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Teachers, union rep and community voice concerns over proposed employee electronic media policy
Summary
Public commenters and teachers told the board the draft electronic media policy is vague and risks chilling employees’ civic speech; administrators said the policy ties online conduct to existing staff standards and will be revised for clarity.
Several Garden City USD 457 staff and union representatives used public comment to press the Board of Education to revise the district’s proposed employee electronic media standards, saying parts of the policy are vague and could lead to inconsistent or viewpoint-based enforcement.
Levi Brinkman, president of the Garden City Education Association and a high school teacher, told trustees the policy’s language that employees “will be held to the same professional standards in their public use of their personal electronic media accounts as they are for any other public conduct” lacks definitions and could be enforced inconsistently. “Without examples or clear criteria, one administrator may see a post as harmless while another could view it as unprofessional,” Brinkman said, and urged clearer definitions, viewpoint-neutral enforcement training for administrators, and a distinction between private expression and professional conduct.
Becca Berndfinn (identified in public comment as a Garden City teacher and 2025 Kansas leader for Just Schools) told the board she opposed wording that would subject personal social-media use to the same disciplinary standards as public conduct, arguing that such language could undercut educator civic participation and may not involve employees in policy development as required by existing board policy.
Several trustees and district administrators discussed the draft. Interim superintendent Josh Guymon and other staff said the district found an earlier 2012 policy that had not been formally integrated into board-adopted policies and are presenting an updated version for first reading. Administrators noted the policy covers several categories — staff–student electronic communications, appropriate use, and alignment with existing staff conduct and ethics policies — and said that more precise cross-references to existing conduct policies could reduce perceived vagueness.
Board members said they want clearer cross-references and asked staff to return with suggested edits and model policies from other districts to clarify how the policy would be applied without chilling lawful, private expression. The item was presented for first reading and staff said they will provide additional district policy cross-references and sample language before placing the policy on the consent agenda.
