New social media policy addresses school employee use

Social media has become such a big part of modern life, to the point that now the Grand Coulee Dam School District has an employee policy about it.

The district’s board of directors approved a social media policy during their May 24 meeting.

Superintendent Paul Turner explained to The Star that the policy isn’t required by the state but rather “is preemptive” and “also initiated because of some previous issues.”

Turner declined to elaborate on the nature of those previous issues. 

“Without a policy, there is no guidance to stay consistent when dealing with social media,” Turner also said.  “I was able to find school districts that had drafted social media policies and used them. I definitely had this one reviewed by our legal counsel.”

The policy on electronic communication and social media states that social media “offers new and exciting opportunities to express creativity, share knowledge, build a sense of belonging and community, and engage in ongoing conversations with students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, colleagues and friends about common interests,” while “at the same time, employee social media can impact the school community and may in some instances disrupt the [district’s] educational mission.”

After saying that employees can’t use personal social media accounts during work hours but can in their spare time, the policy states that “employees have a constitutionally protected right to speak as private citizens on matters of public concern. However, that does not mean they are immune from discipline when using social media for personal use.”

“As role models for the District’s students, employees are responsible for their conduct outside of work,” the policy continues. “Employees will be held to the same professional standards in their personal use of social media as they are for any other conduct outside of work. If an employee’s personal use of social media interferes with the District’s ability to effectively operate, including interfering with the employee’s ability to effectively perform his or her job duties, the employee may be disciplined, up to and including termination”

The policy also says that “employees shall not use District or school names, logos, images, etc. on personal social media sites in a way that implies the employees are spokespersons of the District or that the site is an official site of the District,” and that “employees shall not use personal social media sites to contact students.”