RIDGWAY AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
No. 815
SECTION: OPERATIONS
TITLE: ACCEPTABLE USE OF
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY
RESOURCES
ADOPTED: May 12, 1997
REVISED: December 1, 2008
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815. ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY
RESOURCES
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1.
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Purpose
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The Board supports use of the
Internet, electronic mail, and other technology in the
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district's instructional and
operational programs in order to facilitate learning,
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teaching and daily operations
through interpersonal communications, access to
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information, research and
collaboration.
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For instructional purposes, the
use of network facilities shall be consistent with the
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curriculum adopted by the
school district as well as the varied instructional needs,
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learning styles,
abilities, and developmental levels of students.
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2.
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Authority
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The electronic information
available to students and staff does not imply
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endorsement by the district of
the content, nor does the district guarantee the
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accuracy of
information received. The district shall not be responsible for any
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information that may be lost,
damaged or unavailable when using the network or for
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any information
that is retrieved via the Internet.
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The district shall not be
responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting
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from access to the
Internet.
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The district reserves the right
to log network use and to monitor fileserver space
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utilization by district
users.
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The Board establishes that
network use is a privilege, not a right; inappropriate,
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unauthorized and illegal use
will result in cancellation of those privileges and
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appropriate disciplinary
action.
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3.
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Delegation of
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The district shall make every
effort to ensure that this resource is used responsibly
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Responsibility
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by students and
staff.
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Administrators, teachers and
staff have a professional responsibility to work together
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to help students develop the
intellectual skills necessary to discriminate among
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information sources, to
identify information appropriate to their age and
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developmental levels, and to
evaluate and use the information to meet their
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educational goals.
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815.
ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES - Pg. 2
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Students and staff have the
responsibility to respect and protect the rights of every
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other user in the
district and on the Internet.
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20 U.S.C.
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The Superintendent or designee
shall be responsible for implementing technology
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Sec. 6777
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and procedures to determine
whether the district's computers are being used for
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47 U.S.C.
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purposes prohibited by
law or otherwise inappropriate. The procedure shall include
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Sec. 254
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but not be limited to:
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1. Utilizing a technology protection
measure that blocks or filters Internet access
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for minors and adults to certain
visual depictions that are sexually explicit or
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harmful to minors or otherwise
determined to be inappropriate for minors by
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the Board.
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2. Maintaining and securing a usage log.
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3.
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Monitoring online activities.
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4.
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Guidelines
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Network accounts shall be used
only by the authorized owner of the account for its
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approved purpose. All
communications and information accessible via the network
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should be assumed to
be property of the district. Network users shall respect the
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privacy of other
users on the system.
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Prohibitions
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Students and staff are expected
to act in a responsible, ethical and legal manner in
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accordance with district
policy, accepted rules of network etiquette, and federal and
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state law.
Specifically, the following uses of technology resources are prohibited:
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1.
Facilitating
illegal activity.
2.
Commercial
or for-profit purposes.
3.
Nonwork, or nonschool
related work purposes.
4.
Product
advertisement or political lobbying.
5.
Transmission of hate mail, remarks disparaging
of protected characteristics, or any threatening,
offensive, annoying,
or inflammatory communication.
6.
Unauthorized or illegal installation,
distribution, reproduction, or use of copyrighted materials.
815.
ACCEPTABLE
USE OF INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES - Pg. 3
7.
Access to, transmission of, or knowing
receipt of, obscene, pornographic, or any sexually explicit material.
8.
Access to material that is harmful to
minors or is inappropriate for viewing by minors.
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 use of pseudonyms.
13. Fraudulent
copying, communications, or modification of materials in violation of copyright
laws.
14. Loading
or using of unauthorized games, programs, files, or other electronic media.
15.
Disruption
of the work of other users.
16. Destruction,
modification, abuse or unauthorized access to network hardware, software and
files.
17. Quoting
of personal communications in a public forum without the original author's
prior consent.
18.
Communication
made for the purpose of harassing or annoying others.
This
list is not all-inclusive. The district reserves the right to take appropriate
action, including disciplinary action,
in any case where it
believes an employee or student has used technology resources in a manner
inconsistent with
the purpose of those
resources, or otherwise inappropriately.
815. ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY
RESOURCES - Pg. 4
Security
System
security is protected through the use of passwords. Failure to adequately
protect or update passwords
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
and students 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 employee'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.
Users of the system
should have no expectation of privacy in any aspect of its use. Technology
resources and data are
the
property of the district and the district may monitor, inspect, or retrieve any
available information at any time, with
or
without the user’s knowledge.
Users who inadvertently
encounter material which can reasonably be viewed as inconsistent with this
policy are
encouraged
to report such an event to a district administrator.
Consequences For
Inappropriate Use
The
network user shall be responsible for damages to the equipment, systems, and
software resulting from deliberate or
willful
acts.
Violations
of this policy may result in disciplinary action and/or restriction or loss of
access to the district’s technology
resources.
Illegal
use of the network; intentional deletion or damage to files of data belonging
to others; copyright violations; and
theft
of services will be reported to the appropriate legal authorities for possible
prosecution.
General
rules for behavior and communications apply when using the Internet, in addition
to the stipulations of this policy.
Loss of access and other disciplinary actions
shall be consequences for inappropriate use.
Vandalism
will result in cancellation of access privileges. Vandalism is defined
as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy
data
of another user, Internet or other networks; this includes but is not limited
to uploading or creating computer viruses.
815. ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY
RESOURCES - Pg. 5
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Copyright
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Pol. 814
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The illegal use of copyrighted
software by students and staff is prohibited. Any data
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uploaded to or
downloaded from the network shall be subject to fair use guidelines.
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Safety
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To the greatest extent
possible, users of the network will be protected from
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harassment and unwanted
or unsolicited communication. Any network user who
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receives threatening or
unwelcome communications shall report such immediately to
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the
administrator.
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20 U.S.C.
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Any district computer/server
utilized by students and staff shall be equipped with
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Sec. 6777
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Internet blocking/filtering
software.
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47 U.S.C.
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Sec. 254
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47 U.S.C.
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Internet safety measures shall
address the following:
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Sec. 254
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1. Control of access by minors to
inappropriate matter on the Internet and World
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Wide Web.
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2. Safety and security of minors when
using electronic mail, chat rooms, and
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other forms of
direct electronic communications.
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3. Prevention of unauthorized online
access by minors, including "hacking" and
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other unlawful activities.
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4. Unauthorized disclosure, use, and
dissemination of personal information
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regarding minors.
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5. Restriction of minors’ access to
materials harmful to them.
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References:
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Child Internet Protection Act –
24 P.S. Sec. 4601 et seq.
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Enhancing Education Through
Technology Act of 2001 – 20 U.S.C. Sec. 6777
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Internet Safety – 47 U.S.C.
Sec. 254
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Board Policy – 814
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