SENECA VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Transcription

1 No. 815 SECTION: OPERATIONS SENECA VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT TITLE: ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET ADOPTED: April 22, 1996 REVISED: January 21, ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET 1. Purpose 2. Definition The Board supports the use of the Internet, , or the Seneca Valley School District network, and other computer networks in the district's instructional program in order to support the district's curriculum, the educational community, projects between schools, facilitate learning and teaching through interpersonal communications, access to information, research, and collaboration. For purposes of this policy, the term network shall be interpreted to include any and all district owned computers, servers, any hardware or software, the district s local area network (LAN), all wireless access points, the district's Intranet, self-contained electronic mail systems, and any other elements of the district s computer, telecommunications or electronic communication/information systems. Network Guest is defined as any individual who utilizes the district s Information Technology Resources via guest network access or the guest login process. 3. Authority The use of network facilities shall be consistent with the curriculum adopted by the district as well as the varied instructional needs, learning styles, abilities, and developmental levels of students. The electronic information available to students and staff does not imply endorsement of the content by the district, nor does the district guarantee the accuracy of information received on the Internet. The district shall not be responsible for any information that may be lost, damaged, or unavailable when using the network or for any information that is retrieved via the Internet. The district shall not be responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting from access to the Internet. The district reserves the right to restrict or prevent access via its network and other technology to sources or sites deemed inappropriate by any means, including filtering software or services, the right to log network use and to monitor fileserver space utilization by district users, and the right to view content. Users should have no expectation of privacy with respect to district access or review of file content e- mail, or work utilization. Page 1 of 7

2 815. STUDENT AND STAFF ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET - Pg. 2 The Board establishes that use of the Internet, , or the district network is a privilege, not a right; inappropriate, unauthorized and illegal use will result in the cancellation of those privileges and appropriate disciplinary action. Copies of this policy shall be distributed to all faculty and staff members, who must sign a written or electronic acknowledgement of its receipt. All students and their parents/guardians must sign an acknowledgement of receipt and review of this policy annually. 4. Delegation of Responsibility The district shall make every effort to ensure that the district's network is used responsibly by students, staff, and Network Guests as an educational resource. Administrators, teachers, and staff have a professional responsibility to work together to help students develop the intellectual skills necessary to discriminate among information sources, to identify information appropriate to their age and developmental levels, and to evaluate and use the information to meet their educational goals. Students, staff, and Network Guests have the responsibility to respect and protect the rights of every other user in the district and on the Internet. It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent or his/her designee to develop and publish written administrative procedures and/or administrative guidelines for the implementation of this policy, including developing rules and regulations for appropriate network use, a network agreement form, security measures including password procedures, measures designed to restrict access to harmful or inappropriate matter on the Internet, procedures for promoting the safety and security of students when using electronic mail and prevention of unauthorized access and any other matter deemed necessary or advisable to implement this policy. 5. Guidelines Network accounts will be used only by the authorized owner of the account for its authorized purpose and may not be shared with anyone. Network users shall respect the privacy of other users on the system. Prohibitions Students and staff are expected to act in a responsible, ethical and legal manner in accordance with district policy, accepted rules of network etiquette, community standards and federal and state law. Without limiting the general scope of this standard, the following uses are specifically prohibited: 1. Facilitating illegal activity. Page 2 of 7

3 815. STUDENT AND STAFF ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET - Pg Commercial or for-profit purposes. 3. Nonwork or nonschool related work. 4. Product advertisement or political lobbying. SC A Pol Bullying / Cyberbullying 6. Hate mail, discriminatory remarks, and offensive or inflammatory communication including but not limited to ethnic slurs, racial epithets, or anything that could be reasonably construed as harassment or disparagement of others based upon race, national origin, sex, age, disability or religious beliefs. 7. Unauthorized or illegal installation, distribution, reproduction, or use of copyrighted materials. 47 U.S.C. Sec Access materials, images or photographs that are obscene, pornographic, lewd or harmful to minors. As defined by the Children's Internet Protection Act, "harmful to minors" means any picture, image, graphic image, file or other visual depiction that, with respect to minors: a. Taken as a whole, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex or excretion; b. Depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts or a lewd exhibition of the genitals; or c. Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. 9. Inappropriate language or profanity. 10. Transmission of material likely to be offensive or objectionable to recipients. 11. Intentional obtaining or modifying of files, passwords, and data belonging to other users. 12. Impersonation of another user, anonymity, and pseudonyms. 13. Unauthorized disclosure or dissemination of another person's personal information, including address of residence, telephone number, address, photograph, password, etc. Page 3 of 7

4 815. STUDENT AND STAFF ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET - Pg Fraudulent copying, communications, or modification of materials in violation of copyright laws. 15. Loading or using unauthorized games, programs, files, or other electronic media. 16. Disruption of the work of other users. 17. Destruction, modification, or abuse of network hardware, software and files, including the uploading or creation of computer viruses. 18. Deliberate wasting of network resources, such as unnecessary or frivolous traffic, placing a program in an endless loop, excessive printing, etc. 19. Dissemination of chain letters or similar materials encouraging such messages to be further disseminated to multiple recipients. 20. Gambling. Pol Use of the network in any manner that violates the Student Discipline Policy. The Superintendent is directed to develop any further guidelines necessary to carry out the intentions of this policy. Consequences For Inappropriate Use Inappropriate use of the network may result in suspension or cancellation of network privileges. Pol. 218, 233 Pol. 317, 417, 517 Inappropriate use of the network as established by or pursuant to this policy by students constitutes a Level III offense under the Seneca Valley School District's student disciplinary policy. In addition to suspension or cancellation of network privileges, inappropriate use of the network may result in disciplinary action up to and including suspension or expulsion from school. In addition to suspension or cancellation of network privileges, inappropriate use of the network as established by or pursuant to this policy by district employees may result in discipline, suspension or termination of employment. The network user shall be responsible for damages to the equipment, systems, and software resulting from deliberate or willful acts. Page 4 of 7

5 815. STUDENT AND STAFF ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET - Pg. 5 Illegal use of the network; intentional deletion or damage to files of data belonging to others; copyright violations or theft of services will be reported to the appropriate legal authorities for possible prosecution. The district will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation related to any illegal activities conducted through the district's computer system. Security System security is protected through the use of passwords, firewalls and filtering software. Failure to adequately protect or update passwords, firewalls and filtering software could result in unauthorized access to personal or district files. To protect the integrity of the system, the following guidelines shall be followed: 1. Employees, students, and Network Guests shall not reveal their passwords to another individual. 2. Users are not to use a computer that has been logged in under another student's or teacher's name. 3. Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access to the network. 4. Users will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the district system or to any other computer system through the district system or go beyond their authorized access. 5. Users shall immediately notify the building administrator if they have identified a possible security problem. In order to protect the network, users may only connect to the wireless network provided for personal computing devices for educational use only. Users may not directly connect to the district networking system with non-district computers, personal laptops, computers, or other personal computing devices or peripherals to the network. Further users may not use personal software programs on the Network or transfer files, programs, shareware or software from information services, thirdparty Networks or web sites, or any other external source without the permission of the network supervisor. Data discs, memory sticks, and other temporary file storage devices may be used with district computers for the sole purpose of transferring user data files for appropriate school-related work. Page 5 of 7

6 815. STUDENT AND STAFF ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET - Pg. 6 Safety To the greatest extent possible, users of the network will be protected from harassment or unwanted or unsolicited communication. Any network user who receives threatening or unwelcome communications shall immediately bring them to the attention of a teacher or administrator. Any district computer/server utilized by students, staff, and Network Guests shall be equipped with Internet blocking/filtering software. Any district computer/server utilized by students, staff, and Network Guests shall be equipped with internet blocking/filtering software. However, such blocking and filtering software does not guarantee that all inappropriate content will be successfully blocked or filtered. 20 U.S.C. Sec U.S.C. Sec U.S.C. Sec. 254 Internet safety measures shall effectively address the following: 1. Control of access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide Web. 2. Prevention of unauthorized online access by minors including "hacking" and other unlawful activities. 3. Restriction of minors' access to materials harmful to them. Staff or students who claim that this policy is denying them access to material that is not within the prohibitions of this policy shall direct their claim, in writing, to the Superintendent or his/her designee, who shall review the matter and respond promptly. Overriding blocked Internet or content may only be done with the prior authorization of the Superintendent or his/her designee. Monitoring The district reserves the right to intercept, monitor and access any material or information accessed, created or placed on the district's network, including personal and electronic mail files, and to dispose of any material or information contained therein without prior notice. The district further reserves the right to monitor online activities and review, record or log network use. Persons using the district's network should have no expectation of privacy regarding its usage. The district reserves the right to suspend access at any time, without notice, for technical reasons, possible policy violations, security or other concerns at its sole discretion. Page 6 of 7

7 815. STUDENT AND STAFF ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET - Pg. 7 Pol. 814 Software Usage Software piracy is both a crime and a violation of this policy. The district licenses the use of computer software from a variety of outside companies. The district does not own the copyright to software licensed from other companies. Users of the district's network are to use such software strictly in accordance with applicable license agreements. Unless otherwise provided in the license, the duplication of copyrighted software (except for backup and archival purposes by designated school personnel) is a violation of copyright law and this policy. Employees, students, and Network Guests are not permitted to install software onto the school s computer system from any unauthorized source, including, but not limited to, the Internet, home or third parties, without the prior authorization of the district's network administrator. Pol. 814 Copyright Any data uploaded to or downloaded from the network shall be subject to "fair use" guidelines. References: School Code 24 P.S. Sec A Child Internet Protection Act 24 P.S. Sec et seq. Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of U.S.C. Sec Internet Safety 47 U.S.C. Sec. 254 Board Policy 237, 249, 814 Page 7 of 7