Community Education

Peninsula teachers, others blast school board’s new staff expression policy

Posted on October 22nd, 2024 By: Christina T Henry

This story has been updated since it was first posted. While the school board vote was unanimous, board member Lori Glover was absent from the meeting.

Teachers and others speaking at the Peninsula school board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15, sounded the alarm on a policy regarding “staff expression,” including posts and comments on social media.

Policy 5254, which the board approved following public comments, is vague and dangerous, speakers said, a “slippery slope” that will erode employees’ legally protected personal freedom outside of school.

The board’s vote came just weeks after a Peninsula teacher resigned over social media bullying after they were outed online as a drag artist, as reported in The Stranger and other media. Their resignation was voluntary and not a result of discipline by the district, according to the report.

What the policy says

Peninsula based the Staff Expression policy on a model policy by the Washington State School Directors Association, said board President Natalie Wimberley. Its intent, in part, is to set guidelines for staff conduct online, given that social media blurs boundaries between work and off-hours.

“The Peninsula School board believes the district has an interest in maintaining an orderly and effective work environment while balancing employees’ First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and diverse viewpoints and beliefs,” the policy begins.

It reminds that “the First Amendment protects a public employee’s speech when the employee is speaking as an individual citizen on a matter of public concern.” The district, however, reserves the right to discipline or even terminate an employee if their self-expression “has an adverse impact on district operations” or negatively impacts an employee’s ability to perform their job.

Social media warning

On the clock, staff expression includes how they represent the district in district emails, how they use district facilities, including classrooms, and “how they present themselves to students.”

Off the clock, “employee expression on social media platforms that interferes with the district’s operations or prevents the district from functioning efficiently and effectively may be subject to discipline up to and including termination,” the policy states.

The policy admonishes employees to “remember that the school community may not be able to separate employees as private citizens from their role within the district.”

“I’ll be honest, I read that and I audibly said, ‘well, they damn well should,’ because we have rights as individual citizens,” retired teacher Jonathan Bill told the school board. “This takes me right back to the moral turpitude clauses that they had young female teachers sign in the 19th century as a condition of employment.”

‘It terrifies me’

Bill, who was a history teacher, refers to contracts holding female employees to certain behavioral standards so as not to bring disrepute or scandal to the employer. That could include how they dressed or anything that could be deemed provocative.

“And we’ve come full circle of that due to the very nature of the Internet and Internet controversies,” he continued. “And this really saddens me. Quite frankly, it is one of the contributing factors why I decided to retire a little earlier than most people, because I saw this coming and it terrifies me.”

Bill said the policy opens employees up to arbitrary fallout from the “minefield of misinformation” that is American life as we now live it.

“The district should stand up for our rights, not give itself an out to abuse our rights if someone decides they don’t like us,” Bill said. “And that is the problem here, because if I were to be involved in some expression in my private life, completely separated from my time with the district, and someone else decides that they want to object to that, they’re the ones interfering with the district, not me.”

The Peninsula school board considers a new policy on staff expression at an Oct. 15 meeting.

Teachers, CYA

Peninsula High School teacher Ben Pinneo began his policy complaint to the board with more than a hint of sarcasm.

“Let me explicitly state that I am not here in any official district or educational capacity tonight, but only as a private citizen, homeowner, taxpayer, concerned citizen and local district voter,” Pinneo said. “I don’t think that all needs to be stated. But as policy 5254 seems to be a catch-all CYA (Cover Your A–) policy for the district, I better CMOA, just in case, under the vaguely worded and overly broad proposed policy.”

Pinneo said under this policy, an employee’s words or actions outside of work — for example, visiting a gay bar, attending a protest rally, “attending a sporting event and cheering and yelling while perhaps drinking one or more alcoholic beverages” — would open them up to the subjective judgement of a “vocal set of self-appointed, online keyboard warrior, local morality police.”

Pinneo and other speakers alluded to the recent resignation of the PSD teacher whose moonlighting as a drag king became fodder for online bullying as an example of how vulnerable school employees are in the court of public opinion.

The elephant in the room

Peninsula High School junior Camri Clawson, described the teacher who resigned as “supportive, welcoming and inclusive.” She said protections for teachers should be more clearly spelled out in the policy.

“I would like to address the elephant in the room regarding the reason we need such clarifications,” she said. “We will continue to lose talented and commendable teachers if we cater to voices in our community and sadly, even our own school board, who seek to disregard diversity and its importance in classroom.”

According to the Stranger, the teacher (who uses they/them pronouns) went to great lengths to “make a thick line” between work and their off hours. They disclosed their hobby to the district and untagged online posts associated with their drag persona from their personal account.

Early in the school year, however, one photo from six years back that had been missed surfaced on an anonymous, student-run Instagram page, @phs_crazy, used as a forum to shame and bully LGBTQ+ and minority students at Peninsula high.

Online bullying noted

According to the Stranger, photos from the teacher’s Instagram account spread to community groups, including Informed Parents of Washington Peninsula School District, an extreme right-wing parents’ group that made derogatory posts about the teacher.

They initially took leave as their union advised their safety was at risk. When the online bullying didn’t die down, the teacher voluntarily resigned with plans to move out of state, according to the Stranger’s story.

The district, in the wake of the incident but without mentioning it, reported an increase in cyberbullying of students and staff (emphasis added). District officials said they would address online bullying in a larger anti-bullying campaign launched this fall.

A climate of fear

Speaker Cristy Wahala told the board the policy has created a climate of fear within the district.

“I’ve spoken with many district employees who are frankly scared about what this policy could mean for them. There are too many unknowns. Many of these employees are too scared about losing their jobs to publicly share their concerns with the district and the board,” she said. “This vague policy would be the death of free thinking in our district, which is the birth of a dictatorship. That in itself is in direct opposition of what a public school system should be striving for.”

That view was echoed by former district employee Chris Dougherty.

“This (policy) places the onus on staff members to self-censor as we know we cannot control how others perceive us,” she said, adding the policy is “dangerously vague and threatens the constitutional rights of our staff and educators.”

Open to interpretation

Pinneo wondered who will interpret the term “adverse impact.”

“Leaving these delineations in the power and the hands of administrators and school boards is dangerous and will have the impact of intimidating school employees,” Pinneo said, “and telling our current and future potential employees that the Gig Harbor area is an area where staff should be scared to be outside of work, and that is wrong.”

Peninsula Education Association President Carol Rivera has raised concerns about the policy at previous board meetings. On Tuesday, she said, “First and foremost, there is always concern about whether or not the next school board or the next superintendent or whoever else might be in the seat that you’re sitting in, how they will interpret that policy or change it.”

Rivera said she hoped the board would work with unions on procedures for implementing the policy.

Board members comment

Board members discussed the policy before the vote.

Chuck West, a career firefighter, said he wasn’t surprised by Policy 5254.

“We already had this policy probably seven years ago,” he said. “It didn’t have a big adverse effect in the fire department. If anything, it made people think and then have responsible debate. And I don’t think there was ever a time when you still weren’t allowed to express yourself, but it always made you think a little bit about, OK, be responsible, be respectable, especially with your fellow employees.”

Jennifer Butler noted the district and board are already mindful of the impact of social media and the fact that boundaries between the schoolhouse and online forums bleed over 24/7. The district adopted a “no cell phone” policy in August 2023 and with other districts has signed on to a class action suit against social media companies for failing to act on harmful effects of their products. She said case law cited by WSSDA (the school directors association) related to Policy 5254 is ambiguous due to the very nature of social media.

“So, I think I’m struggling a little bit between intent and outcome, because I think what we want to do is set a high bar right for how we communicate,” Butler said. “And I thought I had clarity on this in my mind, but I don’t know that I do, because I don’t know that anybody does.”

School board’s statement

Before the vote, school board president Natalie Wimberley read a statement on behalf of the board noting concerns expressed by staff, including at meetings with union leaders over past weeks.

She said the policy is part of the board’s update of policies to “align with current standards.” It was developed by WSSDA in April 2023 and has been “widely adopted by districts across the state.”

The policy was “thoroughly vetted to ensure it aligns with constitutional protections, including the First Amendment,” Wimberley said. “It’s not tied emotionally to any particular moment or group, but focused on what will best serve students and staff.”

Unanimous vote

Wimberly said the board understands concerns expressed by staff about the potential ambiguity of the policy, but that “it is written broadly to allow flexibility in implementation.”

She said union leaders would be involved in developing procedures related to the policy.

“We value the opportunity to work with our unions and their representatives to ensure that mutual understanding is achieved, and we are committed to ongoing collaboration,” Wimberley said. “I also want to reaffirm that this board takes seriously it’s oath to uphold the U.S. and Washington State constitutions, (with) no intent or desire to infringe upon anyone’s constitutional rights to this policy or any other.”

A motion to approve the policy was made by West and seconded by David Olson. Four board members voted in favor of Policy 5254. Board member Lori Glover was absent.