#HCPSS - School Board Gets With the Times, Joins Twitter

Last week the Howard County Board of Education approved a new policy that  establishes guidelines for employees to operate social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter.

The 16-page policy covers possible transgressions, but can be summed up by its expectation "that all individuals will act in a responsible, civil, ethical, and appropriate manner when using technology" for the school system.

The new policy allows teachers, principals and central office administrators to begin "professional" social media accounts to provide information to students and parents.

One line requires the superintendent or a designee to maintain a presence on social media for the school system.

Rebecca Amani-Dove, director of communications for HCPSS, said the superintendent will have a Twitter account before the school year begins.

In addition, the school system itself will create a regularly updated presence on Twitter and Facebook by the time the 2013-2014 school year begins, according to Amani-Dove.

She said the HCPSS social presence will be maintained by staff within the department of communications.

"Each platform that we institute will have a purpose," wrote Amani-Dove, in an email, "whether that's disseminating information to the community similar to local fire and police, or establishing a collaborative environment in which to better facilitate two-way discussions."

Teaching students how to safely use social media and the internet is also a part of the policy. However, monitoring students' activities on social media outside of school is not a part of the policy. Instead, the school system wrote employees will monitor online "HCPSS-sanctioned student activities, including social media, to the extent practical."

Employees who register a "professional" social media account are required to use their HCPSS email address. As part of the policy, any professional account is the property of the school system if an employee leaves his or her job.

Amani-Dove said the purpose of the policy is to enhance transparency, gather input and build a stronger partnership between HCPSS and the community.

"We don't want to create a Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or any other account simply for the sake of claiming we did so," wrote Amani-Dove. "We have a terrific opportunity to significantly impact and enhance our communication efforts from the ground floor and we want to get it right."

Currently the school system has a stagnant Facebook Page and a Twitter account that has a significant amount of followers (over 2,300), but is mainly updated with school closing or delay information.

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