MO Governor Rids Schools of Facebook Ban

Democratic Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law Friday legislation that eliminates the ban on social media communication by public school teachers.

Nixon signed Senate Bill 1, which repeals a portion of a state school social networking law passed, Senate Bill 54 (also known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act), by the General Assembly this spring.

SB-54 included a ban on use between teachers and students of internet sites like Facebook, and was sponsored by Chesterfield's State Sen. Jane Cunningham, a Republican.

The ban would not allow teachers to communicate through Facebook, texts and emails with students, unless a third party was involved. Under the law, teachers would not be allowed to chat with their own school-age children on Facebook. 

The Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) sued the state over the social network portions of Senate Bill 54, claiming it was too vague. MSTA was awarded an injunction on Aug. 26, just two days before the new law was to take effect.

Cunningham's office described the problem as unclear language in her law, and that tweaking it would solve things.

After being on hold for nearly two months, lawmakers put a new bill on Nixon's desk during this special session of the Legislature.

“This bill is not as good as it should be, but to veto it would return us to a bill that would be far worse,” Nixon said in a written statement with the signing.

Senate Bill 1 modifies the components that must be included in each school district's policy and repeals the existing components. It requires each school district to put into effect and promote a policy directed at the use of electronic communication between staff members and students by March 1. 

Districts are expected to draft those policies in a way that will prevent "improper communications" between staff and students, Nixon's office stated in the release.

SB1 also repeals:

• The prohibition on a teacher establishing, maintaining, or using a work-related internet site unless it is available to school administrators and the child's legal custodian, physical custodian or legal guardian.
• The prohibition on a teacher establishing, maintaining, or using a nonwork-related internet site which allows exclusive access with a current or former student.
• The definitions of: exclusive access, former student, work-related internet site, and nonwork-related internet site.

"It's a step in the right direction, but at the same time, we need to be prepared for districts that go beyond the scope of this original bill. The district's that won't allow teachers to use Facebook or even have their own Facebook page that is locked down," said Todd Fuller, MSTA Director of Communications.

Fuller said at this point MSTA's lawsuit still stands and so does the injunction. He said MSTA will meet with its attorneys next week and determine what steps to take from there.

"The reason we just don't drop the suit is because we don't know what policy is going to be written (by school districts). This injunction still protects teachers as (a school district's) policy is written and put into place," Fuller tells Patch.

Fuller said although there has been a lot of controversy and confusion, the bill has brought attention to an issue that needed to be thoroughly investigated.