623

Access to the Internet

The School Board's goal is to include the Internet in the District's instructional program in order to promote educational excellence by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication. The Superintendent or designee shall develop an implementation plan for this policy and appoint a system administrator.

The School District is not 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. Furthermore, the District will not be responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting from access to the Internet.

Individual School Board members and administrative staff members shall be treated like teachers. "Internet" includes all information accessed by Internet sites, E-Mail, on-line services and bulletin board systems.

Curriculum

The use of the Internet shall be consistent with the curriculum adopted by the District as well as the varied instructional needs, learning styles, abilities and developmental levels of the students. The Internet shall comply with the selection criteria for instructional materials and library-media center materials. Teachers may, consistent with the Superintendent's implementation plan, use the Internet throughout the curriculum.

The Internet is part of the curriculum and is not a public forum for general use.

Acceptable Use

All use of the District's connection to the Internet must be in support of education and/or research, and be in furtherance of the School Board's stated goal. Use is a privilege, not a right. General rules for behavior and communications apply when using the Internet. The District's Authorization for Internet Access contains the appropriate uses, ethics and protocol for the Internet. Electronic communication and downloaded material may be monitored or read by school officials.

AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERNET ACCESS

Each teacher must sign the District's Authorization for Internet Access as a condition for using the District's Internet connection. Each student and his or her parent(s)/guardian(s) must sign the Authorization before being granted unsupervised use.

The failure of any student or teacher to follow the terms of the Authorization for Internet Access, or this policy will result in the loss of privileges, disciplinary action and/or appropriate legal action.

Adopted January 21, 1997

INSTRUCTION

Each teacher must sign this Authorization as a condition for using the District's Internet connection. Each student and his or her parent(s) /guardian(s) must sign the Authorization before being granted unsupervised access. School Board members and administrators are treated like teachers for purposes of this Authorization. Please read this document carefully before signing. All use of the Internet shall be consistent with the District's goal of promoting educational excellence by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication. This Authorization does not attempt to state all required or prescribed behavior by users. However, some specific examples are provided. The failure of any user to follow the terms of the Authorization for Internet Access will result in the loss of privileges, disciplinary action, and/or appropriate legal action. The signature(s) at the end of this document is legally binding and indicates the party who signed has read the terms and conditions carefully and understands their significance.

Terms and Conditions

1. Acceptable Use - Access to the District's Internet must be for the purpose of education or research, and be consistent with the educational objectives of the District.

2. Privileges - The use of the District's Internet is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. The system administrator will make all decisions regarding whether or not a user has violated this Authorization and may deny, revoke, or suspend access at any time; his or her decision is final.

a) Unacceptable Use - You are responsible for your actions and activities involving the network. Some examples of unacceptable uses are: Using the network for any illegal activity, including violation of copyright or other contracts, or transmitting any material in violation of any U.S. or State regulation;

b) Unauthorized downloading of software, regardless of whether it is copyrighted or devirused;

c) Downloading copyrighted material for other than personal use;

d) Using the network for private financial or commercial gain;

e) Wastefully using resources, such as file space;

f) Gaining unauthorized access to resources or entities;

g) Invading the privacy of individuals;

h) Using another user's account or password;

i) Posting material authored or created by another without his/her consent;

j) Posting anonymous messages;

k) Using the network for commercial or private advertising;

l) Accessing, submitting, posting, publishing, or displaying any defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, harassing, or illegal material; and

m) Using the network while access privileges are suspended or revoked.

4. Network Etiquette - You are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
a) Be polite. Do not become abusive in your messages to others.

b) Use appropriate language. Do not swear or use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.

c) Do not reveal the personal addresses or telephone numbers of students or colleagues.

d) Recognizes that electronic mail (E-mail) is not private. People who operate the system have access to all mail. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities may be reported to the authorities.

e) Do not use the network in any way that would disrupt its use by other users.

f) Consider all communications and information accessible via the network to be private property.

5. No Warranties - The District makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, for the service it is providing. The District will not be responsible for any damages you suffer. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, missed deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its negligence or your errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained via the Internet is at your own risk. The District specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services.

6. Indemnification - The user agrees to indemnify the School District for any losses, costs or damages, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred by the District relating to, or arising out of, any breach of this Authorization.

7. Security - Network security is a high priority. If you can identify a security problem on the Internet, you must notify the system administrator or Building Principal. Do not demonstrate the problem to other users. Keep your account and password confidential. Do not use another individual's account without written permission from that individual. Attempts to log-on to the Internet as a system administrator will result in cancellation of user privileges. Any user identified as a security risk may be denied access to network.

8. Vandalism - Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges and other disciplinary action. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user, the Internet, or any other network. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creating of computer viruses.

9. Telephone Charges - The District assumes no responsibility for unauthorized charges or fees, including telephone charges, long-distance charges, per-minute surcharges, and/or equipment or line costs.