PARENT WHATS APP GROUP CHAT PROTOCOLS

Cedar Hill Prep School (“CHP” or “School”) has the legal obligation to protect its administration, staff and faculty from “WhatsApp Parent Group Chats” which do not have proper guidelines.

This policy serves as a guidelines for all parents to follow when engaging in communication on the Cedar Hill Prep School (“CHP” or “School”) “WhatsApp Parent Group Chats”. Issues that have come to our attention include, but are not limited to, the spread of misinformation, attempts to influence and change the School’s educational curriculum and protocols, creating events on School premises without formal consent, fear mongering and creating unrest among families and false allegations about teaching staff. As a result of several incidents, legal counsel for CHP has advised us that it is our duty as administrators to protect our community from disparaging, defamatory or malicious comments.

Accordingly, the following guidelines will be implemented immediately:

1.Each grade level WhatsApp group administrator’s name and telephone number must be submitted to the school Principal.

2.Only the WhatsApp Group administrator will be responsible for all communications within the group.

Grade/Class level WhatsApp groups should be primarily for sharing information about PTO events, collections for teacher gifts, class parent socials and other similar events of interest to families and caregivers. If a parent has a concern or grievance, the parent should privately report the concern or grievance to Mr. Donald Seeley, Principal of Cedar Hill Prep School.

If a parent violates this policy, the Parent will be removed from the WhatsApp Group Chat. Moreover, the use of WhatsApp chat groups to undermine the mission and vision of the School, or to spread misinformation and fear mongering may be grounds for expulsion from the School community and the WhatsApp Group Administrator may, likewise, be held responsible for promoting this adversarial climate.

Rules of Communication: Social Media

In an effort to create a healthy and positive environment, we ask parents to use social media in a responsible and dignified manner. Parents should not use social media, including WhatsApp as a tool to air any concerns or grievances about School. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Abusive or personal comments about staff, students, administration or other parents

• Bringing the School into disrepute

• Posting defamatory or libelous comments

• Emails circulated or sent directly with abusive or personal comments about staff or pupils

• Using social media to publicly challenge School policies or discuss issues about individual children

• Threatening behavior, such as verbally intimidating staff, or using bad language

If a parent/guardian violates this social media policy, CHP reserves the right to prohibit the parent from participating in school events, and from future enrollment.