Is your district aware that there should be employee guidelines for professional AND personal social media?
Districts have a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that all employees understand keeping clear boundaries in relationships with students, parents, and the greater community. Social media accounts are great tools for communication, however, challenges exist in keeping those boundaries clear. It is imperative to understand how easy it is to cross educator ethical boundaries. At the bottom of our newsletter, you can find the TxSP resources on this subject for our subscribing districts.
Legal and Ethical Resources
Educators' Code of Ethics for Texas Educators, Section 247.2; and Standard (l)3.9
TASB School Board Policies BJCF, DFBB, and DH
Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), Social Media Policy
Various sections of the Texas Administrative Code
U.S. Department of Education, American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence (March 29, 2016)
Court Decisions
Professional Social Media Accounts
Any professional employee social media account should not only have guidelines, but TxSP strongly recommends that there is also a protocol addressing a district designee to approve social media accounts and postings. District and campus leaders should be aware of what is going out to the community, parents, and students. A professional protocol will include some of the following (this is not all inclusive):
- Procedures for setting up a district social media account
- Guidelines for acceptable posts (these are public records)
- Timelines and requirements for monitoring accounts
- Differences and recommendations for Facebook and Twitter accounts
- Use of informed consents
- Setting up safety procedures for confidentiality and privacy
- Rules on removing comments
Personal Social Media Accounts
The district should not take a position on an employee’s decision to participate in social media pages, blogs, etc. for personal use on personal time. Personal social media accounts are more at risk for crossing boundaries. However, it is important to be aware that:
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If an employee‘s use of electronic media interferes with the employee‘s ability to effectively perform his or her job duties, the employee is subject to disciplinary action, including termination of employment.
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If an employee wishes to use a social network site or similar media for personal purposes, the employee is responsible for the content (including others that post on that site)
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If an employee wishes to use a social network site or similar media for personal purposes, the employee is responsible for the Web links on the employee‘s personal page/account.
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If an employee wishes to use a social network site or similar media for personal purposes, the employee is responsible for maintaining privacy settings appropriate to any content that is posted.
It is helpful and proactive for Districts to develop a protocol on personal accounts to help guide staff on privacy settings, helpful hints, reminders, and legal considerations in order to not cross inappropriate boundaries.
Protocols and Documents Available for TxSP Subscribing Districts on Employee Social Media
TxSP includes the information on this topic both in the Campus Operational Section>Staff>Social Media and also in the Personnel Section>Social Media.
- Protocol for personal social media accounts
- Protocol for professional social media accounts
- Document to request a professional school media account
- Document to request permission to post on professional school media account
Spread the Word
Many of our new districts are coming to us from referrals from our current subscribing school districts! We appreciate those referrals!
