Woodside School District

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Photos on Phones
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We are writing to remind you of some important guidelines and best practices for using your personal electronic devices while at school. In general, you should not be using your personal devices (cell phones, tablets, etc.) for District business. But we understand that some incidental use of your personal devices is inevitable. For example, you may need to occasionally use your personal phone to send a text to a colleague, or you may sometimes take photos of students to share with parents. Accordingly, if you do have to use your personal devices while on duty, please keep the following in mind:

You must not use your personal electronic devices or accounts for personal business while on duty, except in emergency situations and/or during scheduled work breaks.
Use of personal devices or accounts for District business should be kept to a minimum.
Never use your personal devices or accounts to communicate directly with students, and do not invite or accept requests to connect with or follow students on social media.
When you conduct District business on your personal devices or using personal accounts, those records are not private. At any time, the District can require you to produce records related to district business (including text messages, emails, photos, videos, etc.) that you have on your personal accounts or devices. Those records may also be subject to disclosure in response to a court-ordered subpoena, a student records request from a parent, a Public Records Act request by a member of the public, or any other lawful request.
If you take photos of students on your phone or camera:

o Only share those photos with parents or guardians, unless otherwise directed by your supervisor.

o Do not share the photos with other adults who are not affiliated with the student or the District.

o Do not post the photos on your personal social media accounts.

o Delete the photos from your phone or camera once you have shared the photos with parents and no longer need them.

o Respect a parent’s request not to take or share photos of the child.

In general, be mindful of your obligation to maintain appropriate adult-student relationships and avoid any activity that may lead to the appearance of impropriety or inadvertently violate a student’s privacy rights.

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