A new law that takes effect June 27 has been under public scrutiny. Senate Bill 181 prohibits any untraceable form of electronic communication between any school employee or volunteer with a student that is not immediate family. Parents, teachers, coaches, and other school employees have voiced their dismay on social media and other platforms.
The bill passed unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Beshear on April 1. The bill aims to prevent any unlawful contact between students and staff to protect students from potential predators. However, the bill is very restrictive.
SB181 excludes family members; however, the definition of family member is very slim. According to the bill, family member means a parent, brother, sister, son, daughter, aunt, uncle or grandparent. This prohibits stepparents who are school employees from contacting their stepchildren. Many school district employees are also active in churches and other organizations. This would prohibit them from texting or sending a Facebook message to students in their group.
The law is very clear on what is required. Each school district must designate a traceable communication system to be the exclusive means for employees to communicate with students. Any communication outside this is illegal.
If an employee receives a report of a violation of this policy, they shall report it immediately. The parent of each student involved shall be notified and it shall be reported to the Education Professional Standards Board.
“The law says any communication with students has to be traceable. We purchased “rooms” which is an add on to our website that teachers will be able to set up communication with those students” said Superintendent Jason Faulkner. “We are going to streamline this and use infinite campus and the rooms app.”
The law does allow for consent forms to be signed by parents. According to the bill, a parent may submit written consent to authorize a designated school district employee or volunteer who is not a family member to communicate electronically with their child.
This consent form presents more obstacles for administration. One must be filled out for each employee or volunteer that may communicate with the student, it may be revoked at any time and may also require that the parent be included in the communication. The consent form must be filed in the administrative office of the student’s school prior to any communication.
“This is not a multiple select form. For every activity that a student is involved in, if the parent wants to allow communication between the student and teacher, a separate form must be filled out for each one,” said Faulkner. “As it stands right now, we cannot do it on one form.”
“I truly believe the intent of this is good,” said Faulkner. “The problem is when you develop a policy that puts so many stipulations and outlines it so specifically, it hurts everybody. This policy does exactly that. I feel like this policy puts too many stipulations on our educators and our school’s administration.”
Each district is responsible for purchasing a program that meets all the criteria outlined in this law. No additional funding was provided by the state to offset the cost of this. For Adair County, the cost of the program was approximately $9,000.
Students use google classroom to do their work at school and on non-traditional days. It is not considered an untraceable form of communication. Before if a student turned in an assignment, the teacher could make notes directly on it for the student. Under this law, this will not be allowed. Teachers will need to use the approved form of communication to contact the student about the assignment.
School personnel are concerned that SB181 will impact the positive connections they have with students. Teachers have voiced concerns that it will place a barrier between students and the people who care about them. For some students, school is the only place they feel seen and heard.
Jennifer Carter, a high school teacher and sponsor of HOSA, had some concerns about the bill. She told about a student who was in her class several years ago. The student did not have a good home life, but it was not bad enough for her to be removed. This student was given a phone by another student to be able to use messenger on wifi. At 10:30pm one night, the student sent Carter a message that state “I’m scared”. Carter spoke back and forth with the student about what was going on, the student did not want the police called because it would make matters worse. She asked Carter to just message with her until she felt safe. With this law in effect, Carter would not be able to respond to a message like that.
Carter said “Mental health is such a strong thing. You are isolating them more, these kids who are struggling, they don’t communicate well as it is so when they find the person they can communicate with, that trusted adult and now you’re taking that away from them”.
“We are building another wall between our students, and they have enough walls to tear down already,” said Carter. “These kids can’t even text me to tell me they passed a test or reached a milestone”.
Policies change with technology. SB181 is a law now. School districts have no option but to follow it to the letter. There are so many “what ifs” that were not addressed in the bill. What originated as a law to protect children has now become an issue that could potentially inundate school officials with paperwork for waivers or even complaints which in turn takes time away from their other responsibilities.
Faulker said “Per the law, I have got to inform our parents within the first 10 days of school about SB181 and what is the approved appropriate method for Adair County Schools. It is law and we have to follow it”.
