Some Sioux Falls teachers are upset about a new district policy that limits their interaction with students on social networking sites such as Facebook.

The school board changed its policy in June so teachers are no longer allowed to bring unrelated students from the district into their personal networks, but they can add students for professional use.

The head of the Sioux Falls Education Association said the policy makes it more difficult for some employees because they are allowed to be Facebook friends with their own children but not many of their children's friends.

Board members said the policy will stand. One said giving teachers open access to students would expose them to more risk as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

Board member Darin Daby said it is appropriate to separate professional and personal networks.

"There's just a general line that needs to be drawn between the professional and the social," he said. "And social networking sites blur that line considerably."

Other districts have yet to follow Sioux Falls' lead.

Rapid City Area Schools Superintendent Peter Wharton said there is no current district policy about teachers using social networking sites.

Teachers should rely on the code of ethics they agreed to when signing on to be a teacher, he said.

"We need to be mindful of professional obligations, and codes of ethics are reminders," he said.

He said he understands the concerns about teachers bearing the responsibility of reporting behavior or situations they might see on the sites. The district's executive team will look at the current policy to see if it needs tweaking, Wharton added.

Technology has changed the way students and teachers interact in and outside the classroom, Wharton said.

He remembered his time as a teacher when he used to ride horses with students on Saturdays and met others at the playground on the weekend for skating and hot chocolate. He was always accompanied by his wife.

"How is that any different?" he said. "It's having good discretion and common sense … just use good judgment."

Wharton said age-old principles of good ethics and morals also apply to technology use. Teachers can be supportive of students in and out of the classroom.

"I tell teachers, they may not always remember what the lesson was, but they'll remember how you made them feel," he said. "I don't think it's wrong being human. Just make sure you don't step over the line."

Spearfish Superintendent Dave Peters said his district also does not have a policy regarding how teachers use social networking sites. Students in the district participate in the state's laptop initiative program, but social networking sites are blocked on the computers they take home with them.

In Sioux Falls, Deb Merxbauer, head of the Sioux Falls Education Association, said teachers who are also parents want to be Facebook friends with their children's friends.

"As parents in the district, they feel a need to be friends with their children's friends in order to safely monitor what their children are doing on the Web," she said. "Anything that becomes an infringement on parental rights as an employee is a concern."

The union leader shared those concerns with the district in private and again at a public board meeting this week. Superintendent Pam Homan said district lawyers advised against changing the policy adopted in June.

Rapid City Journal reporter Kayla Gahagan contributed to this report.