Mediaboss Marketing

Sunday, March 3, 2013 10:57 PM EST

By SUSAN CORICA STAFF WRITER

In a move termed long overdue, the Bristol Board of Education is considering adopting a policy on the use of social networking sites by teachers and other district employees.

The Bristol board recently took a first look at the proposed policy, similar to that of New Britains, which is intended to deter school employees social media use from disrupting school operations, while respecting employees free speech rights. The policy will likely come up for further discussion in March.

A survey of some other area school districts found that New Britain already has policies in place for both students and staff detailing the use of the internet and electronic media, according to Paul Salina, chief operations officer for the district.

The Bristol proposal follows the New Britain policy very closely, Salina said.

Dennis Bieu, district director of human resources in Bristol, said the move was long overdue because social networking is a fact of life that is not going away.

Basically the policy needs to be in place to protect our students, to protect our staff, and to protect our school system, Bieu told the board.

It identifies what teachers may do, and if they choose to use social media what the rules are around that, as well as what they cant do, he said.

The proposed policy has been vetted very closely by the law firm of Shipman and Goodwin, said Board Chairman Christopher Wilson. The district would have the firm take another look at it if its modified before being adopted, he added.

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Bristol school board considers adopting policy on social networking