Any District approved social media site must follow the guidelines outlined by District Social Media Guidelines.  An employee using social media in his or her professional capacity as an employee of the District and/or pursuant to his or her official duties should be honest about whom he or she is, and be thoughtful and respectful when submitting or posting messages.  In addition, employees using social media for such purposes should adhere to the following guidelines:

• District employees’ online behavior should reflect the same standards of honesty, respect and consideration they adhere in their face-to-face interactions.  The line between public and private, personal and professional are blurred in the digital world.  By virtue of identifying yourself as a Webster City Community School District employee online, you are now connected to colleagues, students, parents and the school community.  You should ensure that content associated with you is consistent with your work at the District.
• Remember, your social networking site is an extension of your personality, and therefore an extension of your professional life and your classroom.  If it would seem inappropriate to put a certain photograph on the classroom wall – it is inappropriate to put online.
• Do not submit or post confidential or protected information about the District, its students, alumni or employees.  You should assume that most information about a student is protected from disclosure by both federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and state law (Iowa Code Section 22.7 (1).  Disclosure of confidential or protected information may result in liability for invasion of privacy or defamation and result in disciplinary action up to, and including, discharge from employment.
• Any information shared via social media regarding the business of the District, whether using personal or District equipment, may be considered a public record.  All information communicated through or maintained on the District’s system is subject to being monitored or inspected at any time.
• Report, as required by law, any information found on a social networking site that falls under the mandatory reporting.
• Proofread content before you submit or post messages.  Remember that you are writing for publication, even if it is just for a social networking site.  Refrain from making unsubstantiated statements and avoid careless comments, such as “research shows” unless you also provide full citation of the research.  Exercise caution with regards to exaggeration, colorful language, guesswork, copyrighted materials, legal conclusions, and derogatory remarks or characterizations.
• Do not use language that could be considered defamatory, obscene, proprietary, or libelous.
• No personal addresses or phone numbers should appear on any school website/social tool.

The District recognizes the prevalence of social media used for personal purposes and acknowledges that its employees have the right, in certain circumstances, to speak out on matters of public concern.  However, the District has the right to respond to an employee’s use of social media in other circumstances, such as when the personal use of social media interferes with the employee’s ability to perform his or her duties or affect the District’s efforts to provide educational services.

Accordingly, it is essential that employees conduct themselves in such a way that their personal use of social media does not adversely affect their position with the District.  In addition, employees using social media for such purposes should adhere to the following guidelines:

• Employees must maintain professional relationships with current students enrolled in the District.  It is inappropriate for District employees to communicate with students enrolled in the District through social media, such as through electronic messaging or any other social networking website.  This includes becoming “friends” on such sites or otherwise allowing students to access your site page to communicate.  You should refrain from engaging in social interaction with current students enrolled in the district through personal pages on social networking websites and other personal web pages or personal electronic messaging. (Exception:  Communication between family members.)
• You should refrain from providing your personal contact information to students currently enrolled in the District.  You should only provide your official District email address and/or telephone number as a way to communicate with students.
• During the workday, you should refrain from participating on any personal social media regardless of whether such participation is through District or personal equipment, except when the personal account is required to access and update a District page.
• If you submit or post information or comments that are not related to the District, your activities may still result in professional repercussions.  Such actions include, but are not limited to, posting of photographs or information that violates federal or state law and regulations and/or District policies and rules.
• Keep in mind that you do not have control of what others may submit or post on social networking websites:  therefore, be aware that your conduct in your private life may affect your professional life.  Be vigilant about what others post about you on your page and, if necessary, take steps to remove comments that pose a risk to you or the District.
• Never pretend to be someone else and submit or post information concerning the District.
• District equipment should not be used for personal media access/use, whether on or off campus.

Employees who fail to comply with this policy or who make other inappropriate use of social media may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge.  If an employee has any questions about the application of this policy, he or she should consult his or her supervisor.

 

 

Approved:    August 2016

 

As an official representative of Webster City Community School District, employees must present their online presence in a professional manner.  See Board Policy 416 and administrative regulation 416.1 for a full description of the online code of conduct.

An employee who wishes to establish a social media site for a District office, class, or program must obtain prior approval from his or her direct supervisor, the technology director, and the director of teaching and learning.  Before establishing such presence, the following information must be provided to the direct supervisor, the technology director, and the director of teaching and learning. 

• Name of Office/Program/School/Classroom
• Lead Contact (Site Administrator)
• Other Site Administrators
• Purpose of Social Media Presence
  • Intended use(s)
  • Intended audience(s)
  • Examples of content
  • Estimated frequency of use
  • How the social media will further the work of the office, program, school, or classroom.
  • Use of District logo’s, etc.

Images on District social media accounts should be district, office, program, school, and classroom specific.  These images can and should change periodically to reflect current activities.  All images used must follow all relevant copyright laws, as well as both federal (the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) and state law (Iowa Code Section 22.7(1)).

Naming of social media pages will be done in collaboration with the Director of Teaching and Learning in order to establish consistent branding and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.  All names will include reference to Webster City Community School District.

When posting on District-Approved social media the District should always be identified as one of the following:

• Webster City Community School District
• Webster City Schools
• WCCSD

No other variations should be used.  This will establish consistent institutional identity across platforms.  Specific rules will also be established for individual building and program names on a case-by-case basis in collaboration with the Director of Teaching and Learning.

All student images fall under both federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the state law (Iowa Code Section 22.7(1)).  A list of students who are not to have images or name posted on social media will be kept at the district office.  Building administrators will be notified of those students housed in their buildings and involved in their programs who should not have any postings of their likeness on district social media sites.

The following Acceptable Use Policy must be posted on each District social media site:

Webster City Community School District (WCCSD) has created this social media site to serve as an additional means to share news, provide information, and facilitate communications within our school district community.  We thank all of the social media site users who “like/follow” our site and contribute to our online community.  Messages posted to this social media site do not necessarily represent the views of WCCSD.  WCCSD reserves the right to remove comments and/or report users who post comments which, in the school district’s sole discretion, bully, intimidate, or harass any individual; contain obscenity, nudity or gratuitous violence; are commercial solicitations; are factually erroneous, libelous, or wildly off-topic; are from anonymous blog trolls; or that otherwise violate State law, school district policy, or the social media site’s own policies.

 

 

Approved:    August 2016