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Committee narrows social-media restriction to logos, forwards policy for full-board review
Summary
After legal counsel explained when a personal account can be treated as a government forum, the committee amended a social-media policy to bar use of school logos and trademarks on personal accounts while allowing board members to reference school names in innocuous posts; the change was forwarded to the full board.
The policy committee revised proposed language in Policy 21-27 to restrict board members from using school-system logos and trademarks on personal social media accounts while allowing mentions of school names in benign contexts.
Legal counsel reviewed U.S. Supreme Court guidance about when a personal social-media account may be considered a government-controlled forum and said the proposed policy makes clear that individual board members generally do not act with the "actual authority to speak on behalf of the government" on their private pages. Counsel said the policy as drafted would protect the district from implied endorsements while leaving room for board members' personal expression.
David Perry pushed to narrow the prohibition to logos and trademarks because he said mentioning a school name in a proud, innocuous post should not be treated as an improper endorsement. The committee amended the language accordingly and passed the amended item to the full board for review.
