Superintendent of Schools and Facebook. He should know better.

[Kathi OD]

I'm just happy it wasn't a superintendent from NJ. They've been in the news enough lately!

 

[sbell111]

So you think he will get to keep his job despite the fact that he posted, what most people would consider confidential information and found it funny? Do you think that his blatant lack of professionalism should permit him to keep his job?

I think that it all comes down to how his contract is written and the quality of his attorney.

Personally, I think that he should keep his job.

 

[barkley]

Yet, offering to allow someone to retire rather than be fired isn't illegal, at all. The person in question, of course, has no standing anyway because his identity was not given. In fact, no confidential information was appraently shared by the superdude.

it would have been illegal at the public agency i worked for. when an employee retired the retirement board sent separation paperwork to the manager and h/r for them to attest that there was nothing going on from a personnel standing that could preclude the applicant from qualifying for retirement.

with rare exceptions we had no at will employees so that meant if someone were going to be fired we had to have cause, and that cause had to be documented in their personnel file. with all firings the fired employee lost all rights to retirement benefits. so if a manager were to counsel someone that they should retire vs. getting fired, the manager would have been facilitating a fraudulent retirement.


no confidential information was given on the fb page, but you can bet the support staff in superdude's office know who he was meeting with on certain days-and disclosing h/r information is a huge basis for a lawsuit.

i can see a lawyer getting a huge payoff for this person, esp. if they did retire but like many retirees from public agencies is looking at becoming a contract employee with other employers. by saying that termination was even a consideration, it could prevent that person from getting subsequent employment (this was why our h/r never disclosed if someone was fired-they would only say if they were or were not eligible for rehire).

 

[sbell111]

it would have been illegal at the public agency i worked for. when an employee retired the retirement board sent separation paperwork to the manager and h/r for them to attest that there was nothing going on from a personnel standing that could preclude the applicant from qualifying for retirement.

with rare exceptions we had no at will employees so that meant if someone were going to be fired we had to have cause, and that cause had to be documented in their personnel file. with all firings the fired employee lost all rights to retirement benefits. so if a manager were to counsel someone that they should retire vs. getting fired, the manager would have been facilitating a fraudulent retirement.

For some reason, I'm flashing on the federal government. It seems like everytime something goes bad, people end up 'retiring' shortly thereafter. Of course, we all know that these people were fired, but being allowed to retire is better.

no confidential information was given on the fb page, but you can bet the support staff in superdude's office know who he was meeting with on certain days-and disclosing h/r information is a huge basis for a lawsuit.

Regardless of facebook, the support staff knew that superdude called a meeting with a person and that the person subsequently retired. It doesn't take an insider to draw a connection between these facts.

i can see a lawyer getting a huge payoff for this person, esp. if they did retire but like many retirees from public agencies is looking at becoming a contract employee with other employers. by saying that termination was even a consideration, it could prevent that person from getting subsequent employment (this was why our h/r never disclosed if someone was fired-they would only say if they were or were not eligible for rehire).

The facebook statements never identified the individual. If people choose to infer that it is a specific person, that's on them.

 

[ols386]

Even if he didn't mention a specific name, the guy shouldn't have even been discussing it on FB or any other public forum. I say he'll either be fired or given the choice to resign. What he did was totally unprofessional and unacceptable.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I am a teacher and we are told OVER and OVER again by our union NOT to have a Facebook page. Now, with parenting teen-age children, this is hard since I need to be able to monitor their interaction on Facebook. I created a page with my nickname and maiden name (not my school name). And, my sons have friended me and I have their passwords.

Our union has told numerous stories of teachers getting fired for what they have posted and wrote on Facebook. This guy will probably get fired (so much for his "easy" job.) since the "fired" administrator could probably sue the district for what his boss just did.

People are unbelievable. (... and I really hate Facebook. Just one more thing for me to have to monitor as a parent ... UGH!)

 

[klj27]

Like my husband says, google teacher fired and facebook and see how many hits you get. Mindboggling!

 

[Ceila]

I am a teacher and we are told OVER and OVER again by our union NOT to have a Facebook page. Now, with parenting teen-age children, this is hard since I need to be able to monitor their interaction on Facebook. I created a page with my nickname and maiden name (not my school name). And, my sons have friended me and I have their passwords.

Our union has told numerous stories of teachers getting fired for what they have posted and wrote on Facebook. This guy will probably get fired (so much for his "easy" job.) since the "fired" administrator could probably sue the district for what his boss just did.

People are unbelievable. (... and I really hate Facebook. Just one more thing for me to have to monitor as a parent ... UGH!)

While I agree that certain things should never be posted on Facebook, I take exception to the union's position. You don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If you are mindful of what you post, don't "friend" students, etc., you should not end up in a position where your FB page compromises your ability to teach. I teach and I have a FB page. Nothing goes on there that I wouldn't be comfortable having students, their parents, colleagues, and administrators read (although none of them will ever be on my friends list).

 

[diznygirl]

It does show a certain lack of common sense, that's for sure. If he stays in the job, he's going to have a bumpy ride because of this negative first impression.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

While I agree that certain things should never be posted on Facebook, I take exception to the union's position. You don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If you are mindful of what you post, don't "friend" students, etc., you should not end up in a position where your FB page compromises your ability to teach. I teach and I have a FB page. Nothing goes on there that I wouldn't be comfortable having students, their parents, colleagues, and administrators read (although none of them will ever be on my friends list).

I do agree with you somewhat ... you have to be smart about what you are posting ... but below is an article that happened in our area to a local teacher.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/01/western_pennsylvania_teacher_s.html

We also had 3, yes 3 Facebook pages of our high school principal "created" by students that posted cropped pictures of him ... and wrote comments ... The district lawyer had to contact Facebook to get them removed ... and he has to keep monitoring the site to look for new accounts.

 

[barkley]

was'nt there a dis'r sometime back (may have been a couple of years ago) who worked in some capacity for a school district, and ended up getting fired b/c of something they posted on facebook or some other social networking site?

i seem to remember that it had something to do with the her (or him) being identifiable on the site as an employee of the district (they either outright had their employer's identity on the site, or there was a photo of them wearing something that identified them as a school employee), and whatever they had posted, the district took issue with it presenting a negative or inappropriate reflection of someone they would employ.


btw-if you google the term "social media policy" along with "schools" you will find allot of articles about school districts talking about enacting policies that would prevent or severly restrict staff from having pages on social networking sites.

 

[KadysMom]

This is my hometown

Also this is a super small town and everyone knows everyone....

 

[shortbun]

Some of the things people are willing to post on Facebook continue to amaze me.

Yeah and that adults have Facebook pages even amazes me more! I know this isn't a popular opinion here but people-Facebook is for children or at the very least, young 20's. Why risk it all and be so public about your life?

 

[allison443]

Yeah and that adults have Facebook pages even amazes me more! I know this isn't a popular opinion here but people-Facebook is for children or at the very least, young 20's. Why risk it all and be so public about your life?

I have a facebook page but it is private so only my friends/relatives can see it...I don't have many facebook friends anyway. It's just an easy way to keep in touch. It isn't public.

If the superintendent's page was not private and he was putting his comments out for all to see, in my opinion he should be fired for stupidity. Any parent or any administrator working with kids needs to have a basic understanding of facebook, in my opinion. There are so many issues in schools today dealing with facebook and it sounds like this guy didn't know enough about it.

Facebook is not a new thing...it's been around long enough and there have been enough stories about people getting into trouble that it seems this guy really didn't have a clue.

 

[Ceila]

I do agree with you somewhat ... you have to be smart about what you are posting ... but below is an article that happened in our area to a local teacher.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/01/western_pennsylvania_teacher_s.html

But that has nothing to do with the teacher and whether the teacher had a FB page. That picture could have appeared in the local paper for all she knows. The school district seriously overstepped their bounds here.

Yeah and that adults have Facebook pages even amazes me more! I know this isn't a popular opinion here but people-Facebook is for children or at the very least, young 20's. Why risk it all and be so public about your life?

Again, if you are careful about what you post, having a FB page doesn't have to be a problem. There is no requirement that you HAVE to put everything out there - you choose how much you post and what you post about. I have family in several different states and for us FB is a great way to stay connected and easily share photos with one another. While you are certainly free to not choose to use it, I don't see your need to put down others who choose to make use of it.

 

[DWGal210]

What a moron. In 2010, to not realize that posting things online could be seen by your boss is just assinine.

But I do have to respectfully disagree about Facebook being only for kids. My parents have an account, really so they can see videos & pictures of my neice & their other family far away.

 

[Ceila]

I have a facebook page but it is private so only my friends/relatives can see it...I don't have many facebook friends anyway. It's just an easy way to keep in touch. It isn't public.

Exactly. You can control who sees your posts and photos.

 

[allison443]

DawnCt1

Thanks for posting...

just yesterday my 16 year old asked me if she should create another facebook account for the more serious stuff in her future life. Job apps, college apps, etc..and we had a nice discussion. This is a very good thread to show her the consequences...

When my dd was a senior in college most of her friends changed their facebook names to something like Jane Ann (first and middle name, no last name) or a nickname or some other variant of their real name. Their friends still knew who they were but a potential employer would not locate their page. Also they made sure their profiles AND PHOTOS (very important) were set to private. My dd continued this once she started her job.
Good that your dd is aware of the issues.

 

[Hyro]

What would the lawsuit be based on? He didn't name anyone in the post? It sounds like this is a small town and people can make assumptions, but he would have to post a name to actually create a lawsuit.

Who actually took the time to find the superintendents facebook account and find this information? It sounds like someone has it out for this guy. Does the newspaper article site who found this information?

I say give the guy a break. Everyone makes mistakes. If he makes the same mistake twice, get rid of him.

 

[teskak]

My question - why is Facebook any different from the DIS - especially for those who post thier pictures as avatar or signature?

There are enough posts on the DIS of people and thier students, colleagues, spouse's lover etc