Killingly school board's public reminder: Social media posts can get employees fired
The Killingly Board of Education this week publicly reiterated select portions of its employee social media policies by having a member read aloud highlighted sections of the rules, including those having to do with references to the school board.
Jennifer Hegedus, a member of the board’s policy subcommittee, on Wednesday read verbatim selected portions of policies 4118.51 and 4218.51, which cover use of social networking and media for district employees, along with the disciplinary consequences for any violations.
One section prohibits employees from mentioning, discussing or referencing the school board, the district, schools, programs or teams in a manner that “could reasonably be construed as an official school district communication.”
Another bars workers from “engaging in harassing, defamatory, obscene, abusive, discriminatory or threatening” communications and prevents posters from including a link on a personal social media page to the school board’s website without written permission.
The policies - which have been similarly adopted by other school districts across the state - grant the board permission to regulate employees’ use of social media – including their personal accounts – if, among other things, it “interferes, disrupts or undermines the effective operation of the school district.”
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An un-highlighted section of the policy states the board recognizes employees have the right to speak out under the First Amendment - “in certain circumstances” - on matters of “public concern,” though no specific examples of such exemptions are mentioned.
The highlighted sections seemed to confuse some board members who thought they represented new or amended rules. Chairman Norm Ferron clarified the spotlighted sections had been in place since 2018.
“We felt we should read the most important, the most pertinent sections tonight,” he said. “There’s nothing new here. We’re not adopting anything new here.”
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Why discuss Killingly's social media policy now?
It was not clear why the portions of the two policies were brought up for specific discussion on Wednesday, though it comes after months of contentious public debate among board members parents, students and teachers over how the district is addressing the mental health needs of its students.
Member Jason Muscara noted it’s the job of the policy subcommittee to review and suggest updates to board policies. The Republican said a separate policy, one dealing with non-discrimination - including for political beliefs and values - was recently updated.
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The in-place social media policies were based on recommendations from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and legally vetted before being adopted, Ferron said.
What happens if a Killingly school employee violates the policies?
Violations of the policies can lead to disciplinary repercussions up to and including employee termination, according to the personnel section of the documents. Member Lydia Rivera Abrams questioned who would judge what kinds of posted subjective terminology would be construed as “reasonable and appropriate.”
Superintendent Robert Angeli, who was asked by the board to remind employees of the existing policies, said if the need arises to look into potential “transgressions,” he and the district’s human resources department, along with relevant administrators, would investigate the matter.
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“We’d be seeing our legal counsel every time this came up,” he said, as there could be potential free speech challenges involved.
Angeli could not be immediately be reached for comment on Thursday and it’s not known if his office has recently received any social media-related complaints involving employees.
John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Killingly BOE: Social media posts can get school employees fired
