IJNDCC - Employee Use of Webpages and Social Networking

Date Adopted: 22 June 2010

Current Review / Revision: 10 April 2024

The Emery County School District recognizes both the educational value and dangers of internet and social networking sites. To protect District personnel, students, parents, and District resources, the District requires all educators who access social networking sites to abide by the following:

Definitions

Social Networking: As used in this policy, social networking means establishing, maintaining, posting, or otherwise participating in an electronic community through websites, blogs, or social networking sites.

School Related Social Networking Community Site: An employee created or maintained site whose members primarily include students and with the purpose of online interactions related to education.

Web Page: A social networking site, personal web site, blog, or any other internet location that can be edited or accessed by an individual. These also include, but are not limited to, sites that offer users an opportunity to share interests, personal stories, photos, thoughts, etc, with any audience.

Instructional Use of Social Networking Sites

• School administrators are authorized to grant permission for the educational use of social networking tools. An educator desiring to establish a school related networking community in which students can participate shall propose the community to the administrator with an explanation of the instructional purposes. An educator may proceed if the administrator gives written consent. Administrative consent can be withdrawn at any time.
• Educator proposals shall be resubmitted and reviewed annually.
• Any school related social networking site shall comply with all school and District policies. Profanity, obscenity, defamation, and bullying are not permitted.
• Educators must comply with the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts (FERPA), other applicable State and Federal laws, and District policies.
• In the interest of protecting students' privacy rights, parents or guardians may “opt out” or request that a student's name, photos of the student, school work, or other information pertaining to their student may not be posted or published on a social networking site. Educators shall ensure compliance with such requests. Guidelines, including procedures for opting out, shall be distributed to families annually and maintained on the website.
• Educators are responsible for all content on the educator's school related site, including posts by students. Site content shall be limited to educational purposes and shall not be used for advertising (beyond web ads not within educator control) or for any other non-school related reason.
• School administrators shall be granted access to school related sites and shall monitor the sites for compliance with this policy. The removal of school administrator’s access to content displayed on the site will automatically terminate the written agreement.
• Educators are responsible for ensuring that student posts on school related sites which violate laws or policies are removed immediately and appropriate follow-up and/or disciplinary action is taken.

Personal Social Networking

• Nothing in this policy shall prohibit personal or private social networking by employees acting outside the scope of employment and with personally owned equipment.
• Employees who maintain personal social networking sites are discouraged from allowing District students to access these personal sites or personal social networking accounts.
• Use of District owned equipment and internet access is monitored. Employees have no expectation of privacy in activities utilizing District owned equipment whether the use is during work time or not.
• Personally identifiable student information, to include photographs, continues to be governed by FERPA regulations, and shall not be included on personal sites.

Web Pages for Instructional Use

• Web pages designed by educators for instructional purposes must be linked to their school's web site and the content should be limited to instructional material directly related to the educator's curriculum.
• Prior to creating or using an instructional web page, the educator must have consent from his or her school administrator.
• An instructional use web page shall comply with all school and District policies. Profane, obscene, or defamatory comments are not permitted.
• Educators must comply with FERPA, and may not post student photos, or personally identifiable information without prior written parental consent. Educator instructional web page postings may not violate any State or Federal laws.
• Educators are responsible for ensuring that student posts that violate laws or District policies are removed immediately and appropriate disciplinary action is taken.
• Educators are responsible for all content on the educator's instructional web page, including posts by students, and must limit access to those students given parental permission to participate in the instructional use.
• School administrators must be granted access to the instructional web page and shall monitor the site for compliance with this policy.
• Educators must include a disclaimer on their instructional web page noting that the content, views, and/or opinions expressed on the web page do not represent the District and the educator is solely responsible for any opinions, views, and/or content on the web page.

Personal Web Pages

• Employees who maintain a personal web page are discouraged from allowing students to access their personal web page or allowing students as friends on their personal social networking site except where provisioned under the Personal Social Networking section of this form.
• Employees may not access personal web pages using school resources or on District time.
• Employees may face disciplinary action for posts on their personal web pages that violate District policies and stated rules regarding professional conduct, that create a disruption in the school, or that interfere with the educator's ability to effectively meet job responsibilities.
• Employees may not use school logos, mascots, symbols, or District trademarks on their personal web pages.
• Employees who use District resources to create, maintain, or post to personal web pages or the pages of others have no expectation of privacy and their activities may be subject to review by the District.

Disciplinary Action

Employees have a right to maintain a presence on personal networking sites, but may be disciplined if social networking interferes with the ability to fulfill work responsibilities. Disciplinary action for inappropriate actions will be consistent with Acceptable Use policies and may also include suspension or termination.