CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake Public Schools (CPS) bus driver was recently asked to resign after she posted a video with students to her personal social media.
The video depicts students doing a variety of handshakes with the driver, and their faces were covered with emojis in the video posted online.
In an emotional interview with WTKR News 3 Chesapeake reporter Erin Holly, Jessica Flowers said she loves her job and didn't realize she had violated the school system's social media policy.
"I'm here to make a difference," she said. Flowers said she always greets students on her bus with a smile, a special handshake, and a smooth ride to school.
But after the video was posted to Flowers' Facebook page, she was pulled into the office with school administrators and was told she was terminated.
She immediately took out her phone and offered to delete the video, but she said an administrator told her they have a "zero tolerance policy for posting kids on Facebook."
"I took it down," Flower said. "I said, 'Please give me a second chance.' That's how what I said, I'm a single parent, which they probably don't even matter. I work, I love my job, I love what I do right? Give me a second chance."
Then she was offered the option to resign or be fired, Flowers said. She opted to resign.
CPS said its strict policy requires parental permission before publishing anything to social media, in addition to social media training, which they say she did not complete.
All CPS employees are expected to follow Board policies and regulations regarding student privacy, professional conduct, social media, and appropriate communication with students. Those policies include strict limits on photographing or filming students for personal social media. These policies also restrict one-to-one communication with students via personal devices. Our policies are publicly available on the School Board’s website.
In this case, the employee did not obtain parental permission before filming and posting a video of students to her personal social media account, relying instead on verbal consent from the students. She was assigned training on the appropriate use of social media and professional communication with students; however, she chose not to complete the required training.
Chesapeake Public Schools remains committed to maintaining clear and appropriate professional boundaries to safeguard students, support staff, and preserve the trust and integrity of the educational environment.
