FILE:  GAMI

Cf:  GBRA

 

USE OF TELECOMMUNICATION AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES

 

 

TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICES

 

Employees shall be prohibited from using electronic telecommunication devices such as personal cellular telephones, pagers, beepers or other such devices during the workday except during non-duty times, unless otherwise authorized or upon prior approval of their immediate supervisor.

 

Notwithstanding the above provisions, this policy shall not affect the conduct of law enforcement activities including the use of electronic detection devices, dogs or other means of conducting searches for weapons, drugs, or other contraband in whatever manner is otherwise permitted by law and consistent with School Board policy.

 

Guidelines

 

All Orleans Parish School Board employees, including teachers, support staff, substitutes, those contracted for services, and visitors, may possess electronic telecommunication devices in any elementary, middle, or high school building, or on the grounds thereof or in any school bus used to transport public school students or during the course of driving a School Board-owned vehicle.  However, use of these devices shall be governed by the following provisions:

 

  1. Devices shall not be used during instructional time, while on duty, during professional development/in-services, or in the presence of students unless authorized by the Superintendent, principal, or his/her designee, except in an emergency.  An emergency is defined as an actual or imminent threat to public health or safety, which may result in loss of life, injury, or property damage.

  2. Camera phones with video and/or still photography capabilities, voice­ recording capabilities, or future technological improvements and/or equivalent equipment shall not be used unless authorized by the Superintendent, principal, or his/her designee.

  3. During the weeks of state testing (including end-of-course tests), phones and other electronic telecommunication devices (with or without cameras) shall be prohibited in the same room with secure testing materials.

  4. District level personnel visiting any school  site  or attending  any school/district related meeting shall turn off their cell phones, or put them or other electronic telecommunication devices on vibrate or silent, as authorized by their immediate supervisor.

  5. Employees shall not make or receive cellular phone calls during any professional meetings which they are required to attend, i.e., faculty meetings, department meetings, in-service sessions, etc.

  6. Employees may not make or receive cellular phone calls during any time that they are driving School Board-owned vehicles.  The School Board recognizes that there may be employees in transit who are required to maintain contact with their departments/schools while driving a vehicle.  Any employee who is contacted by their department/school while driving a vehicle should come to a complete stop at a safe place as soon as possible and respond to the call in a timely manner.

 

While the operation of the School Board and its schools is governed by the provisions of this and all other School Board policies, administrative regulations and procedures, as well as procedures of the individual schools, no policy manual can list each and every instance of misconduct that is precluded relative to telecommunication and electronic devices.   Accordingly, employees shall be cautioned that the appropriateness of certain action or behavior must necessarily be dictated by the nature of the position held by the employee and standards of common sense.   By virtue of one's education and experience, an employee knows and understands that certain actions or conducts are unacceptable even in the absence of formal School Board policy. Such conduct constitutes both incompetence and willful neglect of duty.  Such conduct, as well as violation of any state or federal law or School Board policies, handbooks, regulations, or procedures, or school regulations or procedures, shall result in a case­ by-case review by the Superintendent and/or his/her designee and may result in imposition of discipline up to and including but not limited to written reprimands, suspensions from work without pay and/or benefits and termination of the employee.

 

Exceptions

 

School administrators and supervisors may be permitted to carry cell phones in sight due to administrative and safety responsibilities.  It is suggested that the phone be in the vibrate mode and used out of the sight of students whenever possible.  No personal use of the cell phone shall be allowed except as provided above for the teachers and staff.

 

EMPLOYER PROVIDED CELLULAR PHONES

 

The Orleans Parish School Board may provide cell phones to selected employees to ensure the safety of the educational community and school clientele, as well as to enhance all facets of school operations and procedures to improve the efficiency of the school district.  The Superintendent shall designate those employees who may be issued cell phones, based on the employees’ duties and responsibilities.

 

Cell phones shall not be a personal benefit, nor a primary mode of personal communication.  Cell phones must be used for school-related business only. 

 

School Board personnel may monitor use of the School Board-owned cell phones on a monthly basis for propriety and reasonableness of phone use.

 

ELECTRONIC RECORDING DEVICES

 

No employee of the Orleans Parish School Board shall utilize an electronic recording device to surreptitiously record a telephone or face-to-face conversation with any other person while the employee is on duty or where the communication concerns school matters.  To ensure compliance with this policy, and to protect the privacy rights of the individual who is subject to the use of a recording device, a school employee shall, prior to the initiation or use of any recording device to monitor a conversation with a third party, advise the third party that the conversation is being recorded and shall request the permission of the third party to record the conversation, which advice and consent for the recordation shall be documented at the beginning of the recordation of any such conversation.  If permission to record is denied by the third party, no employee shall surreptitiously record a conversation with any third party.

 

This policy shall have no application to the following:

 

  1. A recording made at the direct request and in conjunction with a member of a law enforcement agency pursuant to the investigation of criminal conduct by that agency;

  2. A recording made to preserve a criminal threat of personal injury or property damage by a third party, i.e. a bomb threat or threat to physically harm a teacher, student or other person;

  3. Due process hearings for employees or students where recordation of the proceedings is required by state law or School Board policy, such as student suspension or expulsion hearings at the Superintendent level.

 

CONTACTING SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS

 

Employees shall only contact School Board members utilizing email account(s), mailing addresses, or phone number(s) designated by the Orleans Parish School Board member and maintained at the main office.  School Board members’ official contact information and district supported emails which allow everyone to email individual School Board members shall also be posted on the School Board’s website.  Blocking of contact information by employees, or School Board members shall not be permitted.  Nothing in this policy shall prohibit individual School Board members from providing other means by which employees may contact them or from personally speaking to employees.

 

 

Ref:     La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§14:40.3, 17:81, 17:239

 

Orleans Parish School Board