NEVER BEFORE HAS technology and social media made sharing information so easy. But it also has exposed board members and superintendents to challenges never previously encountered. Among these, I count illegitimately conducted meetings in violation of open meetings laws; news media and personal demands for e-mails or posts via open records laws; and misaddressed mail or misinterpreted posts. All of these acts have a negative impact on the education community.

During the past year, I personally became aware of a school board member who was forced to resign from the board because of a photo shared via social media that some claimed was racially motivated. Instead of subjecting the board to an onslaught of political attacks and to avoid division within the local community, he chose to resign.

In another instance, a board member hit “reply all” instead of forwarding a message to intended recipients, which meant instead of venting frustration to other professionals about an angry community member, the board member inadvertently included the community member in the transmission. This simple yet common error led to the individual’s resignation as the board chair and had a lingering impact on the functioning of the board.

In both circumstances, the problems evolved from unfortunate mistakes that could have been avoided by simply adhering to a few sound principles in this world of instant and endless communication.

Personal vs. Public
First, the board members and superintendent must fully understand the power of social media use.

Training is essential. All involved should be aware that personal posts inevitably cross into the public and political realm, which almost always has an impact on the local school district. Community members won’t typically differentiate a personal post made as a private citizen and a post on official business by an elected board of education member. The resulting public dialogue can be disruptive, distracting the district from its primary business of providing a quality education to the students.

For this reason, the superintendent should have a periodic discussion with members of the board about distinguishing personal and official electronic communications via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat or e-mail. It may be helpful to discuss the merits of creating separate accounts for the superintendent or school board members to differentiate the information shared on the accounts. As the settings for each account can be public or private, this option allows the account holder to distinguish between the two should an open records request be filed.

Second, it is a good idea to have a policy on the use of social media in the educational arena. Many districts today, including my school district in Boone County, Ky., have districtwide accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Who makes posts and who contributes to these accounts should be considered, and proper usage policies should be put in place to prevent exposing the district to political, personal, community or media criticism.

Face to Face, Too
Finally, the superintendent and the board members must realize that social media outlets are not a substitute for communicating district business. Confidentiality must be maintained in all such communication, and this can be compromised if the discussions occur via social media, even under the guise of direct messaging. It would still qualify as an open meetings law violation if communication concerning agenda items were discussed by some, but not all, members. In some states, simply communicating with more than two members violates the open meetings law.

Be mindful that technology and social media, while carrying positive benefits, have unintended consequences when not used thoughtfully. Before communicating via social media, board members and superintendents might enjoin in some old-school communication, face to face.