Ballwin Student Rallies for Repeal of Electronic Communications Law

A new law that prevents teachers from directly contacting students through media like Facebook has prompted a campaign to get the measure repealed led by a Ballwin resident and recent Marquette High School graduate.

The law, which was approved by Gov. Jay Nixon last month, forbids teachers from using any “nonwork-related Internet site” to privately communicate with a current or former student. It also forbids them from using any “work-related Internet site” unless the school district and parental guardian can access it.

Sen. Jane Cunningham, a Republican from Chesterfield who sponsored the legislation, said the law's various requirements including those for more information-sharing between school districts all will serve as safeguards against employees who engage in sexual misconduct.

“With the passage of my bill, our children will have solid protection from these predators,” Cunningham said in a written statement.

The social media mandates of the bill have stirred controversy on Facebook, where Ballwin's Cameron Carlson formed a campaign group Tuesday aimed at getting the law repealed. Within its first three days, the group drew more than 750 supporters.

"While I cannot say that this bill was passed with poor intentions, I believe that the bill inadvertently cripples the potential for valuable student and teacher connections," said Carlson, who graduated from in 2011. "This is a connection that we should be embracing, rather than criminalizing."

In addition to taking precautions against the private use of social media and requiring more information-sharing between districts, the law also outlines new requirements for becoming a school board member, conducting background checks, licensing teachers and reporting incidents of abuse.

“So it’s really a huge, all-encompassing law,” said Kelvin McMillin, the assistant superintendent for the 's human resources department. “The one piece that everyone is focusing on now, though, is the Facebook-electronic communications portion of it.”

Suzanne Dotta is Rockwood’s representative for the National Education Association, the largest public school teachers union in the country. She said the NEA doesn’t have an official stance on the law, which takes effect Aug. 28, primarily because of unanswered questions, she said.

“Really, I think we just want a little clarity as to what exactly this does.”

In response to the law approved last month, Rockwood will reassemble a committee that formed guidelines last year regarding acceptable school uses of social media websites. The revised committee will include the district’s information technology officer, human resources director, NEA President Dotta and multiple teachers and technology specialists.

Rockwood school board president Steve Smith agreed that any state-level mandate regarding teachers' use of social media like Facebook merited close examination.

“Because that’s how kids communicate,” Smith said before Thursday’s school board meeting at in Ballwin.

As of Thursday, McMillin said a meeting date for the district's committee had not yet been set. The law requires school districts to establish a policy addressing electronic “employee-student communication” before Jan. 1, 2012.