DISTRICT OR SCHOOL-OPERATED SOCIAL MEDIA – KUNA SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICY 1014

The district recognizes the value in utilizing social media sites to promote events, student success stories, clubs, athletics, and other programs related to the education of students, as well as a means of disseminating important information relating to the district such as board information, school closures, upcoming athletic or club events, and other time-sensitive information.

The district has established policies and procedures relating to creation of school, program or social media sites. The purpose of this policy is to establish community use regulations and guidelines for all district or school-operated social media sites.

Postings to the Community shall be limited to the subject matters of district or school postings. It is not the intent of the district to create or provide an unlimited or open forum for discussion on any topic on district or school-operated social media sites.

• Postings that are not related to a district or school posting or are inappropriate as defined in policy 481 Social Media will be removed by the Communications Director or other designated content manager.
• Persons making comments or posts to the district’s social media sites are requested to show respect for all individuals and maintain civil discourse.
• The district reserves the right to monitor district and school-operated social media sites and to remove comments or posts thereto that violate district policies or state or federal law.
• Repeat offenders posting inappropriate, false, offensive, harassing or threatening information will be removed as participants.
• Users may not use the name of the district or its logo or marks, including those of the district or its individual schools, clubs, athletic teams, or other programs, in any form in social media or websites not owned by or related to the district or in forums or discussions to express or imply the official position of the district without the express written permission of the superintendent or designee. When such permission is granted, the posting must state that the statement does not represent the position of the district.
• Employees may not use or post the district or school logo, motto, slogan, mascot, or other district branding to promote their own purposes without the written permission of the superintendent, building principal, or designee.

Users and visitors to district or school-operated social media sites will be notified on each social media site that the intended purpose of the site is to serve as a mechanism for communication between the district or school and students, parents/guardians, and members of the community.

All district and school-operated social media sites will include a hyperlink to the responsible use guidelines set forth in Policy 942.

Any content that is removed based on this policy or the responsible use policy will be retained, including the time, date, and identity of the poster, when available, in accordance with the district’s records retention policy.

Implementation

In implementing this policy, postings or comments (including links) to Kuna School District social media sites shall NOT contain but not limited to the following:

+ Comments not topically related to the particular subject or article being commented upon;
+ Comments in support of, or opposition to, political campaigns, candidates or ballot measures (this does not apply to educational information or materials provided by the School District pertaining to School District ballot measures or related comments in response thereto);
+ Profane language or content;
+ Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation/gender identification, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws;
+ Sexual content (including nudity) or links to sexual content;
+ Solicitations of commerce, including, but not limited to, advertising of any business or product for sale, commercial promotions and spam;
+ Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law, or encouragement of illegal activity;
+ Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
+ Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party;
+ Potentially libelous comments;
+ Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language;
+ Private or personal information without consent (provided to the Kuna School District);
+ Reproduced or borrowed content that reasonably appears to violate third party rights;
+ Hyperlinks to material that is not directly related to the discussion.