ROYALL SCHOOL DISTRICT STUDENT COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY 1501 Academy St. Elroy, WI 53929 (608) 462-2600 Created August 2011 1
MISSION STATEMENT The Royall School District is committed to provide the best education for every student in collaboration with the home and community and to empower each student to be a responsible, contributing citizen in an ever-changing world. 1. General Purpose The Royall School District recognizes the role of technology in preparing students for success in life and work. To that end, the district will provide students with appropriate access to its network and technology systems and to the resources available through it. When students use the School District's network and technology systems, their actions and communications are identified as those of the School District. As such, students are expected to follow appropriate use and to exercise good judgment at all times when using these systems. The use of the technologies, network, and access to the Internet is a privilege, not a right. Students will be held responsible for their actions. Unacceptable uses will result in suspension or revocation of user privileges and/or other disciplinary actions. User activity that may indicate a violation of law could be disclosed to law enforcement or other third parties without prior consent. Demonstrated intent to violate this administrative policy may be considered the same as an actual policy violation. 2. Educational Purpose The purpose of the District's network and technology system is to support and enhance education. Appropriate uses include instructional activities and assignments, career development, and access to resources to support student cocurricular activities. 3. Network/Technology Use, Monitoring, Recording A network/technology access account will be provided to all students upon enrollment in the district. This account will be deactivated when the student leaves the school district. No student should expect that any messages, communications, or files created, stored, received, deleted, looked at, or sent using these systems to be private or have confidentiality. The district reserves the right to monitor, access and/or disclose the content of any of these messages or files without prior notice to the students. The district also reserves the right to remove any files without prior notification. The district has software and systems that monitor and record computer usage for the purposes of investigating inappropriate use and analyzing technology usage patterns assuring technologies are used effectively for productivity and educational benefit. Students intentionally bringing viruses or virus-like tools/software/functions will be held responsible for the result of those actions. Viruses can cause a significant disruption to the district network, computers, and technology services. The District uses virus-scanning systems and processes to eliminate or significantly limit damage to its computer resources from these programs. If students intentionally act with harmful intent (introducing viruses, sending multiple messages as spam, storing overly large files, etc.), they may be held personally responsible for the cost of repairing, including but not limited to, the replacement of equipment and/or payment for the time required to repair the damage. 4. Student/Parent/District Responsibility for Internet Safety The district complies with requirements of the Children s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Neighborhood 2
Children s Internet Protection Act (NCIPA), by having all equipment connecting to the Internet from any connection located within the district s buildings filtered (no system stops all inappropriate content at all times.) The District will make best efforts through filtering software and staff supervision to prevent students from accessing or transmitting visual depictions of material deemed obscene or pornographic, and any material deemed harmful to minors as defined in CIPA. It will also make best efforts to prevent users from accessing or transmitting offensive, disruptive or harmful data or any inappropriate matter as defined in the NCIPA. This includes, but is not limited to, messages, files, or data that contain the following: Pornographic or erotic images, sexual implications, racial slurs, derogatory gender-specific comments, Information or instructions designed to cause harm to another person, comments that offensively address a person's age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political beliefs, national origin or disability, Any comment which in any way defames, slanders, or libels another person, Any comment intended to frighten, intimidate, threaten, abuse, annoy or harass another person, or that invade the privacy of another person. Student work and photos may be published on the district website without identifying captions. Under no circumstances will PK-12 student photos or work be identified with first and last name on a district, building, or teacher website (only first names and first initial of last name may be published). 5. Licensing, Copyright, Intellectual Property Students are not authorized to install hardware, software, executable files, non-district owned music and data on any system in the district. Any unlicensed or unauthorized software or non-district owned music/data found will be removed. The user of the space in which this is stored is responsible for this information. All students must comply with federal, state and local laws governing intellectual property, software licenses and copyrights. Copyrighted material, including text, pictures, video, sound, and other attachments, should not be copied or distributed using the District computer resources without appropriate credit and, where necessary, permission from the author, composer and/or owner. 6. Public Record Laws Student developed assignments and data stored in their individual home directories or on any storage device shall fall under the privacy of student pupil records for distribution based on purpose and content. 7. Student Use Guidelines Students use of the technologies and resources should be connected to their educational purpose. The district does not attempt to define all behaviors and relies on the students judgment in his/her actions. Some of the following may help guide a student s behavior: A. Overall Usage - Student Shall: Read and sign the Acceptable Use Code of Conduct provided on a yearly basis. This is a part of the regular building code of conduct signing processes. Follow Internet access restrictions as given by administration or parent/guardian. Follow student conduct guidelines relating to appropriate language, actions, harassment, bullying and interactions with other students and faculty. Understand that files in home directories can be deleted on a yearly basis. Unique storage systems such as 3
electronic portfolios shall be retained on an as identified basis. B. Security Expectations - Students Shall: Have account activated upon enrollment in the district and deactivated upon leaving the school district. Log off from systems when leaving the vicinity of the equipment using correct procedures as taught. NOT use another student or staff account or other network accounts. NOT allow another student to use a personal account. Use all resources appropriately for educational activities and communications. C. Server Storage/Network Usage, Monitoring - Students Shall: Recognize there is a limit to server storage based on available resources. Some files will NOT be stored on network servers unless the server is specifically designed for this purpose. These include, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, movies, MP3 s, personal MP3 s, personal pictures. These items may be deleted when identified. Use district resources for educational purposes refraining from activities that may change, degrade or disrupt network and technology performance include intentionally introducing viruses and other systems damaging activities (embedding in appropriate files/folders, storing large files, sending multiple messages as spamming, etc.) Understand that all activity is recorded to comply with appropriate use. Access to these recorded logs of activity follows the guidelines outlined in #8 below. D. Appropriate Use of Information/Online Privacy - Students Shall: Inform appropriate adult, teacher, or administrator if inappropriate material is accessed while online. Identify self while online with only first name keeping personal information out of posts that are readily available on the Internet. Follow all federal copyright and fair use guidelines for use of electronic materials prepared and used in learning. Follow district plagiarism and academic honesty guidelines/practices. Take responsibility for learning safety/security/privacy practices, appropriate use of online resources (including online postings and writings through tools such as blogs, social spaces, video/audio distribution), and appropriate use of district resources. Use district resources with respect to privacy of self and others and will not attempt to access information and or resources without appropriate authorization. NOT deliberately bypass district content filtering systems through the use of Proxy Servers or other means. NOT use district resources for any illegal act or violate any local, state or federal statute or law, running personal businesses, accessing/distributing pornographic, obscene or sexually explicit materials, or mass distribute commercial or unofficial messages. These student guidelines shall be written for grade level appropriate communications and provided to the buildings for use on a yearly basis. Included will be information on safety and privacy online along with parental tips to guide children in appropriate online use. 4
8. Regulations for Recording and Monitoring of Students Use of Network and Technology Resources The district uses monitoring software and remote desktop tools that are installed on every computer in the district. Activity shall be recorded as a matter of normal operations. The system stores a list of activities that are conducted on that computer and may be used in the hardware/software troubleshooting/maintenance work of the Director of Technology. Appropriate search of specific student electronic files, communications, or activity is routinely conducted under the following conditions: Faculty, administration and information technology personnel regularly check student files and communication storage areas for appropriate educational use and compliance with the restrictions outlined in this document Students will be under staff supervision while online to ensure appropriate educational use is being followed, Monitoring software shall provide logs of usage to administration by designated Director of Technology when requested based on reasonable suspicion of inappropriate use, Monitoring software or remote access tools may be used by any staff member with access to review student activity while using network, electronic resources, or internet resources, Monitoring software will be used to report types of activities on computers as part of a regular maintenance cycle to determine the amount of time a computer is being used and for what purpose to ensure adequate use of district issued equipment. Students found to be breaking appropriate use guidelines shall be subject to building consequences for misconduct as identified by the administrator or his/her designee. The student has the right to appeal any decision following building behavior appeal processes. It is the intent of the district to adhere to appropriate student privacy practice and at the same time ensure the appropriate use of electronic tools available to students. 9. Limitation on School District Liability The Royall School District is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of any advice or information obtained through or stored on the School District's network and technology systems. The Royall School District shall not be responsible for financial obligations arising through unauthorized use of the School District's system or the Internet. The Royall School District shall not be responsible for any damages or unavailability of data stored on school diskettes, tapes, hard drives or servers, or for delays or changes in or interruptions of service or miss-deliveries or non-deliveries of information or materials, regardless of the cause. The Royall School District cannot guarantee that all electronic materials accessed by students will be educationally appropriate. The Royall School District follows reasonable practices for backup, restore, and records retention based on Wisconsin laws and guidelines to this effect. Reference to: WI State Statutes: 121.02 (1)(h); 947.0125; 943.70(2) 5