Upper Dublin policy committee advances revised social media rules, narrows "political content" language

Upper Dublin School District policy committee advanced a revised social media policy (08-17) to legislative review after staff clarified account-control requirements and narrowed language on political speech.

Ms. Yoder, a district staff member presenting the policy, told the committee the draft includes three principal changes: district accounts must be set up using udsd.org email addresses to help the district maintain control if an account manager leaves; the policy wording was changed from "designated public forum" to "limited public forum" to reflect intent to permit posts and comments but allow removal of content that violates communication rules; and the branding reference was broadened beyond the logo to other brand elements that will be defined in a forthcoming administrative regulation (AR). Ms. Yoder said, "we will be developing internal policies and procedures that will be factored into the AR, which is to be finalized once the policy is set."

The committee focused much of its discussion on a provision that had read "no political content." Trustee John Held said the phrase was overly vague: "Political in nature to me feels pretty subjective, and I would be hard pressed to define what that means." Several trustees, with solicitor input noted by staff, favored removing the broad phrasing while retaining an explicit ban on endorsements of political candidates or causes. Dr. Smith, serving as administrative chair, reported the solicitor suggested substituting a standard tied to disruption of "the orderly operations of the district" rather than the narrower phrase "educational environment."

Trustees also raised operational questions about moderation. Ms. Yoder cautioned the district does not routinely review every comment and said that, on a Facebook-style page, comments cannot be "closed" in the way a private group can; "I would need to confirm that, but that was my understanding," she said. Several trustees proposed using objective filters — for example, removing repetitive or irrelevant comments — so moderation decisions are less subjective. Jenna, a committee member attending virtually, suggested permitting comments to be closed after a set number of days to limit monitoring scope, but Ms. Yoder said page functionality may not allow that.

Committee members directed staff to remove the phrase "no political content" and to keep the endorsement prohibition, to broaden the disruptive standard to "orderly operations," and to rely on the AR for technical implementation details such as branding and account procedures. The committee voted to move Policy 08-17 forward to legislative review for additional drafting.

The policy change affects how the district will manage official accounts and moderates the balance between allowing public comment and protecting district operations; specific procedures will be provided in the AR.

The committee plans to present a revised draft in legislative session.