Pittsfield School Committee Updates Social Media Policy
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school district updated its staff use of social media and personal cell phones policy.
"We've had full cooperation with the teachers bargaining unit leadership, the [Pittsfield Educational Administrators Association,] that is the administrators, and the federation," School Committee Chair William Cameron said.
"I think everyone in a leadership position in those organizations recognizes the potential for serious problems, unless the expectations of this policy are implemented."
The school unions are the PEAA, United Educators of Pittsfield and Pittsfield Federation of School Employees.
In February, the district unions and administrators united to create a social media and cell phone directive to protect student/staff boundaries, maintain professional conduct, and foster a safe respectful environment. In March, it was announced that school officials felt an urgent need to update the policy as there was an issue surrounding school-based social media accounts.
The issue stems from the fact some schools have social media pages for teams, classes, student organizations, and sometimes departments.
That part of the policy was stricken and will be discussed in the fall and will be addressed elsewhere in the manual, Cameron said.
This section will be moved to the policy for the district's website and social media accounts, committee member William Garrity said.
"I was the one who suggested it after seeing it come through in the policy revision process, and I think that would be a better fit for those sections, as they don't really deal with personal staff, social media, so I feel this benefits there than here," he said.
The School Committee meeting on Wednesday approved the updated version of its staff use of social media and personal cell phones and waived the two readings of this policy.
"School will start before the next School Committee meeting, and there's a four-week requirement in the current policy manual for time between the first and second readings and this policy is of significant importance, and I would say immediate relevance, that we believed that it's necessary to address this tonight," Cameron said.
Updated on Aug. 22 to clarify the names of the school unions.
Tags: internet safety, Pittsfield Public Schools, social media,
