District with teacher-sex cases weighing social media policy
PLUM (AP) – A Western Pennsylvania school district reeling from several criminal cases involving teachers accused of having sex with students is weighing a policy to limit electronic communications between teachers and students.
The Plum School Board is considering adopting the seven-page policy developed by the Pennsylvania School Board Association. The Plum board plans to vote on the policy next week.
The district a few miles east of Pittsburgh has three teachers criminally charged with having sex with students, and a fourth charged with intimidating one of their accusers by allegedly pointing her out to classmates.
The new policy would specifically bar romantic messages and allow electronic communications only for legitimate, school-related subjects. It would also require emails be sent from school computers, and that messages from coaches or advisers be sent only to groups of students, not individuals.