If you are a student at a public school in Kentucky and your favorite teacher, coach or school resource officer recently unfriended you on social media, then please know that it isn’t because they are mad at you or upset with you. It is because of a new state law.
For those that don’t know, Senate Bill 181 went into effect on June 27 and sets new requirements for how school employees and volunteers communicate electronically with students. Those communications must now take place on a designated, traceable platform.
In other words, for those that work or volunteer in the school system, no more calls or texts to students’ cell phones, no more e-mails from their personal e-mail addresses, no posts on their social media pages or messages to them on social media at all. Also, there are not any likes or tweets or reposts of students’ social media posts allowed.
The Williamsburg Independent School District has adopted a platform called Apptegy Rooms as the district’s selected means to comply with the new law.
The Whitley County School District will be using the platform Parent Square.
The Corbin Independent School District hasn’t decided yet on which platform that it will use long term for teacher-student communications.
“We are utilizing school e-mail for every employee and student. That is completely traceable, and everybody involved has access to it,” Corbin Superintendent Dave Cox explained Monday afternoon about the system currently in use.
One piece of good news for students is that after they graduate from high school, then their former teachers, coaches and school resource officers can once again friend them on social media.
If teachers or administrators have “unauthorized electronic communication” outside of these systems, it could result in disciplinary action against the employee by the district and the Education Professional Standards Board, which is the agency that licenses teachers and administrators in Kentucky. If a volunteer is found violating the policy, they could be banned from future school volunteer activities.
“This legislation is about putting our children first and ensuring they are protected from inappropriate or unauthorized communication. SB 181 strengthens parental involvement, sets clear expectations for school-related communication, and ensures accountability for those entrusted with our students’ well-being,” said Senator Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield), who was the bill’s sponsor.
The bill, which passed unanimously in both chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly earlier this year, was inspired by the many families and children, who have become victims of bad actors in our school systems across Kentucky and the United States, Tichenor wrote on a social media post.
“I am hopeful we can restore the proper relationship between students and those in authority and bring families comfort knowing their students are safe in our schools. A huge thank you to the victims who were willing to share their stories for the sake of others,” Tichenor wrote.
A 2022 Lexington Herald Leader investigation found that 194 teachers had their teaching license voluntarily surrendered, suspended or revoked by the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board between 2016 and 2021, and 61 percent of these cases traced back to sexual misconduct.
