{"id":291379,"date":"2026-09-22T07:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291379\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T07:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:04:11","slug":"basd-social-media-policy-addresses-student-privacy-account-oversight-bethlehem-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291379\/","title":{"rendered":"BASD social media policy addresses student privacy, account oversight | Bethlehem Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bethlehem<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 Bethlehem Area School District officials on Monday discussed a social media policy that governs how the district will oversee school-related social media accounts and protect student privacy.<\/p>\n

Proposed during the school board Human Resources Committee meeting<\/a>, Policy 816 establishes districtwide standards for official social media accounts, including how accounts are created and managed, how public comments are moderated and how student privacy is protected.<\/p>\n

Board member Silagh White questioned how the district would vet social media accounts created for student organizations, athletic teams and other school-affiliated groups.<\/p>\n

District Communications Manager Jennifer LoConte-Kugler said social media can be the \u201cWild Wild West.\u201d<\/p>\n

LoConte-Kugler said she works with athletic directors and school principals as she becomes aware of accounts to determine who is running them. She said she also follows and monitors accounts and works with principals to help manage school accounts.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed policy, official district, school, department, athletic, club and activity accounts would operate under the oversight of the district\u2019s Office of Communications. The office would approve official accounts, maintain administrative access and establish standards for branding, messaging, photography, video and accessibility.<\/p>\n

Board member Michael Recchiuti raised concerns about social media posts and asked whether people responsible for posting to district social media accounts receive training on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.<\/p>\n

Recchiuti said some posts on district social media can blur the line between what is and is not appropriate to share.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo the people who actually post on these things get FERPA training?\u201d Recchiuti asked.<\/p>\n

Officials said employees receive FERPA training.<\/p>\n

Recchiuti also asked whether interns receive similar training. Officials said interns are not authorized to post to official district accounts.<\/p>\n

White said she wanted to make sure the policy clearly establishes where the district\u2019s authority and responsibilities lie, particularly when students use social media for routine activities such as promoting a team car wash.<\/p>\n

The policy separately addresses third-party accounts operated by students, parents, alumni, volunteers or other members of the public on behalf of district-affiliated groups. Those accounts are not district accounts and are not actively monitored by the district, according to the policy. The proposal encourages those pages to disclose that they are not district-owned and that the district is not responsible for their content or operation.<\/p>\n

LoConte-Kugler said parents can indicate through the district\u2019s systems that they do not want their children included in social media posts or photographs. She said she works with principals and teachers when questions arise about whether a student can be included in a photograph.<\/p>\n

LoConte-Kugler said principals can obtain lists of those students, and teachers are generally aware of which students can and cannot be included in photographs.<\/p>\n

The proposed policy would also establish rules for moderating public comments on district social media. District staff could remove comments that violate established rules, but moderation would have to be viewpoint-neutral. Comments could not be removed solely because they criticize the district or its leadership, express an unpopular opinion or present a differing viewpoint.<\/p>\n

Staff generally would not be permitted to block users from official district accounts unless an account is identified as a security or system threat or spam account.<\/p>\n

Recchiuti thanked administrators for their work on the proposal, noting that the district would now have a formal policy addressing social media.<\/p>\n

The social media policy and two other policies discussed Monday are expected to undergo further review by the board in October.<\/p>\n

Contracts<\/p>\n

In a separate Finance Committee meeting<\/a> Monday, members advanced the items under consideration to the Sept. 28 regular school board meeting.<\/p>\n

Among the largest items is a proposed $10.93 million contract with Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 for special education programs and related services during the 2026-27 school year. The amount is an estimate, with updated costs expected during the school year and a final reconciliation based on actual services, according to district documents.<\/p>\n

The committee also advanced an agreement supporting paid school psychology internships. BASD has been approved for a Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network grant providing $25,000 per intern for the 2026-27 fiscal year, officials said.<\/p>\n

The program is intended to help expand the school-based mental health workforce.<\/p>\n

Another agreement the committee considered Monday would continue the district\u2019s partnership with the Bethlehem Health Bureau at no cost to BASD. Services include required immunizations, assistance with communicable disease investigations and outbreaks, health education and naloxone kits for school buildings, subject to funding and availability. The agreement also includes family planning and sexually transmitted disease testing services at Liberty and Freedom high schools.<\/p>\n

New clubs<\/p>\n

Two new student clubs also advanced Monday.<\/p>\n

Freedom High School\u2019s \u201cReady, Set, Go!\u201d club would design, organize and raise money for Special Olympics events for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The second club, a Spanish club at East Hills Middle School, would provide an informal setting for students to explore Spanish-speaking cultures and practice language skills outside graded assignments, according to committee documents.<\/p>\n

Grants<\/p>\n

The district also received Dollar General literacy grants of $3,000 for Spring Garden Elementary School and $2,500 for Marvine Elementary School. The grants are intended to support students reading below grade level or experiencing reading difficulties.<\/p>\n

Other business<\/p>\n

Other measures advanced include a $30,400 agreement to train three district employees as Leader in Me instructors and a $31,500 privileged access management system intended to strengthen cybersecurity systems.<\/p>\n

The Finance Committee also advanced the addition of New Hope Academy as an alternative educational placement for the 2026-27 school year at a daily rate of $252.90, with costs not to exceed $45,522.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 Bethlehem Area School District officials on Monday discussed a social media policy that governs how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,1412,155,29052,154,120846,120850,95957,120845,116813,34222,32680,120848,120847,120849],"class_list":["post-291379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-area-school-district","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-health-bureau","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-colonial-intermediate-unit","tag-district-communications-manager","tag-east-hills-middle-school","tag-jennifer-loconte-kugler","tag-marvine-elementary-school","tag-michael-recchiuti","tag-silagh-white","tag-social-media-policy","tag-social-media-posts","tag-spring-garden-elementary-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}