IJNDBA

Adoption Date: 6/25/2014
J - Students

IJNDBA Student Technology Acceptable Use

DUDLEY-CHARLTON REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Policy

Student Technology Acceptable Use IJNDBA

The purpose of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s Student Technology Acceptable Use Policy is to provide guidelines for using district technology resources while complying with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and other district policies, as well as all federal and state laws. It is the responsibility of the students and their parent(s)/guardian(s) to read and fully understand the rules outlined in this Acceptable Use Policy.

In addition, “technology resources”, “computers”, “network infrastructure”, and “cloud computing” all refer to any and all equipment, services, or online resources, in whole or in part, owned, maintained, installed, or operated by or contained within the buildings or managed by the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District.

All students and their parent(s)/guardian(s) are required to return a signed copy of the accompanying Agreement Form before students will be allowed to access Dudley-Charlton Regional School District technology resources.

Amendments and modifications to this policy may be approved by the school committee from time to time and will be posted for viewing.

I. Introduction

This Acceptable Use Policy shall serve as a statement on the appropriate use of any and all technology resources available to students of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District including, but not limited to, district owned computers, tablets, printers, network infrastructure, district provided websites, cloud computing technologies, and Internet access. It is the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s goal to promote educational excellence with the assistance of these technology resources.

District technology resources have been established for limited educational purposes, which are defined as classroom activities, research projects directly related to classroom assignments, career and professional development and high quality self-improvement activities of an educational nature. District technology resources have not been established as a public access service or a public forum. The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District has the right to place reasonable restrictions on material that is accessed or posted while using district technology resources. It is presumed that students will honor this agreement they and their parent(s)/guardian(s) have signed. The district is not responsible for the actions of students who violate them beyond the clarification of standards outlined in this policy. The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District reserves the right to monitor all activity on the district electronic network. Students and parent(s)/guardian(s) by signing an acknowledgement that they have read this policy and using district resources covered by the same, or allowing their child or a child for whom they serve as guardian to do so, agree to indemnify the district for any and all damage, loss and expense that is caused by student’s inappropriate use of district technology resources.

II. General Unacceptable Behavior

Students are expected to follow the same rules, good manners, and common sense guidelines that are used with other daily school activities, as well as the law, in the use of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District technology resources. While utilizing district technology resources, unacceptable behaviors include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Students will not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization.
• Students will not use speech that is inappropriate in an educational setting or violates district rules.
• Students will not abuse network resources by participating in types of use which would cause congestion of the network or interfere with the work of others.
• Students will not display, access or send offensive messages or pictures.
• Students will not use the district technology resources for commercial purposes. Students will not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through this network.
• Students will not use the district technology resources for gambling.
• Students will not attempt to access non-instructional district systems, such as student information systems or business systems.
• Students will not use district technology resources to threaten other students, district employees or any other person, or cause a disruption to the educational program.
• Students will not use the district technology resources to send or post electronic messages that are abusive, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, or damaging to another’s reputation.
• Students will not use the district technology resources in a manner that would violate any U.S. or state law. This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening material and spreading of computer viruses.
• Students will not attempt to harm, modify or destroy data of another user.
• Students will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks.
• Students will not use the district technology resources to harass or bully another person. Students must also be familiar with and abide by all other district policies concerning bullying, including cyberbullying.

III. Responsibilities and Expectations

A. Internet Access

The Internet is provided to students as an educational resource and it is the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s intention that the use of the Internet be for that purpose and not for personal use. Internet access provides a vast array of immediately accessible, invaluable resources. Along with this substantial educational benefit comes the potential to access online resources that include information or material that lacks educational value and can be inaccurate, controversial, objectionable, offensive, defamatory and even illegal.

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District does not condone the access or use of inappropriate materials at any time and prohibits the use of the district technology resources to access such material. The district filters the content of many of these inappropriate resources, but there is always the possibility that inappropriate material may be accessible.

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District utilizes content filters designed to block access to certain websites and filter content as required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act. The district is aware that not all inappropriate information can be filtered and the district will make an effort to correct any known gaps in the filtering of information. To the extent practical, content filtering measures shall be used to block or filter websites, other forms of electronic communications, and access to inappropriate information. Specifically, as required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act, filtering as to minors per 47 U.S.C. § 254(h)(5)(B) shall be applied to visual depictions of:

• “Obscene” material as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1460
• “Child pornography”, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2256; and
• Material deemed “harmful to minors” as defined in § 254(h)(7)(G) or any successor to same.

The district may enable filtering for additional websites and materials that are not within the district’s educational curriculum. This may include any website that does not contribute to educational pursuits. The content filtering measures may be temporarily bypassed when requested by school administrators only for bona fide research by an adult or other lawful purpose. Only the district IT Director or his/her designee will have the authority to modify content filters, and the decision as to any such modification lies in the sound discretion of such Director. Inadvertently blocked websites that conform to the policies stated in this Acceptable Use Policy may be unblocked by the district IT Department after a thorough review.

district technology resources may not be used to access material that is profane, obscene, pornographic, advocates illegal acts, advocates violence or discrimination towards other people. If a user mistakenly accesses inappropriate information, he/she should immediately notify a teacher or administrator in order to be protected against a claim of intentional policy violation. Parent(s) or guardian(s) of students should provide guidance and instruction to their children regarding material that would be considered inappropriate. Any website or electronic communication that is inappropriate should be promptly disclosed to a teacher or administrator.

Under no circumstances should students attempt to access websites that are blocked by district content filters by attempting to bypass the filters using various methods including, but not limited to, proxy services, VPN connections or other software. If a student feels that a website should not be blocked they should ask a teacher or administrator to submit a request through the district IT department’s help desk system to have the website reviewed.

B. Dudley-Charlton Regional School District Equipment

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District supplies technology resources and equipment to its students for educational purposes. Use of these resources or equipment for recreational, personal, commercial, or other non-educational purposes is strictly forbidden. Students and their parent(s)/guardian(s) shall bear full responsibility and liability, whether legal, financial, or otherwise, for a student’s actions when using the district’s equipment.

In addition, students will not intentionally cause any adverse effect upon or performance of any equipment or network, including, but not limited to, intentional damage, deleting another person’s files, storing unnecessarily large files (such as music, pictures or videos), installation of unauthorized software, or any other action that would cause failure or deteriorated use of the district’s equipment.

Students are required to immediately notify a teacher or administrator if they have identified a possible security problem so the appropriate measures can be taking by the district IT department to rectify the situation. Students should not go looking for security problems, because this may be construed as an attempt to gain access to restricted district technology resources. Students must not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion of the district electronic network. This includes attempting to log in through school personnel accounts. These actions are illegal, even if only for the purposes of "browsing". Students must not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means. These actions are also illegal.

C. Personal Devices

Students are allowed to connect “Personal” devices including laptops, tablets and cell phones to the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s “Guest” wireless networks, provided the devices are used as an educational resource and all activities conform to this acceptable use policy. “Personal” devices are defined as any device not owned by the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District. Should students decide to bring in “Personal” devices, they do so at their own risk. The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged “Personal” devices. Students should understand the district IT Department will provide no technical support or assistance for “Personal” devices. This includes, but is not limited to, wireless connectivity issues, virus/malware infections, loss of data, hardware and software issues. Students should understand that all “Guest” wireless network traffic is filtered, logged and monitored. Students should also understand that unauthorized use of resources through this access may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense. Connecting “Personal” devices to “non-guest” wired or wireless networks is not allowed. Students must abide by all district and school rules and policies while using a “Personal” device on school premises.

IV. Privilege

The use of Dudley-Charlton Regional School District technology resources is a privilege, not a right. Therefore, the district offers no guarantee of availability of any technology resource or equipment. The use of any or all technology resources or equipment may be revoked, either temporarily or permanently, for any reason outlined in this Acceptable Use Policy or for other, good cause.

V. Intentional Violations

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District is aware that violations of this policy may occur under circumstances where the student is involuntarily routed to websites containing inappropriate information or material. Upon arriving at such websites, it is the responsibility of the student to immediately exit such site as quickly as possible and report the situation to a district staff member so that appropriate steps can be taken to prevent further inadvertent and unintentional violations of this policy. Accordingly, disciplinary action under this policy shall only result from a knowing or intentional violation of this policy.

Notwithstanding, the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District reserves the right to discipline any student for a violation of this policy where it is apparent that the student knew, or should have known, that a violation of this policy was likely to occur as a result of the action, or inaction, of the student in question.

VI. Disciplinary Actions

Student violation of this Acceptable Use Policy and/or other Dudley-Charlton Regional School District policies shall result in, but is not limited to, one or more of the following:

• Restriction, suspension or revocation of network access and device privileges
• Suspension or expulsion from school
• Referral to the appropriate legal authorities for possible criminal prosecution
• Civil liability

The district will cooperate fully with local, state and federal officials in any investigation related to any illegal activity conducted through the use of the district’s technology resources. In the event there is a claim that a user has violated this policy in using the technology resources, he/she will be provided with a written notice of the suspected violation and an opportunity to present an explanation before an administrator.

VII. Privacy

Students have no right of privacy with regard to their use of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s technology resources, which includes but is not limited to, district computers, network, websites and Internet access. The district retains ownership and possessory control of its technology resources. The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District does not guarantee, and students should not have any expectation of confidentiality, privacy, security or ownership of the content of any information accessed, sent, received, created or stored thereon. All students should realize that electronic communications and other information sent through the Internet are accessible by third parties, specifically the Internet Service Provider, as well as the fact that “deleting” material may not permanently remove it from the system.

The district networked technology resources are maintained and managed by the district IT Department in such a way as to insure its availability and reliability in performing the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District educational mission. Students are advised that a system administrator or other authorized district staff member may, at any time, without advance notice, monitor, access, modify, remove, review, retrieve and/or disclose the subject, content and appropriateness of any and all information stored or transmitted on district technology resources, including information that may have been deleted but still exists on the system.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

Congress enacted the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6501, et seq. in 1998. This required the Federal Trade Commission to issue and enforce regulations concerning children’s online privacy. The Commission’s original Rule became effective on April 21, 2000. The Commission issued an amended Rule on December 19, 2012 that became effective on July 1, 2013.

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District works diligently to comply with the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The district does not collect student personal information or transmit such information directly to online entities for the purpose of creating web based accounts. In cases of web based account creation, the district will use an internal school district identification number to represent each student user.

VIII. Liability

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District makes no warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, for the technology services it is providing. While the district will make reasonable efforts to preserve data, the responsibility for it lies with the student. The district will not be held responsible for any damages students may suffer, including but not limited to, loss of data. The district will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system. The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District specifically denies and disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its technology resources. All students must fully understand that the use of any information obtained through the Internet is at their own risk.

IX. Complaints

Should any concerns arise regarding violations of this policy, the school principal or appropriate district Administrator shall document all complaints in writing and shall conduct an investigation of the complaint and report any disciplinary action taken.

X. Enforcement

The Dudley-Charlton Regional School District uses technology protection measures (such as web content filters, firewalls, etc.) to filter or block Internet access to some websites that are not in accordance with district policy. Logs created by any technology device can be used for the purposes of detection, identification, and enforcement of any part of this policy, as well as any other lawful purpose.

Dudley-Charlton Regional School District

Student Technology Acceptable Use Policy Agreement Form

All students are required to return a signed copy of this form prior to using any Dudley-Charlton Regional School District technology resources.

1. I acknowledge that I have received, read, and fully understood the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s Technology AcceptableUse Policy and that I agree to abide by the policies within.

2. I fully understand that use of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s “technology resources”, including, but not limited to,district owned, tablets, printers, network, district provided websites, cloud computing technologies, and Internet access are providedfor educational purposes only.

3. I understand that any violation of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District’s Technology Acceptable Use Policy may result in therestriction, suspension or cancellation of access privileges and may result in other disciplinary action, civil liability or criminalprosecution by the appropriate authorities.

4. I understand that if I choose to bring in “Personal” devices, I do so at my own risk. I understand the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged “Personal” devices. I also understand the district IT Department will provide no technical support or assistance for “Personal” devices.

5. Amendments and modifications to this policy may be approved by the School Committee from time to time and will be posted forviewing.

Student Signature: Date:

Student Name: (please print)

Parent/Guardian Signature: Date:

Parent/Guardian Name: (please print)