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Nashoba School Committee Chairman Nancy Federspiel gave committee members a preview of a proposed draft of a last week. The draft, which was created by the policy committee and requires, among other things, teachers to use their Nashoba Regional School District email accounts when acting as a Nashoba employee to communicate with parents and students through social-networking sites like Facebook.

Teachers must also use professional etiquette and maintain appropriate boundaries. Additionally, under the regulations of the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, teachers must contact administration to confirm parental consent before contacting children under 13 through social networking sites.

Teachers can still use personal email accounts to communicate with parents and students when not discussing work-related matters. However, Superintendent Michael Wood said communicating with students on personal matters was strongly discouraged.

When School Committee member Julie Fay asked if teachers should report students who post inappropriate comments, Federspiel said it was not necessary when using a personal account. Wood said postings that violate school policy should always be reported, regardless of whether it is necessary to do so. He cited the honor system of reporting athletes in violation of the alcohol policy as an example.

Federspiel thanked teachers Loretta Williams and Al Fordiani for their dedication to creating the draft, and said its purpose was to provide some guidance for teachers as well as protection for everybody.

Center School

Wood announced that work on the outdoor areas of Center School has resumed after an order to stop work was delivered Wednesday, March 7. Work inside sections of the school was not affected by the order.

The order was the result of actions taken by what Wood called an overzealous subcontractor, who failed to complete paperwork to shut off gas and electricity coming in from the street before demolishing a section of the old school. Wood said gas and electricity had been shut off inside the building before the demolition, but regulations to shut off gas and electricity in the street had not been followed.

Wood said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration agency would investigate the matter. He said the investigation may result in fines, but was not sure of the likelihood of that outcome, nor of the amount the potential fines could cost.

Wood said work is on schedule for Phase 2 despite the brief shutdown.

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Social networking policy previewed