FILE:  EFA

Cf:  IFBGA

TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY (AUP) - EMPLOYEES

The Caldwell Parish School District is committed to excellence in teaching and learning. In support of that commitment, the district offers advanced technology and telecommunication tools for educational purposes to its students and staff.  The term educational purposes includes classroom activities and assignments, directed student research, interpersonal communication, professional development, collaborative projects, testing, and dissemination of successful educational practices, methods, and materials.

The purpose of this document is to set forth policies and guidelines for access to the Caldwell Parish School District computer network and to clearly define acceptable use of the Internet, computer equipment, and other technologies for educational purposes within the school district.  The school district expects the faculty will blend thoughtful use of the district network and the Internet throughout the curriculum and will provide guidance and instruction to students in its use.  District IT staff offers staff development in the use of the Internet to facilitate the use and ethical application of these technologies.

INTERNET ACCESS AND EMAIL ACCOUNTS

The Caldwell Parish School District network has not been established as a public access service or a public forum.  Therefore, Caldwell Parish School District has the right to place reasonable restrictions upon its use.  Since the district network is connected to the Internet through NEXUS Systems, Inc., a data communication network, local regulations regarding network use are based on and are extensions of those set forth in the LaNet Acceptable Use Policy.

The district has established connectivity at each of the schools and administrative sites by local area networks (LANs) and wireless access points (WAPs) into a wide area network (WAN) maintained by the district network administrative team. This connectivity is available in the classrooms, libraries, computer labs, and other areas at schools and in administrative offices throughout the district.  Some schools have available wireless access to the Internet throughout the building.

Employee Email

• Any employee of the district may request and receive an Electronic Mail (email) account, upon approval from their supervisor and district Technology Personnel.
   

• Email is not guaranteed to be private.  The school district Superintendent and Technology Department personnel who operate the system have access to all email.
   

• Web mail (i.e. hotmail or yahoo mail) is not permitted on any computers located in classrooms or used by students.  LVS students are provided district email accounts.
   

• Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities must be reported to authorities.
   

• Caldwell Parish School District email accounts are to be used for professional correspondence. Uses of employee email accounts that are prohibited include:

1. • Using profane, abusive, or impolite language;
      

   • Disguising one's identity, impersonating other users, or sending anonymous email messages;
      

   • Threatening, harassing, or making defamatory or false statements about others;
      

   • Accessing, transmitting, or downloading offensive, harassing, or disparaging materials;
      

   • Accessing, transmitting, or downloading computer viruses or other harmful files or programs, or in any way degrading or disrupting any computer system performance.

ACCEPTABLE USES OF THE COMPUTER NETWORK OR THE INTERNET

The district network and the Internet should be used for educational or professional purposes.  Staff may primarily use the network for personal use only if such use is incidental and occurs during duty-free time.

UNACCEPTABLE USES OF THE COMPUTER NETWORK OR THE INTERNET

Unacceptable uses of the computer network or Internet are listed here as a guideline. However, the list is not all inclusive and the final determination of acceptable or unacceptable uses will be made by the school district Superintendent and/or the School Board.

Uses that violate any state or federal law or municipal ordinance are forbidden. Such uses include but are not limited to:

• Selling or purchasing any illegal substance;
   

• Conducting or participating in any other illegal activity.

Uses that involve the accessing, transmitting or downloading of inappropriate matters on the Internet, as determined by the School Board, local educational agency or other related authority, are forbidden.  Such uses include but are not limited to:

• Accessing, transmitting, uploading or downloading pornography, obscene depictions, harmful materials, or materials that encourage others to violate the law; or
   

• Transmitting or downloading confidential information or copyrighted materials.

Attempting to use communication or network access methods not within the district's monitoring systems is forbidden.  Such uses include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining and/or using anonymous email sites, chat rooms, or instant messaging programs;
   

• Attempts to remove, modify, or bypass software, hardware, and configurations installed to prevent Internet or other access to obscene or pornographic material, other objectionable materials, or prohibited resources.

Uses that cause harm to others or damage to their property are unacceptable. Such uses include, but are not limited to:

• Deleting, copying, modifying, or forging other users' emails, files, or data;
   

• Accessing another user's email without their permission, and as a result of that access, reading or forwarding the other user's emails or files without that user's permission;
   

• Damaging computer equipment, files, data or the network;
   

• Using profane, abusive, threatening, or impolite language;
   

• Disguising one's identity, impersonating other users, or sending anonymous email messages;
   

• Hate mail including statements that bully, threaten, intimidate and harass discriminatory remarks, defamatory or false statements, cursing, and other anti-social behaviors;
   

• Threatening, harassing, or making defamatory or false statements about others;
   

• Accessing, transmitting, or downloading offensive, harassing, or disparaging materials;
   

• Accessing, transmitting or downloading computer viruses or other harmful files or programs, or in any way degrading or disrupting any computer system performance; or
   

• Using any district computer to pursue "hacking," internal or external to the district, or attempting to access information that is protected by privacy laws.

Uses that jeopardize access or lead to unauthorized access into accounts or other computer networks are unacceptable.  Such uses include, but are not limited to:

• Using other users' account passwords or identifiers;
   

• Disclosing one's account password to other users or allowing other users to use one's accounts;
   

• Getting unauthorized access into other users' accounts or other computer networks; or
   

• Interfering with other users' ability to access their accounts.

Commercial and political uses are unacceptable. Such uses include, but are not limited to:

• Selling or buying anything over the Internet for personal financial gain;
   

• Using the Internet for advertising, promotion, or financial gain;
   

• Conducting for-profit business activities and engaging in non-government related fundraising; or
   

• Public relations activities such as solicitation for religious purposes, lobbying for political purposes, or soliciting votes.

INTERNET SAFETY

CIPA Compliance and Monitoring:

In compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Caldwell Parish School District and its representatives implemented a Technology Protection Measure to restrict access to Internet sites containing child pornography, obscene depictions, or other harmful materials.  This filtering/blocking/tracking software scans for objectionable words or concepts.  Additionally, the measure enables monitoring of all on-line activities, and the access, review, copying, storage, or deletion of any electronic communications files.  The district Superintendent or appropriate Technology Department personnel may disclose any such files to others as deemed necessary to enforce district policies and meet requirements of the law.

Technology Protection Measure - Internet Filtering

It is the policy of Caldwell Parish School District that all access from within School Board facilities be filtered with no exceptions in the case of Internet access by minors. Faculty and staff use of school computers shall be for academic purposes and the conducting of business aspects of the school system.  All personnel using a school computer, personal computer, or other device to access the Internet shall do so through the filtered district computer network when on school property, and shall be accountable for its use.  Use of other means of access to the Internet than the filtered district computer network is prohibited from within the property of the school district.

No software, however, is foolproof, and there is still a risk an Internet user may be exposed to a site containing inappropriate materials.  An employee user who incidentally connects to such a site must immediately disconnect from the site and notify a member of the Technology Department. If a user sees another user is accessing inappropriate sites, he or she should notify the principal or Technology Department personnel immediately.

Authorized Technology Department staff may temporarily or permanently disable the Technology Protection Measure (filter) for bona fide research or other lawful purposes.

Additionally, students will be monitored by faculty and staff in a manner that is appropriate to the age of the students and circumstances of use.  Older students will be allowed to do independent research so long as the guidelines herein are met and the research is conducted under faculty supervision.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Student information should be treated as confidential.  Students are prohibited from disclosing personal contact information.  Personal contact information is defined as the student's name, together with other information that would allow an individual to locate the student, including but not limited to, parents' name, home address or location, work address or location, or phone number.  Faculty and staff should guard the confidentiality of student information in electronic communication as they would in any other type of communication.

Use of Student Images

Photographs of students in electronic format may be posted on school or district web pages, unless written notification by a parent or guardian prohibits such use.  When student images are used, the student must not be identified by more than first name.

COPYRIGHT REGULATIONS

Software

It is the intention of Caldwell Parish School District to adhere to provisions of copyright regulations in its use of computer software and to comply with the license agreements of software packages purchased by the district for use in its schools and offices.  All employees of Caldwell Parish School District will be made aware of the potential for copyright infringement and will be notified of the following procedures regarding the use of software:

• Illegal copies of software shall not be made or used on Caldwell Parish School District equipment.
   

• Archival backup copies may not be used on a second computer simultaneously with the original.
   

• All software loaded on a school district computer or local area network shall be approved by Technology Department personnel and covered by a written license agreement from the copyright holder.
   

• Failure to follow these procedures may result in revocation of use.

Text and Graphics

Users will respect the rights of copyright owners in their use of materials found on, disseminated through, or posted to the Internet.  Caldwell Parish School District will follow the guidelines of The Consortium of College and University Media Centers as set forth in their Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia.  A copy of this document can be accessed at http://www.indiana.eduhccumc/ccguides.html.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Students have full rights to work they create using the district's technology/ telecommunications equipment and/or resources.

Employees, as agents of the district, have limited rights to work they create using the district's technology/telecommunications equipment and/or resources. The district retains the right to use any product created for its use by an employee even when the author is no longer an employee of the district.

CONSEQUENCES FOR INAPPROPRIATE USE

Access to the district network and the Internet is a privilege, and along with this privilege there are obligations to use this resource in a responsible and ethical manner. The user understands that computer use is not private and that the district may monitor the user's activity on the network and/or Internet. Inappropriate use may result in:

• Suspension of access to the network and/or the Internet;
   

• Revocation of access to the network and/or the Internet; or
   

• Other disciplinary or legal action, in accordance with district policies and applicable laws.

LIMITATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT LIABILITY

Use of the school district network is at the user's own risk. The system is provided on an "as is, as available" basis.  The school district will not be responsible for any damage users may suffer, including, but not limited to, loss, damage or unavailability of data stored on school district diskettes, CD's, flash drives, tapes, hard drives or servers, or for delays or changes in or interruptions of service or misdeliveries or nondeliveries of information or materials, regardless of the cause.  The school district is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of any advice or information obtained through or stored on the school district system.  The school district will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through unauthorized use of the school district system or the Internet.

POLICY AMENDMENT

This policy may be amended from time to time to reflect changes deemed necessary to the needs of the district.

EMPLOYEE USER TECHNOLOGY CONTRACT

Every employee shall be given a copy of the Acceptable Use Policy and sign a contract which acknowledges that a violation of the regulations may be cause for revoking of privileges and other disciplinary action.

Revised:  January, 2009

Ref:    20 USC 7131 (Internet Safety)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:100.7

Board minutes, 10-14-08

Caldwell Parish School Board