Burbank Schools Boosters Association (BSBA) Social Media Guidelines and Best Practices

These guidelines suggest best practices of the publication of and commentary on social media by officers and volunteers of BSBA. For the purposes of these guidelines, social media means any facility for online publication and commentary, including without limitation blogs, wiki's, social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. These guidelines are in addition to, and complement any existing or future policies from BSBA regarding the use of technology, computers, e-mail and the internet.

BSBA volunteers are free to publish or comment via social media in accordance with these guidelines.

Publication and commentary on social media carries similar obligations to any other kind of publication or commentary. All uses of social media must follow the same ethical standards set forth by the Burbank Unified School District (BUSD).

Setting up Social Media

Don't Tell Secrets

It’s perfectly acceptable to talk about your work and have a dialog with the community, but it's not okay to publish confidential information. Confidential information includes things such as student information, grades, or any other confidential information that would identify individuals. We must protect and respect the privacy of our students, staff, parents, and school community.

Respect Copyright Laws

It is critical that you show proper respect for the laws governing copyright and fair use or fair dealing of copyrighted material owned by others. You should never quote more than short excerpts of someone else's work, and always attribute such work to the original author/source. It is good general practice to link to others' work rather than reproduce it. Respect and protect your audience and partners, the public in general, and your booster club’s board and members. They reflect a diverse set of customs, values and points of view. Don't be afraid to be yourself, but do so respectfully. This includes not only the obvious (no ethnic slurs, offensive comments, defamatory comments, personal insults, obscenity, etc.) but also proper consideration of privacy and of topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory. Use your best judgment and be sure to make it clear that the views and opinions expressed are yours alone and do not represent the official views of BSBA and be the first to respond to your own mistakes

If you make an error, be up front about your mistake and correct it quickly. If you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that you have done so. If someone accuses you of posting something improper (such as their copyrighted material or a defamatory comment about them), deal with it quickly.

Think About Consequences

Once again, it's all about judgment: using your blog or other social media outlets to trash or embarrassBSBA, its board members, or affiliates, your co-workers, or Burbank Unified School Districe is dangerous and many social media users include a prominent disclaimer saying who they work for, but that they're not speaking officially. This is good practice and is encouraged, but don't count on it to avoid trouble.

Social Media Tips

The following tips are not mandatory, but will contribute to successful use of social media. The best way to be interesting, stay out of trouble, and have fun is to write about what you know. There is a good chance of being embarrassed by a real expert, or of being boring if you write about topics you are not knowledgeable about.

Quality matters!

Use a spell-checker. If you're not design-oriented, ask someone who is, whether your blog looks decent, and take their advice on how to improve it. The speed of being able to publish your thoughts is both a great feature and a great downfall of social media. The time to edit or reflect must be self-imposed. If in doubt over a post, or if something does not feel right, either let it sit and look at it again before publishing it, or ask someone else to look at it first.

Enforcement

School Organizations are encouraged to communicate with school members and the school community. Each unit must determine what will best meet the needs of its members and community, and what will best suit its budget. Options include:

 Brochures

 E-mail Mailing List

 E-newsletters

 Flyers

 Newsletters

 Website

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY The Burbank Unified School District is committed to providing a safe school environment where all individuals in education are afforded equal access and opportunities. The District’s academic and other educational support programs, services and activities shall be free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying of any individual based on the person’s actual race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression; the perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Specifically, state law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in enrollment, counseling, and the availability of physical education, athletic activities, and sports. Transgender students shall be permitted to participate in gender-segregated school programs and activities (e.g., athletic teams, sports competitions, and field trips) and to use facilities consistent with their gender identity. The District assures that lack of English language skills will not be a barrier to admission or participation in District programs. Complaints of unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying are investigated through the Uniform Complaint Process. Such complaints must be filed no later than six months after knowledge of the alleged discrimination was first obtained. For a complaint form or additional information, contact the director of Human Resources.

PURPOSES OF PUBLICATIONS

Encourage involvement with the child in the home and in the school.

Inform every family in the school of the aims and accomplishments of the school or Organization.

Encourage attendance at meetings and parent involvement in projects and activities. Foster cooperation with the school in keeping parents informed about school functions regulations and/or procedures on child related issues.

Inform the community about activities and school functions.

GUIDELINES FOR ALL PUBLICATIONS

All site related material must be cleared with the school principal before printing. A Districtwide communication should be cleared with Tom Kissinger, the Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services. The principal or Assistant Superintendent is responsible for the accuracy of school information and compliance with the State Education Code and school district policy. The Organization president is responsible for the accuracy of Organization information and compliance with Organization policies.

Never present material critical of any individual or group. To do so may expose the Organization to a libel suit.

Incorporate the current Organization logo in Organization communications. This will show a unity of effort and purpose.

Avoid publishing the last name and phone number of a volunteer who handles Organization funds.

Do not publish, without written permission, personal information about students or adults. This includes:

 Photographs of students or adults (with/without first or full names);

 Home addresses and/or telephone numbers of students or adults;

 E-mail addresses of students or adults; and

 Students or adult class schedules.

Date all materials.

Always make it easy for the reader to identify and find the Organization. List the following items:

 Name of the Organization; (This won’t bullet….don’t know why…) Contact information (Organization should use office or mailing address); and

 Name of other Organization levels to which the unit belongs

 Most important, include an e-mail address and phone number, so that a member can be reached for more information about the Organization.

Refer to the style guidelines below for correct terminology and formatting.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING CONTENT

Feedback is necessary to find out whether the publication is achieving its goals. Take an opinion poll at an organization board meeting. Insert a questionnaire in several issues to learn which information is most helpful to readers.

Encourage others to contribute to the newsletter, website, and other publications. Tell them how much space is available for their articles. Offer suggestions to assist them in their efforts. Make suggestions that encourage others to contribute. Be on the alert for coming events that should be publicized.

Report the results of events or announce Organization award recipients.

Remember, people don’t read, they skim. Make sure each message is easy to find. Keep messages brief and to the point. Strategically use bullets, quotes, charts, and graphics.

Graphic design (both print and electronic) should be clean and simple. Avoid graphics that overwhelm the reader and distract from the content.

Proofread everything! Twice! Ask another to proof read as well if possible.

TRANSLATING MATERIALS

Organizations must work closely with the school to meet the language needs of all who receive the publication.

To translate information and materials, seek help from bilingual parents on the executive board; teachers or support personnel in the classrooms or the school district; or the foreign language departments at local high schools, community colleges and universities.

Some units present side-by-side translations of articles on each page while others print or post a separate issue. Still others offer all information in English with short recaps of major information in languages needed in their school community. STYLE GUIDELINES

CAPITALIZATION

National Parent Teacher Association National PTA JBHS Vocal Music Association JBHSVMA Parent-Teacher-Student Association Sacramento County, but Sacramento and San Joaquin counties

Nouns or Adjectives Forming Part of Proper Name of an Organization

Disney Elementary Hillside Council Twenty-Fifth District University of California

State or National Government Terms Titles (Governor, Senator and Assembly Member) capitalized ONLY when preceding a name Legislature, Senate and Assembly capitalized when referring to the California bodies

TITLE CAPITALIZATION

• For titles in text, capitalize the first and last words and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (therefore, however).

• Articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, or, for, but), and prepositions of three letters or less (for, to, on) are lowercase, unless they are the first or last words of a title or subtitle.

• The infinitive “to” should be capitalized.

• Use typeset italic or boldface for titles of books, periodicals, movies, videos, plays, operas, reports, pamphlets, and kits. – California State Toolkit – The LA Times – National Quick-Reference Guide – Parents Empowering Parents (PEP) Guide

• When the title or designation precedes the name, it is capitalized. If it follows the name, it is lower case. – President-elect Jones – Jane Jones, president – Sarah Smith, president-elect – Henry Jones, the principal of the school – James McCay, Ed.D., principal

• Capitalize schools of a university, but not courses or departments. Capitalize languages. – School of Journalism – biology department – UCLA Spanish department

DO NOT CAPITALIZE

• Association, unit, council, or board of education unless used as part of a name of a specific group; • Titles after the word “the” or after a name; • Organizational terms such as bylaws, chairman, committee, director, preschool, policy, scholarship, grant, vice president, workshop; • Seasons of the year, directions (north, southeast), state, nation, federal, flag.

NUMBERS

Spell Out Numbers

• At the beginning of a sentence, except for years; • One through nine, 10 and above use numerals; • First through ninth, after 10th use numerals; • First grade, grade one, first-grader. • 10th grade, grade 10, 10th-grader • More than 100 (not over 100) and fewer than 100 (not less than 100).

Use Numerals for

• Large numbers such as million and billion – $12 million

• Percentages – 15 percent (spell out “percent”)

• Ages – age 3 to 6 – 26-year-old (hyphenate) • Pages – page 2

• Ratios 3-to-1

PUNCTUATION

Quotation Marks

• Always set outside the comma and the period; • Always set inside the colon and the semicolon; and • Set outside or inside the exclamation point, depending on whether the marks belong to the quoted matter. • Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. • A quoted passage of four lines or more may be used without quotation marks if indented from the body of material. • Use quotation marks for themes, such as for conventions, workshops, or administrations. • Avoid overuse of exclamation marks! • Ellipses (…) should be treated as a word with a space before and after. At the end of a sentence, a period is still needed (for a total of four dots). • Dashes require space before and after.

Colons and Semicolons

• Use a colon only if the introductory phrase can stand alone as a sentence. • Do not use a colon after a verb. • Capitalize the first word after a colon if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. For a vertical list, capitalize the first word of each item, use commas or semicolons with a final period if the phrases are lengthy. • Use semicolons to separate elements of a series when the individual elements contain information that is set off by commas or to join two clauses when a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for) is not present.

Commas

Use a comma:

• Before the conjunction only when the series of items or phrases is complicated or lengthy. – The flag is red, white, and blue.

• Before an independent phrase: “He gave me an apple, and I ate it.” • Between names of states and nations used with cities – Los Angeles, California, is a big city.

• For dates with month, day, and year – October 30, 2007;

• When the day of the month is omitted, so is the comma – June 2007.

Apostrophes

• Singular possessive - Paul’s office;

• Plural possessive nouns not ending in “s” – children’s books;

• “It’s” meaning “it is”; not the possessive, “its size”;

• Plural possessive nouns ending in “s” – units’ collaboration;

• Not with plural nouns, figures – Schools advocated for arts education

WRITING STYLE

• Active tenses, not passive;

• Verbs, not adverbs;

• 4 p.m., 10-11 a.m., noon and midnight;

• People, not persons;

• Parent involvement;

• Either Dr. Jane Jones or Jane Jones, Ed.D. not Dr. Jane Jones, Ed.D.;

• United States as a noun, U.S. as an adjective. • Rewrite to avoid using etc., and/or, he/she, s/he. (Usually, a plural form does the trick: “A student likes his/her homework” becomes “Students like their homework.”

• Beware singular noun plural pronoun problems. “Speak with the teacher about your child’s home-work. Their success depends on it.” This is incorrect because the antecedent of “their” is the singular “child.” Better: “Speak with the teacher about your child. Your student’s success depends on it.”

• The term disability is preferred to handicap.

• Use “people first” style – “a student with a disability,” rather than “a disabled student”

• Include the year of passage with the names of all laws except those passed in the current legislative session.

• No all cap headlines (except CALL to Convention).

• Conform to time, date, place format: meeting is at 10 a.m., May 4, at the Capitol.

WEBSITE FORMATING

Try to keep a webpage the same size as a piece of paper. Many people have smaller screens or are using small devises, like a tablet or smart phone.

Try to place links at the left, top, or right of the page and keep them less than a page length

A Special Thanks to the PTA for providing much of the materials in this document.