Gips staff 2014

School Law and Technology for the Grand Island PS Staff Karen Haase Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 khaase@hslegalfirm.com H & S School Law @KarenHaase

This is not your Grandma’s Inservice

Social Networking  Examples • Facebook • Twitter • Snapchat • Vine • Kik

Teacher Use  Causes for Concern • Drug/Alcohol Use • Sexual Inappropriateness • Inappropriate Communication with Students • Inappropriate Communication about Students • Selling School Property

Nebraska Law  NEB. REV. STAT. §§79-824, 79-827  Reasons for Termination and/or Cancellation: • Unprofessional Conduct • Immorality • Other conduct which interferes substantially with the continued performance of duties

My Suggestions  Make a professional page separate from your personal page  Don’t “friend” students or parents on your personal page  Don’t let yourself be depicted behaving unprofessionally  Ask: will this affect my classroom?

Privacy Settings      

Facebook Privacy Tutorial?

Set your profile as “private” Only let “friends” see pics Require notification before tagging Turn off geo-tags Friend Facebook on Facebook

Social Media is Here to Stay  Ed. Professionals are using social media • 85% of Americans use social media monthly • Twitter grew over 500% in the last year • More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than big 3 networks created in 60 years

 Facebook dominates social media • • • •

500 million users as of July, 2010 50% of active users log on daily Average user has 130 friends Largest group of users aged 35-54

Inappropriate Teacher/Student Contact

Graham v. Ambridge Area Sch. Dist.  Teacher David Costanza slept with student  Student and family sued School  Ct. denied Summary Judgment; school could be sued

Court Relied on These Facts:  Student testified about crude remarks  Costanza: “I got in trouble.”  Written reprimand without follow up  Principal: “I don’t know what you’re doing and I don’t want to know ….  School knew Costanza communicating with students via IM, e-mail and texts

Nebraska Incidents • Relationships with recent graduates • Relationships with current students – High school – Middle school – Elementary

• Extortion for Grades

School Law and Technology for the Grand Island PS Staff Karen Haase Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 khaase@hslegalfirm.com H & S School Law @KarenHaase