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Community guidelines

Effective September 1, 2026 · Last updated September 1, 2026
The content standards every member agrees to before posting in Community.

Guidelines at a glance

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Write the way you would in a public board meeting — no harassment, threats, hate speech, or personal attacks.
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Never post anything that could identify an individual student, and be thoughtful about naming district staff.
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A post here is your own view, not your board's official position.
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Community is not a venue for your own board to deliberate — a back-and-forth among a quorum can trigger your state's open meetings law.
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No advertising, repeat-posting, or flooding a channel, and nothing you know to be false or misleading.
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Objectionable content and abusive behavior are grounds for removing an account outright the first time, without advance notice.
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Report anything that breaks these rules — the member you report is never told who reported them, and we act within 24 hours.
This page is the plain-language summary; the sections below have the full guidelines. Questions about a moderation decision go to support@schoolboardhq.com.

Why we have guidelines

Community is a professional space for elected and appointed K-12 board members to discuss governance, share resources, and support each other. These guidelines keep it useful and safe for everyone who relies on it.

Be respectful

This is a professional community of elected and appointed officials — write the way you would in a public board meeting. No harassment, threats, hate speech, or personal attacks against another member. Disagree with ideas, not people. Content that targets someone based on race, religion, gender, disability, or any other protected characteristic will be removed and may result in suspension.

No spam or self-promotion

Don't use Community to advertise unrelated products or services, repeatedly post the same content, or flood a channel. Sharing a genuinely useful resource once is welcome; repeated promotional posting is not.

Protect student and staff privacy

Never post information that could identify an individual student, even in the context of a governance discussion. That includes:
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Names and photos
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Discipline details
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Health or special-education information
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Anything else protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Be thoughtful about naming district staff in a way that could expose them to harassment.

Speak for yourself, not your board

A post here is your own view, not an official position of your board or district. Don't present your opinion as your board's stance on an issue, and be clear about the difference between what you personally think and what your board has actually voted on.

Mind your state's open meetings law

Community is for peer support and discussion — not a venue for your board to deliberate or decide anything. If you serve with one or more fellow board members here, a back-and-forth among a quorum about a matter you will vote on can trigger the same open-meetings-law obligations (public notice, minutes, and so on) as an in-person meeting, regardless of the platform it happens on — for example, Washington's Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). When in doubt, raise it with your district's legal counsel and take it to a properly noticed board meeting instead.

Stay accurate

Don't knowingly post false or misleading claims about a district, board, or individual. If you're unsure whether something is accurate, say so.

Zero tolerance for objectionable content

We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and for abusive members. Objectionable content includes:
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Harassment, threats, and intimidation
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Hate speech and personal attacks
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Content that demeans a person on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic
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Sexually explicit, obscene, or graphically violent material
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Content that identifies an individual student, or that exposes district staff to harassment
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Impersonation, fraud, or spam
None of that is tolerated here, in any amount. There is no warning quota to work through first: we remove the content, and we remove the account when the violation warrants it, without advance notice. A member whose account is removed for abuse is not permitted to create another one.

Report what you see

Every forum post, forum comment, and direct message carries a Report action, as do AI-generated document summaries and Governance Library entries. Tap it, pick a reason, and the report goes straight to the SchoolBoardHQ moderation team — it does not go to the member you reported, and that member is never told who reported them. You can also block a member to stop their content reaching you and stop them messaging you — see Settings → Blocked members. If you can't reach the in-app action, email support@schoolboardhq.com. We review every report and, within 24 hours of it being filed, remove the offending content, eject the offending member, or both.

Enforcement

Depending on severity, a violation may result in:
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The content being removed
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A warning
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The account being suspended from posting
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The account being removed from SchoolBoardHQ entirely
Objectionable content and abusive behavior, as described above, are grounds for removing an account outright the first time. We may also remove content that violates these guidelines without a report having been filed. Questions about a moderation decision go to support@schoolboardhq.com.