HPS School Board Policy: Employee Use of Social Media The Board recognizes the importance of incorporating current

technology tools, including new methods of electronic communication, into the classroom to enhance student learning. It further recognizes the importance of employees, students and parents engaging, learning, collaborating and sharing in digital environments as part of 21st century learning. The Board strives to ensure that electronic communication tools incorporated into the school curriculum are used responsibly and safely. As practicable, the Board will provide access to appropriate social media tools and Board approved technologies for use during instructional time and for school-sponsored activities. The Board acknowledges that school employees may engage in the use of social media during their personal time. School employees who use social media for personal purposes must be mindful that they are responsible for their public conduct even when not acting in their capacities as school system employees. All school employees, including student teachers and independent contractors, shall comply with the requirements of this policy when using electronic social media for personal purposes. For the purposes of this policy, social media includes, but is not limited to: personal websites, web logs (blogs), wikis, social network sites, online forums, virtual worlds, video-sharing websites and any other social media generally available to the public or consumers that does not fall within the Boards technologies network (e.g., Web 2.0 tools, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube). A. SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS INVOLVING STUDENTS Employees are to maintain professional relationships with students at all times. All electronic communications with students who are currently enrolled in the school system must be schoolrelated and within the scope of the employees professional responsibilities, unless otherwise authorized by this policy. School personnel may use only school-controlled or superintendent/designee approved technological resources and social media tools to communicate directly with students or to comment on student matters through use of the Internet. An employee seeking to use a social media website for school-related purposes must have prior written approval from the superintendent or designee. The use of electronic media for communicating with students and parents is an extension of the employees workplace responsibilities. Accordingly, the Board expects employees to use professional judgment when using social media or other electronic communications. Employees are prohibited from knowingly communicating non-school related content directly with current students through social media tools . A non-school related posting on a social media site that is intended for a particular student will be considered a form of direct communication with that student in violation of this policy. However, an employee may use social media tools to communicate with a student about non-school related content to the extent the employee and student have a family relationship or other type of appropriate relationship which originated outside of the school setting. For example, an employee may have a relationship with a niece or nephew, a student who is the child of an adult friend, a student who is a friend of the employees child, or a member or participant in the same civic, social, recreational, sport or religious organization. B. EMPLOYEE PERSONAL USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA The Board respects the right of employees to use social media as a medium of self-expression on their personal time. As role models for the school systems students, however, employees are responsible for their public conduct even when they are not performing their job duties as employees of the school system. Employees will be held to the same professional standards in their

public use of social media and other electronic communications as they are for any other public conduct. Further, school employees remain subject to applicable state and federal laws, Board policies, administrative regulations and the Code of Ethics for North Carolina Educators, even if communicating with others concerning personal and private matters. If an employees use of social media interferes with the employees ability to effectively perform his or her job duties, the employee is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Employees are responsible for the content on their social media sites, including content added by the employee, the employees friends or members of the public who can access the employees site, and for Web links on the employees site. Employees shall take reasonable precautions, such as using available security settings, to restrict students from viewing their personal information on social media websites and to prevent students from accessing materials that are not age-appropriate. School employees are prohibited from accessing social networking websites for personal use during instructional time or with school system technological resources. C. POSTING TO SOCIAL MEDIA SITES Employees who use social media for personal purposes must be aware that the content they post may be viewed by anyone, including students, parents and members of the community. Inappropriate content posted by others on an employees social media site, as well as links that contain inappropriate content, must be removed upon discovery, when possible, by the employee. Employees shall observe the following principles when communicating through social networking sites: 1. Employees shall not post confidential information about students, employees or school system business. 2. Employees shall be cognizant of the connections they have with students through the use of social media tools to ensure that the relationship and content shared is professional and appropriate. . 3. Employees shall not knowingly allow students access to their personal social networking sites that discuss or portray sex, nudity, alcohol or drug use or other behaviors associated with the employees private lives that would be inappropriate to discuss with a student at school. 4. Employees may not knowingly grant students access to any portions of their personal social networking sites that are not accessible to the general public. 5. Employees shall be professional in all internet postings related to or referencing the school system, students and other employees. 6. Employees shall not use profane, pornographic, obscene, indecent, lewd, vulgar or sexually offensive language, pictures or graphics or other communication that could reasonably be anticipated to cause a substantial disruption to the school environment. 7. Employees shall not use the school systems logo or other copyrighted material of the system without express, written consent from the Board. 8. Employees shall not post identifiable images of a student or students family without permission from the student and the students parent or legal guardian. 9. Employees shall not use internet postings to libel or defame the Board, individual Board members, students or other school employees.

10. Employees shall not use internet postings to harass, bully or intimidate other employees or students in violation of policy 1710/4021/7230, Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying, or state and federal laws. 11. Employees shall not post inappropriate content that negatively impacts their ability to perform their jobs. 12. Employees shall not use internet postings to engage in any other conduct that violates Board policy and administrative procedures or state and federal laws. D. CONSEQUENCES School system personnel shall monitor online activities of employees who access the Internet using school technological resources. Additionally, the superintendent or designee may periodically conduct public internet searches to determine if an employee has engaged in conduct that violates this policy. Any employee who has been found by the superintendent to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. The superintendent shall establish and communicate to employees guidelines that are consistent with this policy.

Legal References: U.S. Const. amend. I; Childrens Internet Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 254(h)(5); Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2522; Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g; 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.; 20 U.S.C. 6777; G.S. 115C-325(e); 16 N.C.A.C. 6C .0601, .0602; State Board of Education Policy TCP-C-014 Adopted: May 21, 2012

HPS Employee Guidelines for Using Social Media Tools

Understanding the HPS Social Media Policy: Additional information and guidelines Employees are prohibited from knowingly communicating non-school related content directly with current students through social media tools. A non-school related posting on a social media site that is intended for a particular student will be considered a form of direct communication with that student in violation of this policy. Do not use social media tools to communicate with current students about topics that are not school-related. If it isnt appropriate to say it to a student in a face-to-face conversation at school, it isnt appropriate to say it using digital tools.

Employees are responsible for the content on their social media sites, including content added by the employee, the employees friends or members of the public who can access the employees site, and for Web links on the employees site. Employees shall take reasonable precautions, such as using available security settings, to restrict students from viewing their personal information on social media websites and to prevent students from accessing materials that are not age-appropriate. If you notice there is inappropriate content posted by others on your social media site, take it down. Delete the comment, picture, link, etc. Because of the possible disruption to the learning environment through the connection of this content to your social media profile, it is important to remove this content as soon as you are aware of its existence. As stated previously, make sure you are aware of the settings and functionalities of the social media tools you use. Explore the privacy settings and adjust them to limit the accessibility of personal content and/or content that is not age-appropriate on social media websites.

Employees shall be cognizant of the connections they have with students through the use of social media tools to ensure that the relationship and content shared is appropriate. You are not restricted from being friends with students on Facebook or connecting with students through social media tools, but the content and relationship you have with students using these tools must continue to be appropriate. If you do not fully understand how the social media tool works, how the tool connects content between and among you and your students, how content posted by others is/is not accessible to your students, etc., then dont use it to connect with students. For example, Pinterest, the third most popular social media tool today, allows users to follow one another. Unlike Facebook, there are not privacy settings or the ability to accept/decline followers. Therefore, you could likely have students following your pin boards. In fact, to view Pinterest pages, you dont even have to have an account! It is open to public access. Know that the content you post on your pin boards is held to the same professional standards as other content or behavior. Be aware, and be appropriate!

HPS Employee Guidelines for Using Social Media Tools

Employees are to maintain professional relationships with students at all times. All electronic communications with students who are currently enrolled in the school system must be school-related and within the scope of the employees professional responsibilities, unless otherwise authorized by this policy. Your relationship with students must be professional always. This includes both your relationship online and offline, during the school day and outside of school. If you use any social media tools or websites for instructional purposes, be sure to evaluate the tool to fully understand its functionality, design, and privacy options. Additionally, evaluate whether or not the tool meets your instructional goals and objectives.

School personnel may use only school-controlled or superintendent/designee approved technological resources and social media tools to communicate directly with students or to comment on student matters through use of the Internet. An employee seeking to use a social media website for schoolrelated purposes must have prior written approval from the superintendent or designee. In order to use a social media tool for school-related purposes, you must have permission. Complete the social media tool request form here: http://bit.ly/T0Zq0y You will need to explain how this tool would be used as an instructional tool. If the tool has already been approved, you do not need to complete a request form for use in your classroom. Approved tools are appropriate for use by teachers throughout the district. Remember that the policy definition of social media includes Web 2.0 tools. If you are unsure if the tool is considered a social media tool, request permission.
A list of approved tools can be found at: http://bit.ly/NwUJtf

As role models for the school systems students, however, employees are responsible for their public conduct even when they are not performing their job duties as employees of the school system. Employees will be held to the same professional standards in their public use of social media and other electronic communications as they are for any other public conduct. These statements are the heart of this policy. You are held to the same professional standards for behavior online just like you are offline. It doesnt matter the tool, platform, or interaction; you must conduct yourself appropriately. If your conduct interferes or disrupts the learning environment, and/or if it is inappropriate in nature, you could face consequences, up to and including dismissal.

HPS Employee Guidelines for Using Social Media Tools

School employees are prohibited from accessing social networking websites for personal use during instructional time or with school system technological resources. On the HPS network, you may only access social media websites for professional purposes.

Employees shall not post identifiable images of a student or students family without permission from the student and the students parent or legal guardian. Currently, parents of HPS students may complete a form to opt-out of having their childs picture/video posted online. If the parent did not opt-out, you have permission to post appropriate images/video of the child online.

Employees may not knowingly grant students access to any portions of their personal social networking sites that are not accessible to the general public. You should limit communicating with students privately using social media tools. Whenever possible, communicate via social media tools with a group of students or the entire class. Be transparent in your communications with students. All digital communications are subject to the open records law. Again, make sure you are aware of the settings and functionalities of the social media tools you use.

HPS Employee Guidelines for Using Social Media Tools

Understand social media o There are a variety of definitions and explanations for the term social media. The commonality among most definitions is that social media provides a platform for users to communicate and interact. Most social media include user-created content. There is debate about whether or not social network is a synonym for social media, but there this an agreement among most that these tools have dramatically altered the way we communicate. Web 2.0 is a term coined to mean a shift from user-consumable content (Web 1.0) to a more participatory environment where users are creators, managers, and collaborators of content. Every day, new social media, social networking, and web 2.0 tools are being added to the vast collection already in existence online. Social Media, as defined by the HPS Social Media Policy: includes, but is not limited to: personal websites, web logs (blogs), wikis, social network sites, online forums, virtual worlds, video-sharing websites and any other social media generally available to the public or consumers that does not fall within the Boards technologies network (e.g., Web 2.0 tools, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube). Educate yourself about social media, its role in todays society and in education, and safe and appropriate uses for social media tools.

Be aware of connections and content when communicating with students via social media tools o Social media tools enable users to create and share content and connect with others. There are a wide variety of social media tools available, each with their own set of options, settings, and functionality. Be educated about the tools you use! Understand how you connect with other users, what content is accessible by others, and the type of content you are creating/sharing to be sure it follows all related policies and laws.

Facebook best practices: Facebook is the most active social media tool in use today. For this reason, the guidelines below are specific to the use of this particular tool. o There are privacy settings within Facebook that enable the user to create lists of friends so that only specific content can be shared with particular people. Using lists may be helpful in ensuring that only appropriate content is shared with students. Remember that friend is just a term used by Facebook. It does not imply there is an inappropriate relationship between you and your students. However, if you intend to friend students on Facebook, you need to so with caution. There are privacy settings within some social media tools, like Facebook, that enable the user to customize what content is viewed by various visitors. For example, a teacher may have lists created within his/her Facebook profile that enable students to access a particular post, while only family members are able to access a personal post. Be sure to set your privacy settings/lists to keep students from seeing personal content. If you post personal content often on your Facebook wall, you are discouraged from

HPS Employee Guidelines for Using Social Media Tools

friending students because of the possibility they will be able to access this content. Weigh the risks, be educated about the functionality of Facebook and its settings, and make sure you are connecting with students in an appropriate manner (based on related laws and policies). o Be aware that content posted online should never be deemed completely private, no matter what privacy settings you have in place. Digital content shared with anyone can be disseminated without your knowledge or consent, making your privacy settings a moot point. Be cognizant that content might be accessed by parents, students, employers/future employers, community members, and others in the general public. The Facebook user agreement states that you cannot create more than one profile. In other words, you cannot create a second persona so that you can have a separate account for friending students. Using your Facebook account, you can create a Facebook Page or Group for your classroom which will enable you to communicate with your students/parents/other stakeholders without allowing access to your personal Facebook content. This is the recommended option for creating a classroom-related environment using Facebook.

Twitter best practices: Twitter is the second most active social media tool in use today. For this reason, the guidelines below are specific to the use of this particular tool. o Twitter allows multiple profiles, so if you wish to connect with students and/or other stakeholders, you are encouraged to create a separate account for this reason. However, if your Twitter profile is both personal and professional in nature, yet does not include content that is inappropriate to share with the general public, you are not restricted from using one profile.

Be educated. Connect and communicate appropriately. Model appropriate use.

Note: These guidelines should be considered a part of a living document due to the ever-evolving nature of social media. Created: 7/30/12