattached:
____yes____no

Siteaccountinformation:

EmailAssociatedwithsite
:_____________________________

Username:
________________________________
Password:
_____________________________

Individualswithsiteaccess:

Name
:________________________________
Title:
_____________________________________

Name
:________________________________
Title:
_____________________________________

Name
:________________________________
Title:
_____________________________________

Schoolprincipalordepartmentsupervisorapproval:

____yes____no

Name
:________________________________
Title:
_____________________________________

Signature:
__________________________________
Date:
______________________

RedUnifiedSchoolDistrict
SocialMediaPermissionForm

Date:____________________
SiteAdministratorname:__________________________________________________
SiteURL:______________________________________________________________
Class/Clubname:_______________________________________________________
Purposeofsocialmediasite:_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

*SiteAdministrator,pleasefillouttheinformationabove

Aspartofyourchildseducationalexperience,yourchildsteacherorclubsponsorhas
createdasocialmediasitethroughtheRedUnifiedSchoolDistrict.Thissitemaybeused
bothduringandafterschoolhours.Throughthissite,yourson/daughterwillbeableto:
postcomments
postpicturesorvideos
interactwithotherpeermembersandsiteadministers
Yourson/daughtersnamewillbepublishedonthissite,however,astheparent/guardian,you
mayselectyourson/daughterslevelofinteraction.Thissitewillberegularlymonitoredby
thesiteadministratorandschool/sitesupervisor.

Option1
Iherebygrantpermissionformyson/daughtertobefullyinvolvedintheaboveRedUnified
SchoolDistrictsocialmediasitethatisstatedaboveandacknowledgethatmyson/daughters
name,pictureorvideoswillbepublishedonthissite.

Parent/GuardianSignature:_____________________________Date:____________

Option2
Iherebygrantpermissionformyson/daughtertousetheRedUnifiedSchoolDistrictsocial
mediasitethatisstatedabovebutrequestthatmyson/daughterdosousingananonymous
accountandthattheirimagenotbepostedonthesite)

Parent/GuardianSignature:_____________________________Date:____________