Social Media Guidelines

Dare County Schools Social Media Guidelines 

The purpose of the Dare County Schools (DCS) social media sites is to present matters of public interest concerning DCS programs, activities, news, and events. For additional information about DCS, please check out our district and school websites.

Comment Policy 

Dare County Schools welcomes comments from students, parents and members of the community on our social media pages. Please note, however, that this is a moderated discussion site and not a public forum for the discussion of any and all subjects. All comments are subject to review by DCS moderators. While comments will not be edited or screened for viewpoint, DCS reserves the right to remove any comment that includes any of the following:

• Points unrelated to the purpose and subject of the main post. All comments to any particular post should be germane to that post. Commenters who wish to offer input on school system matters not addressed on our Facebook page are encouraged to contact the school or central office administration, as appropriate, or to sign up to offer public comment at a regular business meeting of the Board of Education.
• Complaints, concerns, or confidential information about individual students or employees. To protect the privacy and due process rights of our students and employees, DCS handles complaints and concerns about specific persons confidentially. Questions or concerns about specific students should generally be referred in the first instance to the student’s teacher or a school administrator. Questions or concerns about specific employees should generally be referred in the first instance to the school principal or other supervisor. Other policies, like the Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying Complaint Policy and the Student and Parent Grievance Policy, may apply in specific circumstances.
• Advertising or promotional materials.
• Comments that could be considered to promote a controversial political platform or belief. 
• Copyrighted material posted without the express consent of the copyright holder.
• Words that constitute a criminal act or that solicit others to commit a criminal act.
• Fraud or defamation.
• Personally abusive language that is inherently likely to provoke a violent response.
• Words that present a grave and imminent threat to any person’s health or safety.
• Threats of violence.
• Obscenity or illegal material
• Comments that do not comport with reasonable standards of civility and decorum (see below).

Civility and Decorum

Comments that do not meet reasonable standards of civility of decorum may be removed. Commenters are reminded that this is a public school system website and that students – most of whom are impressionable minors – are one of its main intended audiences. Students check the DCS Facebook page frequently for important information about school events and activities and should not be exposed to comments that are likely to cause them emotional distress or that would be inappropriate in the school environment. In particular, commenters are expected to refrain entirely from profanity, personal insults, and personal attacks against any person.

Facebook Rules and Standards

Please note that Facebook has its own rules and regulations that govern the access of all users on their site. In addition to the regulation of DCS moderators on our district and school pages, Facebook may take action towards anyone who violates their rules and regulations. 

Disclaimer

DCS is not responsible for and does not necessarily endorse or oppose any points made by commenters on this Facebook page. Commenters are solely responsible for their own comments and are urged to exercise good judgment, including but not limited to the rules and expectations set out above.