Shelton staff

School Law and Technology for the Shelton Staff

Karen Haase (402) 804-8000 karen@ksbschoollaw.com KSB School Law @KarenHaase

This is not your Grandma’s Inservice

Social Networking  Examples • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • 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?

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 Relationships

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

Cyberbullying of Staff

J.S. v. Blue Mountain Sch. Middle School Student made fake MySpace profile for principal • Included photo from school website • Initially public; then limited • Students could only access off campus • Student suspended for 10 days; parents sued

Layshock v. Hermitage Sch. High School Student made fake MySpace profile for principal • Included photo from school website • Other students created similar and more offensive profiles • Students only accessed off campus • Student suspended for 10 days; placed in alt. sch, banned from extracurriculars, no commencement

J.S. and Layshock Inconsistent  Third Circuit granted en banc rehearing  Oral Argument June 3, 2010  Decision issued June 13, 2011  The Bottom Line?

• Schools lost both cases

J.S. and Layshock  Key legal points • School can’t punish off-campus speech because it is vulgar, inappropriate or even criminal • School can only punish offcampus speech that is substantially disruptive

School Law and Technology for the Shelton Staff

Karen Haase (402) 804-8000 karen@ksbschoollaw.com KSB School Law @KarenHaase