Should School Board Members Post on Social Media?

Social media gives school board members a direct way to connect with their communities, but it can also create legal, governance and communication challenges if it’s not handled carefully.

In this episode of Leading the Way, OSBA consultants Kristi Robbins and Quinn Maceyko discuss where board members often get tripped up online and how to avoid creating problems for yourself or your board.

The conversation covers:

•  Open Meetings Act concerns 
•  Public records implications 
•  Board unity and communication 
•  Responding to misinformation 
•  Sharing district information appropriately 
•  Why “when in doubt, cut it out” may be the best advice 

Whether you’re an experienced board member or newly elected, this episode offers insight into how social media can impact public trust, transparency and board governance.

For more resources, training and advocacy updates from the Ohio School Boards Association, visit ohioschoolboards.org.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The following program is a presentation of the Ohio School Boards Association. Welcome to the Leading the Way podcast, where we bring you the voices shaping public education across Ohio. Hey everyone, it's Scott Gurfin. Today's topic is social media, but probably not in the way you're expecting. Because when we talk with board members, the question usually isn't how do I use social media better? It's should I even be posting at all? And if you're posting, what's the purpose? So today we're going to keep this practical. What are we seeing in the field? Where do board members get tripped up? And how do you avoid creating problems for yourself or your school board? Two of OSBA's board consultants are here today, Christy Robbins and Quinn Maseco to talk all about it. Thanks for being here, guys.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Thanks for having us. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

So I want to start with something we've been hearing. It's not that you can't post, it's what's the purpose? Can you guys expand on that?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Sure, I can start. Really, the I think there's a fine line in terms of posting on social media. It should be viewed as a one-way conversation versus a two-way conversation to avoid deliberation, to avoid violation of the Open Meetings Act. So thinking about posting factual information or referring people to your district's website is probably the best approach.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

And when you talk about violating the Open Meetings Act, what give me a scenario where that could happen?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

If you share a situation or ask for an opinion prior to board deliberation or a board vote, that gets dangerously close to violating the Open Meetings Act, especially if other board members weigh in and share their opinions. So you need to be cautious about that.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Quinn, what's an example of a board member using social media in an appropriate way?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

I think in an appropriate way would be that it is uh relaying the information that you have uh conveyed on your school district's website uh and also your school district's official social media. Those are the anchors you really want to uh hold on to. And social media should be an extension of uh your board unity that you are trying to share the good news that's happening in your district to a wider audience.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

So I want to run this scenario by you guys. Uh a board member creates a Facebook page, uh, identifies them as a board member of a school district, and starts posting opinions about board decisions uh after meetings. What's the concern there?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

The board is one entity, and no individual board members have authority beyond the board itself. And so one of the dangers there is for an individual board member to speak on behalf of the board when they are not authorized to do so. So that can create some issues for the board itself. And and as Quinn said, it could impact the board in terms of unity. It could also impact um when decisions have not yet been made, and you have an individual expressing their opinion before deliberating openly in a public meeting.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

And I think it's important too that uh you cause the perception of disunity when you do that because the deliberation should stay in the board room. And once a decision has been made by the board, that's the team's decision. And even if you might disagree with the decision that was made, you as a team player have to go forward and make sure it's implemented to its fullest.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

So uh we often hear the advice don't post, uh, Christy. Yes. And instead refer people to the district's official channels. Uh you still believe that's the safest approach, even though there are board members that do. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

There's so many things that could occur, and it's it's just, as I said, a fine line. So, you know, my philosophy has always been when in doubt, cut it out. Um, approach it very cautiously. If um you want to share factual information, information about um perhaps the district is hosting a town hall meeting or a listening tour. Those are the types of things that you can post. Um, you need to be cautious about creating public records because if you are posting as a board member, that could be considered a public record. You need to be cautious about expressing how you plan to vote before actually deliberating in public sessions. So um also another thing to be cautious about is sharing confidential information. So there are lots of ways that board members can get tripped up. Um so for myself as a board member, um, when I was a board member, I was very cautious. It's it's good to listen to what's being said out there, and if you hear a lot of it misinformation, um making sure your superintendent is aware of what's being said and referring folks to the website.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

Because really, when you you know, there a lot of these districts they have group chats that get going, things get posted, and I think board members feel the need to respond, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Absolutely. Absolutely. Um so that's what's it's difficult. And and again, um I think we've all probably done that where we've responded and wish that we didn't. Um but as a public official, we need to be very cautious about expressing our opinions and getting into a situation where it could violate the Open Meetings Act. Um, listening is important. You know, the I I believe that social media has replaced the town hall, so that's a place to go to see what's going on out there and to to kind of keep your ear to the ground and understand what the public is concerned about. Um, that's important information for board members, but taking that back to your district, to your superintendent, making sure that you're sharing factual information on the website and referring people there is probably the best approach.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

And I think that uh to go back to Christy's point about the public records is that if you're considering doing this, and you know, it should be a wider discussion amongst you uh and your full board about, you know, I'd like to can I'd like to do this, or if we're all gonna have our own, which is fine, but let's consider bringing in our legal counsel or calling our uh OSBA legal hotline to make sure that we have clarity on what the public public records laws uh are when it comes to sharing things, posting things to an official board member page.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

So if I'm a board member listening to this, and I hope many are, uh what's the one question I should ask myself before I hit post?

SPEAKER_00 6:44

That's a it's a that's a good question. It's um it needs to be a gut check. Um again, if you think about it for a minute and you think maybe I shouldn't be posting this, you're probably right. Um so you need to ask yourself whether or not um this is something that should be discussed in a public meeting of the full board. Um those are the types of things that I would think about. But again, gut check, make sure that um, you know, you're sharing factual information, you're not expecting a dialogue, it's a one-way communication, is really the best approach.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Quinn, any final thoughts? Um I think when it comes to that, uh I think you have to watch yourself on whether you're expressing your own personal opinion and and how much you're going to do that. You're duly elected by your constituents. Obviously they want to hear from you, they want to hear your thoughts, but uh understanding that when it's been a team decision that you have to respect that team decision moving forward and implement that to its fullest and continue to utilize the district, district's officials uh channels to make sure that people are referred to the correct information.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Another way to think about it, Scott, is if the topic involves board action, um policy or controversy, save it for a meeting. Yeah. If multiple members might jump in, um people uh begin to be tagged, especially board members, then don't start a thread. But um even though it feels informal, and that's the tricky part of it, it can be construed as a legal meeting. Um, it can be construed as you know, it it could become an accidental meeting, something that you did not intend um to create. So you need to be cautious about that.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

And just to make sure we're clear on how it can become a meeting is if you get a thread and and let's say all the board members on the board start weighing in, correct, then it becomes that becomes that becomes a meeting, and that's what you want to avoid. Right. So I guess the takeaway is uh pause, uh think about why you're posting when in doubt, stick with your district's official channels, like is what I'm hearing, right? That's correct.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Christy Quinn, uh, thanks so much for coming on Leading the Way podcast, and thank you for listening, and we'll see you on the next episode.