Land O' Lakes High School Spanish teacher Angelica Cruikshank was fired in September after a nearly eight-month battle to keep her job.
The reason: Cruikshank "improperly gained access to students' Facebok accounts in an attempt to verify whether these students had made comments about (Cruikshank) on Facebook, shared the information (Cruikshank) obtained with other students, and then attempted to use this information to prohibit these students from attending an upcoming class trip to the Salvador Dali Museum," according to a Feb. 17 letter from Superintendent Heather Fiorentino.
But it was student who brought the private group page to her attention, and other students had brought cheating on the social media site to her attention before the incident occured that cost Cruikshank her job, Cruikshank said.
According to public record, student and parent complaints documented by the district went beyond the Facebook page access. But Cruikshank's firing was based entirely on accessing that page on Jan. 30 and the allegations of withholding field trip attendance as a consequence to those the district said she believed made negative comments on the "secret group" page.
Did the board make the right decision? Or might Cruikshank's termination based on her access to the Facebook page tie teachers' hands in future instances when students report bullying, cheating or other inappropriate online behavior?
Since the social networking site can be accessed by students from their phones while on campus, do teachers have the right to ask for access to a page if there is cause for concern, such as cheating, libel or bullying? Or should the students' posts on the networking site be off limits to teachers and administrators in every case?
Take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments below.
See also:
District is Out of Touch with Technology, Fired Teacher Says
Land O' Lakes High Teacher Fired for Looking at Students' Group Facebook Page
Joe Ward
2:25 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
In my opinion, the board clearly erred in its decision.
They lack a Social Media policy. However, they do have a code of conduct in place (applicable to both students and teachers). The level of student initiated harassment of the teacher seems to be clearly in violation given that it was a school related group.
* The administration requested the teacher to gather evidence
* The students voluntarily provided access to the Facebook group when requested (although perhaps reluctantly, in one case)
* The group was not a secret group. It was initially an open, publicly accessible Facebook page, branded with the IB logo and was described as a student group for these honor students. It was suggested that it was made private after issues began to arise within the group (i.e. negative comments about the teacher, and alleged bullying of other students)
I think the students do have a right to refuse to provide access to their personal information or restricted access groups.
However, when evidence is obtained that activities in violation of school policy (i.e. code of conduct) is discovered, they should be subject to discipline. This is particularly clear in cases where the groups formed are in direct relation to school functions - including the IB study group.
The school board must develop a draft policy on Social Media immediately, and ensure that parents and students are aware that the code of conduct for schools is applicable to their online activities.