Student/Employee Interaction Policy

Guidelines for Interactions between Staff and Current or Former Students

Kirby School employees are expected and required to maintain professional relationships with “Current or Former
Students” (defined as any current or past Kirby student who is less than four years removed from high school
graduation) whether on campus or away from campus. This policy is also equally applicable to volunteers and interns that work with students at the School. Trespassing the boundaries of an employee-student relationship is an abuse of power and a betrayal of the Kirby community’s trust.

Some activities may seem innocent from an employee’s perspective, but may be perceived as flirtatious, sexually
suggestive, or otherwise inappropriate, from a student’s or parent’s perspective. In maintaining professional
relationships you must be diligent to avoid any conduct that is not a professional or appropriate employee-student
interaction or could be perceived as such.

This policy is not intended to restrict positive and supportive relationships between employees and students, which are appropriate in an educational environment. This policy is intended to restrict and prevent employee-student interactions that could lead to, or may be perceived as flirtatious, sexually suggestive, grooming, or otherwise inappropriate.

The below are protocols and requirements all employees must follow. These protocols and requirements are not an exhaustive list of prohibited employee conduct, but rather a general framework for describing inappropriate employee conduct that is prohibited.

General Requirements:
● Any interaction with a Current or Former Student must be something that would be appropriate for an
employee to say or do in front of that student’s parents, the Head of School, and the employee’s supervisor.
● Employees must avoid creating excessive emotional attachments beyond a healthy employee/student
relationship and must not lean on Current or Former Students for emotional support.
● Employees must use sound judgment as to how much information they share with students about their own
personal life and must, in turn, refrain from asking students about overly personal information. For example,
employees must not share any information about romantic and sexual experiences, details of personal and
relationship problems, or other types of private or sensitive information.
● Employees must consult their supervisor promptly if a Current or Former Student is or seems to be pushing
the employee’s or another employee’s personal boundaries, or attempting to establish an inappropriate
relationship.
Favoritism or Special Treatment:
● Employees must avoid any special treatment, favoritism, or excessive attention toward particular students.
● Employees may not give gifts or loan or give money to individual students.

Physical Contact:
● In general, employees must respect students’ personal space at all times. Employees should generally
maintain an appropriate physical distance when interacting with Current or Former students.
● Do not initiate or allow unnecessary physical contact with a Current or Former Student, either in a public or
private setting. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to the following: initiating a hug; kissing of any kind;
and any intimate physical contact, such as touching, pinching, massaging, rubbing or brushing against the
body. Examples of acceptable contact may include giving a student a high five or a handshake. A brief hug or
other casual contact may be acceptable in some situations (such as graduation), but must be initiated by the
student.
● Employees are prohibited from having any sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with Current or
Former Students. Dating, and any other type of one-on-one social interaction between an employee and
Current or Former Student, is strictly prohibited.

In-Person Meetings:
● When meeting with a Current or Former Student one-on-one, employees must balance potential privacy
concerns with appropriate professionalism and should avoid meeting in locations that are closed off or not
visible or accessible to others.

● Employees are prohibited from meeting with current students off campus unless it is a pre-approved school
activity with other individuals present or if employees are meeting with students to plan school events or
gatherings, in which case the employee must first obtain the permission of the Head of School and the
student’s parent or guardian.
● Employees should not be alone in a room with a Current or Former Student unless there is a window
permitting others to view the room or the door is open.
Communication with Current or Former Students:
● Employees are generally prohibited from using personal, rather than school technology devices and email
accounts, to contact a Current or Former Student. If an employee receives a personal communication from a
Current or Former Student and the communication is not appropriate, they should keep a copy of the
communication and inform their supervisor.
● Employee communications with students (e.g., notes, email, texts or other electronic exchanges, or phone
calls) must be for school-related reasons only and must be professional in all respects. Examples of
employee conduct that may violate this policy, depending on the circumstances, include communication with
students during late hours or on non-school days and communication about inappropriate personal or
non-school related subjects.
● Employees are prohibited from making jokes, using slang, or making suggestive comments or innuendo of a
sexual or discriminatory nature in communicating with Current or Former Students (or at any other time at
work).
● Employees are prohibited from liking or otherwise commenting on social media posts made by Current
Students.
● Employee communications with Current or Former Students must be for School related reasons only and
must be professional in all respects. Minimize communications with Current or Former Students outside of
regular school hours, on weekends, and during school breaks. Any electronic communication with Current or
Former Students (unless it’s the whole class) when school is on break, on weekends, or after 8:00pm or
before 6:00 am on weekdays, must copy academicoffice@kirby.org and/or the individual’s parents.
● Employees must not share their personal cell phone number with Current or Former Students. All
communication should be via Kirby email or Kirby Google Chat. Time sensitive communications can be made
with your Kirby Google account using Google Chat. Communications with Current or Former Students via
employees' personal cell phones and/or text messages must be avoided.
● Employees may not “friend” students or allow Current Students access to their social media. Employees may
not “friend” graduated students with siblings or friends who still attend Kirby School.
Off Campus Conduct:
● Employees are prohibited from engaging in personal relationships with parents of students that creates any
conflict between school and personal interests or favoritism, or the appearance of such conflict or favoritism,
and must disclose any personal relationships with parents to the Head of School.
● Employees are prohibited from meeting with Current or Former Students off campus unless it is a
pre-approved school activity with other individuals present, or if the employee is meeting with Current or
Former Student to plan school events or gatherings, they must first obtain the permission of their supervisor
and the individual’s parents.
● Employees should not visit Current or Former Students in their homes unless you have prior permission from
a Supervisor and their parents are present; and employees must not invite Current or Former Students to
their home unless it is a school event for a group, and they have obtained their parents’ and their
supervisor’s prior permission.

● Employees must not transport Current or Former Students in their vehicle unless it is for a school event, and
with permission from the students’ parents and the employee’s supervisor’s prior permission. They should
avoid transporting individual Current or Former Students alone in their vehicle.
● Employees may not hire Current Students to work in their home or at their personal events.
Employees who have children enrolled at Kirby will not be held to the Off Campus Conduct policies with respect to
social situations with their children’s friends, or guardians of their children’s friends.
Emotional Boundaries:
● Employees must avoid creating emotional attachments beyond the professional employee-student
relationship.
● Current or Former Students should not become overly friendly or familiar with the employee; neither the
employee nor the Current or Former Student should call each other by nicknames.
● If a Current or Former Student shares confidential information that could pose a threat to themselves or
others, employees have an obligation to and must notify their supervisor or a school counselor, or make a
report of suspected child abuse or neglect in keeping with the School’s child abuse reporting policy and
mandated reporting laws.
● Employees must not buy or give personal gifts to individual Current or Former Students.
● Employees must not loan money or give money to Current or Former Students.
● Employees may not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or consume alcohol or drugs at any
school-sponsored activities where Current Students are present. Employees are also prohibited from
discussing any personal alcohol or drug use, whether past or current, with Current or Former Students. Refer
to section 6.13 Policy Against Drugs and Alcohol for general policies around alcohol and drug use.
● Employees must not take the role of a surrogate parent with a Current or Former Student, and should not
criticize a Current or Former Student’s parent to the individual.

Employees have an obligation to model, through both language and behavior, the values and expectations of the
School, and to strictly comply with this policy. Disagreeing with the wording or intent of the established protocols and requirements does not alleviate employees from strictly complying with this policy and will be considered irrelevant for disciplinary purposes. If an employee is in a difficult situation related to boundaries or has questions related to these protocols and requirements, they should consult the Head of School or their supervisor. If any employee becomes aware of another employee failing to adhere to this policy, the employee must immediately report the matter to the Head of School or their supervisor. The School has the right to investigate compliance with this policy even if no report has been made. All employees are required to cooperate in any investigation of alleged misconduct and understand that Kirby may notify past or prospective employers and the Kirby community members of any misconduct.

Revised March 20, 2024