SMPO Social Media Policy

INTRODUCTION

This document outlines the policies that apply to the use of social media by members of the Sands Montessori Parent Organization (SMPO) on behalf of the SMPO. This document refers to social media accounts opened in the name of the SMPO, not to the personal social media accounts of people who belong to the SMPO or groups that feature discussion about Sands Montessori and/or SMPO activities.

BACKGROUND

The SMPO makes use of social media services, such as Facebook, to promote awareness and participation in SMPO activities. Because the SMPO is a self-governing organization chartered to support the interests of the school and its students, the SMPO is committed to using channels of communication, such as email, the SMPO website, and social media, to promote the best interests of the school and to show the school and its students always in the best light. To that end, this Social Media Policy is written to clarify how, when, and for what purposes members of the SMPO may use social media in supporting the school and its students.

GUIDELINES

Be Smart
Always represent the best interests of the students and the school.
Be Accurate
Check all facts before posting and provide supporting sources if necessary.
Be Professional
Use a professional voice to represent the Sands Montessori Parent Organization.
Be Courteous
Be considerate and polite in any interaction.
Be Useful
Post content that parents and teachers can use to make a difference.
Be Prompt
If you need to moderate or respond to a comment do so as quickly as possible.

POLICIES

Pictures
SMPO will follow photo use policies set by Sands Montessori and Cincinnati Public Schools, and honor the permissions granted or not granted by legal guardians. Photos of children will have school approval before usage.

Links
If possible, links posted on a social media site should go to the SMPO website, which can then provide links to external sites. By linking to the SMPO website first, we increase the profile of the website, and we introduce a layer of quality between social media sites and the rest of the internet. Updating a link on our own website is much easier to do than trying to change a link on another site.

Politics and business
SMPO social media accounts will not be used to solicit or promote any sort of political agenda or cause or personal business, regardless of whether the initiator is an SMPO member. SMPO may acknowledge or recognize businesses that sponsor programs or events, but not directly advertise for that business via its social media accounts.

Privacy
It is not acceptable to share private information about any parents, teachers, staff, or students, without consent. Private information includes phone numbers, home addresses, places of work, etc. In some cases, parents may want private information, such as phone and email address to be shared, in support of a school function. For example, the coordinator for an event may ask that her name and phone number be shared to help solicit volunteers. In these cases, where consent has been given, sharing this type of information through social media is allowed.

Monitoring
SMPO social media accounts will, if possible, have at least two administrators or people with access to the account; one should include the communications coordinator, president or vice president, and/or technology coordinator.

SMPO reserves the right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, vulgar, threatening or not related to the discussion (spam). Civil discussions and disagreements will not be taken down as long as they do note violate these rules. SMPO also reserves the right to ban a user who continually uses offensive, vulgar or threatening language from the page.

SMPO is not responsible for comments made on social media accounts that are considered rude, offensive or threatening. All attempts will be made to have such comments removed as soon as possible by SMPO social media administrators, but accounts cannot be monitored continuously.

CONCLUSION

This document represents the best ideas and intentions of the people who embody the Sands Montessori Parent Organization. As technology changes, and membership grows, the ideas represented in this document will grow to represent the new members and adapt to the changes in technology. As the ideas in this document are improved, this document will be updated to reflect those improvements.