Communications

This page is intended to provide guidance for when Cleveland County Schools intends to open up its social media accounts to the public for feedback/interaction and when our social media accounts are simply used to quickly communicate information. Our goal is to keep the community reasonably informed with important updates and announcements while maintaining a respectful, productive, and safe online environment for our school community.

Cleveland County Schools has no obligation to create a public forum via our social media platforms. However, when such a forum is created, the expressive rights guaranteed to the public under the First Amendment will be upheld. 

In certain circumstances, Cleveland County Schools will merely provide an update or announcement without the need for opening comments. For example, information may be posted regarding inclement weather and school closings or delays. In this instance, Cleveland County Schools is not intending to create a public forum. 

In other circumstances, Cleveland County Schools may choose to recognize a group/individual or discuss an upcoming event. In these instances, the comment function will be enabled. Here, Cleveland County Schools is creating a designated public forum in which members of the public may provide comments within certain content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions.

General Guidelines

1. All comments and content shared on our social media platforms must pertain to items within the jurisdictional control or authority of Cleveland County Schools.
    
2. Users are expected to engage in respectful and constructive dialogue. Inappropriate content will be subject to removal.
    
3. Cleveland County Schools reserves the right to block, hide, or remove comments that violate our content-neutral comment standards (see standards below).
    
4. The school district may discontinue any social media platform at any time without prior notice.
    

Comment Management

1. Cleveland County Schools reserves the right to disable comments on posts when there is no reason for comments or debate. This decision will be made at the discretion of authorized social media personnel.
    
2. When comments are enabled, they will be monitored regularly by designated staff members. Comments should be relevant to the subject matter of the post.
    
3. Comments may be hidden or removed if they violate any of the standards set forth below:
    
   • No use of profanity or offensive language
   • No personal attacks or harassment
   • No spam or commercial promotions
   • No off-topic content, must be within the jurisdiction of CCS
   • No violations of privacy or confidentiality
   • Any other content deemed inappropriate for an educational setting

1. Cleveland County Schools will adhere to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) when posting content on social media.
    
2. Parents have the right to opt-out of having their child's information, including photographs, shared on social media platforms.
    
3. The district will obtain parental consent before posting student-specific content that may not fall under directory information.

Cleveland County Schools is not responsible for content posted by visitors to our social media accounts. Views expressed by the public do not necessarily reflect those of the school district.

By interacting with our social media accounts, users agree to comply with this policy. Failure to do so may result in restricted access to our platforms.

This policy is subject to change without notice. For the most current version, please visit our official website