The Floyd County Board of Education approved a new social media policy for employees this week that will see the system crack down on misusage.
School officials say the policy is not meant to restrict any employee’s First Amendment rights, but does give guidelines for what is appropriate to post and what’s not.
The policy states employees cannot cyberbully, use social media while at work, allow social media to affect job performance, use school photos or videos without permission, create personal relationships with students via social media or make inappropriate posts showing prohibited photos, sexual messages, violent messages or use of drugs.
Employees will not be restricted from posting political views, but post that are considered immoral, unethical or threatening, could result in reprimanding or termination.
Employees are also now given guidelines on how they interact with students online. Employees can only use a school email or software such as Blackboard, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Google Hangouts or Clever to communicate with students via a device. Violating these requirements could mean disciplinary action or termination.
The policy encourages employees to make their personal social media pages private to prevent students and parents of students from accessing them.