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