The district will provide administrators, teachers, and other employees’ access to computers, networks, Internet, e-mail, and employee data systems through the district’s internal and external accounts. The use of computers, networks, the Internet, e-mail, and other on-line services shall be consistent with the educational objectives of the district.

 

Scope of Coverage: This policy covers district owned technology as well as personally-owned technology used on school property or over the school district network.

 

 

1.       Services. The school district encourages employees to use computers, networks, Internet, e-mail, and other online services and apply these tools in appropriate ways to the performance of tasks associated with their positions and assignments.

 

2.       Appropriate Use. Employees shall communicate with electronic tools in a professional manner consistent with state laws and district policies governing the behavior of school employees and with federal laws governing copyright. E-mail and other electronic tools shall not be improperly utilized to disclose confidential information about district employees or to disclose information from student education records in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, as amended, and its interpretive regulations, 34 C.F.R. § 99.1, et seq. This shall not apply to the student information system program or other district administrative software that is to be used by authorized employees in a manner that complies with FERPA and its interpretive regulations. 

 

3.       Public Communication. Communication over networks should not be considered to be private. The district network administrator(s) from time to time may review directories or messages to ascertain compliance with network guidelines for acceptable use. The network administrator(s) may delete files that exceed manageable storage level or are deemed inappropriate.

 

4.       Student Access. Regardless of any measures implemented by the District as may be required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act, teachers, administrators, and others who make decisions regarding student access to the Internet shall be diligent in monitoring and supervising student computer use. To the extent possible, students’ use of the Internet shall be structured in ways that point students to those resources that have been evaluated prior to use.

 

5.       Violations. Employees who violate this policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

 

 

 

 

6.       Inappropriate Use. The following uses of school-provided access to computers, networks, Internet, e-mail, and other online services are not permitted on the part of district employees:

a.       Accessing, uploading, downloading, or distributing pornographic, obscene, or sexually explicit material;

b.      Transmitting obscene, abusive, sexually explicit, or threatening language;

c.       Violating any local, state, or federal statute;

d.      Accessing another employee's materials, information, or files without permission from the employee or the appropriate network administrator or principal;

e.       Violating copyright or otherwise using the intellectual property of another individual or organization without permission;

f.        Using others’ passwords or allowing students to use staff members’ passwords;

g.       Vandalizing (any unauthorized access and/or malicious attempt to damage computer hardware/software or networks or destroying the data of another user) including creating, uploading, or intentionally introducing viruses;

h.       Intentionally wasting limited resources;

i.         Using the network for commercial purposes;

j.        Harassing, insulting, or attacking others;

k.      Using e-mail lists from the district's Internet site, network, or servers to create mailing lists for non-school purposes;

l.         District e-mail accounts are limited to 500 messages per day going to addresses outside of USD465 addresses

m.     Gaining unauthorized access to resources or entities;

n.       Invading the privacy of individuals;

o.      Improperly altering the setup of computers (e.g., desktops, icons, wallpapers, screensavers, or installed software) as determined by the network administrator;

p.      Failing to follow district policies while using computers or failing to follow any other policies or guidelines established by district administration or the user’s supervisor and failure to follow instructions of supervisors; and

q.      Seeking to gain or gaining unauthorized access to information resources or other computing devices.

 

7.       Security. The Board’s goal is to maintain a secure and efficient network environment for educational and operational goals of the District. To further that goal, administrative rights will be limited to technology staff and other staff whose specialized software requires administrative rights as determined by district office administrators. 

 

Users are responsible for maintaining a safe, secure environment. Users will keep passwords secure and under no circumstance will share their password with students or others. 

 

8.       Security Risk. Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access.

 

9.       Copyright law shall be followed.

 

10.   Disclaimer. The district makes no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, for the access it is providing, nor will it be responsible for any damages suffered. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, nondeliveries, misdeliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or user errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained via the Internet is at the user’s risk. The district denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its system. The district is not liable for any commercial transactions conducted through its system.

 

11.   Statements of Personal Belief. Any statement of personal belief found on computers, networks, the Internet, e-mail, other on-line services, or any other telecommunication system shall be implicitly understood to be representative of the author’s individual point of view, and not that of USD 465, its administrators, teachers, staff, or the participating school. No representations to the contrary shall be published without written approval from the designated district-level administrator(s).  Principals, district-level administrators, or their designees may review all content in any Internet or on-line accounts paid for, in whole or in part, by the district or any school, without notice of any kind.

 

12.   Employee Access Contract Annual Review: School and / or district office administrators will review acceptable use policies annually with staff. Confidentiality procedures and policies apply to all electronic communications on the district’s network.