What Nanaimo school district employees do or say on their own time on social media will be subject to the same standards as when they are at work under new guidelines developed by Nanaim0 Ladysmith Public Schools.
And that is not sitting well with the teachers’ union.
According to the policy, employees should not expect tweets and posts to be private and are responsible for what they post whether it is through their own accounts or through a pseudonym. Unsuitable communication is subject to the same rules as for other unprofessional workplace behaviour.
“Anything posted online by employees or communicated electronically to non-school district parties may be perceived to be an official representative of the school district. Therefore, employees are expected to model an appropriate online presence and to exercise good judgment to ensure that postings and communications do not reflect negatively on the employee’s professional reputation or that of the school district,” the procedure states.
“What is inappropriate in the workplace is also inappropriate online, and when expressed in other electronic communications, including criticizing students, employees, parents or the school district. Electronic communications and online posts involving students, co-workers, or parents should at all times be professional in nature.”
.@sd68bc has a new admin procedure on #SocialMedia. Here it is in its entirety: https://t.co/XLhEptLJgN
— Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin) October 17, 2018
Denise Wood, Nanaimo teachers’ union president, told the News Bulletin the union has sought a policy since November 2016 and provided feedback for the procedure. She thinks the rules overreach.
“What we wanted is for teachers to have some information and direction about the use of their personal devices in the classroom, cloud-based storage, with FreshGrade (a portfolio and assessment platform) there’s photographs being taken, those kinds of things that are being uploaded for parents, but we wanted direction for teachers about how to navigate that in a privacy concern world,” said Wood.
Instead, said Wood, the district has provided something that dictates to teachers on their conduct outside the workplace.
“I think that teachers need to be very cautious about that kind of communication with students, and teachers are,” said Wood. “That’s not what this is about. This is saying that any communication with any person on any platform needs to be always reflecting your employer and we don’t agree.”
The guidelines not only relate to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram usage, but any internet-centric application or technology used for making and exchanging of opinions, messages, videos, other media forms and content.
Employees are advised not to friend or follow students’ media accounts. They should ensure posts adhere to professional rules or codes of conduct, and ensure it doesn’t violate privacy or confidentiality.
And they may have to track accounts and request people not post inappropriate content to them.
In terms of students, online behaviour for school is an extension of the classroom and as such, the same rules apply and should adhere to the district’s code of conduct. Web links should be suitable for a school environment and students should report anything in appropriate.
The procedure was presented to the school board on Oct. 3.
“Not all school districts have (such a policy) right now,” said Dale Burgos, school district spokesman. “I’ve actually shared our social media [procedures] with some other districts who didn’t have [them] and they were actually quite impressed with it and they’re going to be taking bits and pieces from it.”
The Nanaimo District Parent Advisory Council didn’t respond to a request for comment.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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