Board debates proposed social-media language restricting use of school names, refers draft back to policy
Summary
Board members differed over proposed language (policy 21.27) that would limit use of school names/logos on personal social media where it could be construed as political endorsement; several members said the draft is vague and asked attorneys and the policy committee to refine it.
The board discussed draft language intended to limit use of school-system or school names and logos on board members' social media where such use "could be construed as a political endorsement." The provision (cited as policy 21.27 during discussion) was described by one member as drawn from NCSBA guidance.
One board member said the proposed language could prevent routine personal posts: "I took a picture ... I had Santa, and I had, Jared ... and I saw the NHHS logo. So I couldn't use it," the member said, arguing the policy could be overly restrictive for personal posts documenting district events.
Other members said the draft is vague and hard to administer; several recommended returning the item to the policy committee for clearer language and for attorney review. "The blue language, I understand the intent of it, but how in the world do we decide if it's being used in that manner? It's very vague," Dr. Tim Merrick said.
The board agreed to allocate roughly 20 minutes at the next meeting for further policy discussion and asked staff and attorneys to review the draft before the next session. No policy change was adopted at this meeting.
What’s next: sent back to policy for refinement and legal review; the board will revisit the language in a future meeting.
