Rockwood Seeks Clarity on Electronic Communications Law

A new law that prevents teachers from directly contacting students through media like Facebook prompted a special committee to reconvene to figure out how to interpret and enforce the law’s many facets.

The law, which was approved by Gov. Jay Nixon last month, forbids teachers from using any “nonwork-related Internet site” to privately communicate with a current or former student. It also forbids them from using any “work-related Internet site” unless the school district and parental guardian can access it.

Sen. Jane Cunningham, a Republican from Chesterfield who sponsored the legislation, said the law's requirements for sharing information between school districts regarding teachers being investigated or disciplined for sexual misconduct is another effective safeguard against abuses.

“With the passage of my bill, our children will have solid protection from these predators,” Cunningham said in a written statement.

Additionally, the law outlines new requirements for becoming a school board member, conducting background checks, licensing teachers and reporting incidents of abuse, among other additions.

“So it’s really a huge, all-encompassing law,” said Kelvin McMillin, the assistant superintendent for Rockwood’s human resources department. “The one piece that everyone is focusing on now, though, is the Facebook-electronic communications portion of it.”

Suzanne Dotta is Rockwood’s representative for the National Education Association, the largest public school teachers union in the country. She said the NEA doesn’t have an official stance on the law, which takes effect Aug. 28, primarily because of unanswered questions, she said.

“Really, I think we just want a little clarity as to what exactly this does.”

Rockwood school board president Steve Smith agreed that any state-level mandate regarding teachers' use of social media like Facebook merited close examination.

“Because that’s how kids communicate,” Smith said before Thursday’s school board meeting at in Ballwin.

In response to the state law approved last month, Rockwood will reassemble a committee that formed guidelines last year regarding acceptable school uses of social media websites. The revised committee will include the district’s information technology officer, human resources director, NEA President Suzanne Dotta and multiple teachers and technology specialists.

As of Thursday, McMillin said a meeting date for the district's committee had not yet been set. The law requires school districts to establish a policy addressing electronic “employee-student communication” before Jan. 1, 2012.