Board hears policy‑code recoding and considers new social media policy for staff and district accounts

The board reviewed a suite of proposed policy revisions and recoding prepared by the policy committee.

Superintendent (Speaker 8) walked the board through moving many items from the 9000 policy series into the 8000 series, repealing policy 8120 because its material has been merged into the revised 8110, and revising language on committee functions and the role of the board. He said changes to meeting notice, minutes and executive‑session language were made to align district policy with South Dakota open‑meeting guidance and codified law. Revisions include adding a permanent public‑comment period to official meetings and clarifying that an executive session may be conducted by teleconference where allowed.

The committee also proposed a new policy on school‑district employee social media use. The superintendent said the policy is intended to cover both official district accounts and parameters for staff personal accounts when they use district marks; the draft contemplates including the policy in staff sign‑offs at the start of each year and includes a form for a "school district professional account." Board members asked whether a board member’s personal Facebook page using district marks would require prior approval; the superintendent said management of comments and approval processes would be addressed in administrative procedure and that comments on official district accounts could be turned off without express permission.

No policy was adopted at this meeting; the board discussed the draft and asked for clarifications about application to board members and staff.