Websites and Social Media
Policy
Procedure
Posting Guidelines
While the District may allow approved user-generated content on its social-media sites, it does not intend to create an open public forum for speech. Rather, to the extent comments are enabled on Arlington Public Schools’ social media outlets, The District intends to create a limited public forum subject to moderation pursuant to these
procedures. Page administrators will moderate and may not allow comments on District postings that:
•Contain obscene, graphic, explicit or racial comments or submissions;
•Are abusive or hateful toward any individual, group, or organization;
•Are of a commercial nature (i.e. advertisements, solicitations);
•Suggest or encourage activity that violates local, state, or federal law or the District’s policies and procedures;
•Contain any confidential information;
•Are clearly off topic;
•Contain political or religious messages;
•Are clearly offensive;
•Contain information that violates any third party’s intellectual property rights (e.g., copyrights); or
•Promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, s*x, s*xual orientation, gender expression or identity, marital status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. The limitations will be applied neutrally and will not favor a particular viewpoint or ideology. The District reserves the right to ban, block, or otherwise restrict access to users who violate these guidelines. Prior to removing any comment under these guidelines, the page administrator must save a screenshot or copy of the post that allegedly violates these guidelines for record retention and verification purposes. Any commenter who believes the District wrongfully removed any comment may appeal the decision by contacting the Arlington Public Schools Public Information Officer at 360-618-6217. The District does not endorse statements or external links and comments posted by third parties on District pages or postings, nor do any such postings represent the views of the District, its Board, or its staff. Any individual commenting on a District page or posting takes personal responsibility for their comments, username, and avatar/photograph. All District comments and postings will be considered public records subject to disclosure. The District strives to communicate about urgent issues and respond to inquiries from the community in a timely manner, but please note that the District’s social media accounts are not monitored 24/7. If you are a student in crisis, or have an emergency, please call 911 or the SafeSchools Tip Line. For non-emergency inquiries, please contact the Public Information Office at 360-618-6217 and we will respond in as timely a manner as possible. The District’s Facebook and other social media pages are not intended to be used for third parties to make formal complaints against the District, its employees or its students. Formal complaints are to be directed to the building/department administrator or the Public Information Officer. If you would like a private response to a post on this site, please contact the District’s Public Information Officer at 360-618-6217.
