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IS YOUR DISTRICT SAFE ONLINE?

And leaders should be aware of a recent change to the Brown Act that has long held school boards can only meet to discuss business when there’s a public meeting agenda. A new amendment adds that school board members cannot comment, like or emoji any other social media post that discusses school business. CBOs can make sure that all parties are aware of this law.

Unofficial social media accounts

Keeping track of all the official social media accounts associated with a school or district is a big task. Now, take a moment to think about every club, booster or sports team that has a social media account, often run by parents or students.

These accounts can lead to big problems. What if the school football team’s account posts a racist comment? Even though the account may include the school logo, the school may not know who is administering the account and have no way to access it.

Allen says that San Juan keeps an eye on unofficial accounts at the district level. “If it’s a constructive positive presence, the district will even interact,” he says. If there are any concerning activities, Allen asks principals to share that information with the district so they can help investigate.

Shipley suggests that if a school allows these accounts, the school should know who is running it and provide clear behavior expectations. In addition, the account should carry a disclaimer that it is not being run by the district. This can be time consuming, and Shipley says some districts ask the public information officer or the technology director to take the lead on this assignment.

One of the typical problems Allen has seen are anonymous social media sites known as “rumor channels” or various other names. These sites often include no associated name or profile picture, and are typically a student posting inappropriate or unproductive thoughts about peers, teachers and the school community.

Account verification can help solve this problem. When such an account shows up, districts can ask the social media company to verify the identity and remove it if it is not verifiable.

While many social media platforms have a general consumer verification process, none have a process dedicated to school district social media accounts. At the time of the NSPRA and CoSN study, LinkedIn, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Twitter and YouTube indicated a willingness to explore solutions to this problem.

“Social media allows school districts to engage families in local education in timely and innovative ways, but without dedicated verification and reporting processes for schools, districts struggle to prevent the harm to students and staff caused by malicious and fraudulent accounts,” reads the executive summary. “Social media platforms’ lack of dedicated verification and reporting processes for federally recognized K-12 education institutions are causing a drain on educational time and resources in school communities across the United States.”

In response, NSPRA and CoSN are advocating for the major social media platforms to develop a better and more targeted verification process for schools and districts.

Staff personal social media

The official standard for personal social media accounts for staff is that employees should not post anything that would cause a loss in their ability to be a good role model to kids. This standard resulted from a case against a teacher named Frank Lampedusa, who posted sexually explicit pictures on Craig’s List and included explicit descriptions of his preferred sexual activities. A parent reported the ad to the school principal. After several appeals, the court ruled that the principal had lost confidence in Lampedusa’s ability to be a good role model to students.

“The takeaway for teachers is that you will be held to the standard of presenting yourself as a good role model in your social media presence,” Shipley says. “The takeaway for districts is that teachers and staff need professional development on how to conduct themselves on social media.”

Like many districts, San Juan Unified has had members of the community express concern about the content of staff social media. The department offers advice and counseling to staff on ensuring social media represents only the individual and not that person’s position with the school.

“In those cases, we’ve worked with the concerned party and staff member to understand the content, the concern and the impact on the school environment,” he says. “We try to understand what the response needs to be so that staff member is trusted with our students and communities.”

Student social media

Most people have heard about the Supreme Court cheerleader case, Mahanoy v. B.L. The student, Brandi Levy, who did not win a spot on the varsity cheer squad, posted her frustration

IS YOUR DISTRICT SAFE ONLINE?

on Snapchat using some salty language. When the Mahanoy Area School District tried to discipline her, Levy’s parents sued, claiming free speech. The Supreme Court ruled that Levy’s posts were in fact free speech and did not have enough direct impact on the school environment to warrant disciplinary action.

Last December, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided another case, Chen v. Albany. This case involves a student with a private Instagram account who posted racist hate speech, including references to nooses, that targeted specific students on campus. Chen, the student in the case, liked the post and commented on it. The school disciplined both students, who then both filed a free speech claim. The Court of Appeals said their speech was not protected because the post involved bullying, harassment and disruption of school operations, and targeted specific students.

“Content that is a direct threat or perceived to be a threat to the school community requires action,” Allen says. “If a student stays home or comes to school and expresses fear, that’s a disruption to the learning environment. Every school system has experienced something along those lines, and we are no exception.”

For decades, the court has relied on the substantial disruption test to determine if a school has the right to discipline a student based on speech. That standard has changed with these two recent cases.

Administrators need professional development to understand the implications of these two cases, says Shipley.

“I always remind districts to protect kids first,” says Shipley. “If it comes down to protecting the kid who is being bullied or the bully’s First Amendment rights, I choose the kid who is being bullied. Especially given the current mental health crisis.”

Community on social media

The school community includes not only staff and students, it also includes parents, volunteers and the surrounding community. It can be difficult to keep parents and volunteers from posting images from school events. However, a school can request that these parties are mindful and obtain consent before posting images that contain identifiable pictures of other people’s children. The school can also make this request a condition of volunteering and ask volunteers to sign an agreement.

Occasionally, there may be inappropriate interactions from the broader community, either on individual social media accounts or on an official account of the district. Shipley notes that sometimes this includes using the district’s logo, which is illegal under copyright law. If this or any other inappropriate content appears, Shipley suggests the district takes the following steps:

1. Request that the person remove it.

2. Reach out to the platform and ask them to remove it.

3. If it’s an imminent threat or harassment, send a cease and desist letter.

4. Request injunctive relief from a judge.

5. Begin legal action for defamation or harassment.

6. Report to law enforcement.

“What do we do about naughty parents, students, staff or board members?” asks Shipley. “Social media is a free speech right, but there are things we can do to manage it effectively without getting in the way of free speech.” z z z