ACCEPTABLE
USE AND INTERNET SAFETY POLICY
For the
Computer Network of the Choctaw County School
District
The
Choctaw County School
District
(hereinafter referred to as “District) is pleased to make available to students
access to interconnected computer systems within the District and to the
Internet, the worldwide network that provides various means of accessing
significant educational materials and opportunities.
In
order for the District to be able to continue to make its computer network and
Internet access available, all students must ensure all use of this access is
lawful. Students must understand that
only one student’s misuse of the network and Internet access may jeopardize the
ability of all students to enjoy such access.
While the District’s teachers and other staff will make reasonable
efforts to supervise student use of network and Internet access, they must have
student cooperation in exercising and promoting responsible use of this access.
Below
is the Acceptable Use and Internet Safety Policy (“Policy”) of the District and
the Data Acquisition Site that provides Internet access to the District. Upon reviewing, signing, and returning this
Policy as the students have been directed, each student will be given the
opportunity to enjoy Internet access at school located in the District. By reviewing, signing, and returning the
Policy the student is agreeing to follow the Policy. If a student is under 18 years of age, he or
she must have his or her parents or guardians read and sign the Policy. The District cannot provide access to any
student who, if 18 or older, fails to sign and submit the Policy to the school
as directed or, if under 18, does not return the
Policy as directed with the signatures of the student and his/her parents or
guardians.
Listed
below are the provisions of your agreement regarding computer network and
Internet use. If you have any questions
about these provisions, you should contact the person that your school has who
has been designated to receive and answer your questions. If any user violates the Policy, the
student’s access to the Internet will be denied, and he or she may be subject
to additional disciplinary action.
I. PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY
By signing this Policy, you are agreeing not only to
follow the rules in the Policy, but also to report any misuse of the network to
the person designated by the school for such reporting. Misuse means any violations of this Policy.
II. TERM OF PERMITTED
USE
A student who submits to the District a
property signed Policy and follows the Policy
to which she or
he has agreed will have computer network and Internet access during
the course of
the school year. Students will be asked
to sign a new Policy each year
before they are
given an access account.
III. ACCEPTABLE USES
- Educational
Proposes Only. The School District is providing access to its computer networks
and the Internet only for educational purposes. If you have any doubt about whether a
contemplated activity is educational, you should consult the person(s)
designated by the District to assist you with such concerns.
- Unacceptable
Uses of Network. Among the uses that are considered
unacceptable and which constitute a violation of this Policy are the
following:
1.
Uses that violate
the law or encourage others to violate the law:
transmission of offensive or harassing messages; offer for sale or use
any substance the possession or use of which is prohibited by the District’s
Student Discipline Policy; view, transmit, or download pornographic materials
or materials that encourage others to violate the law; intrude into the
networks or computers of others; and download or transmit confidential trade
secret information, or copyrighted materials.
Even if materials on the networks are not marked with the copyright
symbol, you should assume that materials are protected unless there is explicit
permission allowing copying and printing stated on the materials.
2.
Uses that cause
harm to others or damage to their property.
For example, don’t engage in defamation (harming another’s reputation by
lies); employ another’s password or some other user identifier that misleads
message recipients into believing that someone other than you is communicating
or otherwise using his/her access to the network or the Internet; upload a
worm, virus, “Trojan horse,” “time bomb” other harmful form of programming or
vandalism; participate in “hacking” activities or any form of unauthorized
access to other computers, networks, or information systems.
3.
Uses that
jeopardize the security of student access and of the computer network or other
networks on the Internet. For example,
don’t disclose or share your password with others. Don’t impersonate another user.
4.
Uses that are commercial
transactions. Students and other users
may not sell or buy anything over the Internet.
You should not give others private information about you or others,
including credit card numbers, social security numbers, and your name and
address.
- Network
Etiquette. All users must abide
by rules of network etiquette, which include the following:
1. Be polite. Use appropriate language. No swearing, vulgarities, suggestive,
obscene, belligerent, or threatening language.
2. Avoid language and uses, which may be offensive to
other users. Don’t use access to make,
distribute, or redistribute jokes, stories, or other material which is based
upon slurs or stereotypes relating to race, gender, ethnicity, nationality,
religion, or sexual orientation.
3. Don’t assume that a sender of e-mail is giving his or
her permission for you to forward or redistribute the message to third parties
or to give his/her e-mail address to third parties. This should only be done with permission from
the person who sent the message to you.
4. Be considerate when sending attachments with e-mail
(where this is permitted). Be sure that
the file is not too large to be accommodated by recipient’s system and is in a
format which the recipient can open.
IV.
INTERNET SAFETY
A.
General Warning, Individual Responsibility of Parents
and Users. All users and their parents/guardians are
advised that access to the electronic network may include the potential for
access to materials inappropriate for school-aged pupils. Every user must take responsibility for his
or her uses of the computer network and internet and stay away from these
sites. If a student finds that other
users are visiting offensive or harmful sites, he or she should report such use
to the person designated by the District.
B.
Personal Safety. Be safe. In using the computer network and Internet,
do not reveal personal information such as your home address or telephone
number. Do not use your real last name
or any other information, which might allow a person to locate you without
first obtaining the permission of a supervising teacher. Do not arrange a face-to-face meeting with
someone you “meet” on the computer network or Internet. Regardless of your age,
you should never agree to meet a person you have only communicated with on the
Internet.
C.
“Hacking” and Other Illegal Activities. It is a
violation of this Policy to
use the District’s computer network or the Internet to
gain unauthorized access to other computers or computer systems. It is also a violation of this Policy to
attempt to gain unauthorized access to other computers or computer
systems. Any use which violates state or
federal law relating to copyright, trade secrets, the distribution of obscene
or pornographic materials, or which violates any other applicable law or municipal
ordinance, is strictly prohibited.
D.
Confidentiality of Student Information. Personally
identifiable
information concerning students may not be disclosed or used in
any way on the Internet without the permission of a parent or guardian or, if
the student is 18 or over, the permission of the student himself/herself. Users should never give out private or
confidential information about themselves or others on the Internet,
particularly credit card numbers and social security numbers. A supervising teacher or administrator may
authorize the release of directory information, as allowed by all laws
applicable to the District for internal administrative purposes or approved
educational projects and activities.
E.
Active Restriction Measures. The District,
either by itself or in
combination with the Date Acquisition Site providing
Internet access, will utilize filtering software or other technologies to
prevent students from accessing visual depictions that are (1) obscene, (2)
involve child pornography, or (3) harmful to minors. The District will also monitor the online
activities of students, through direct observation and/or technological means,
to ensure that students are not accessing such depictions or any other
material, which is inappropriate for minors.
Internet filtering software or other technology-based
protection systems may be disabled by a supervising teacher or school
administrator, as necessary, for purposes of bona fide research or other
educational projects being conducted by students age 18 and older.
The term “harmful to minors” is defined by the
Communications Act of the 1934 (47 USC Section (h)(7),
as meaning any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction
that
Ø taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals
to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion;
Ø depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently
offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or
simulated sexual act or a lewd exhibition of the genitals;
Ø taken as a whole, lacks serious literary artistic,
political or scientific value as to minors.
V. PRIVACY
Network and Internet access is provided as a tool for
your education. The District
reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review, and
store at any time and without prior notice any and all usage of the computer
network and Internet access and any and all information transmitted or received
in connection with such usage. All such
information files are and shall remain the property of the District and no user
shall have any expectation of privacy regarding such materials.
VI.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW POLICY
The user’s use of the computer network and Internet is
a privilege, not a right. A user who violates this Policy, shall at a minimum, have his
or her access to the computer network and Internet terminated. The District may refuse to reinstate this
access for the remainder of the student’s enrollment in the District. A user violates this Policy by his or her own
action or by failing to report any violations by other users that come to the
attention of the user. Furthermore, a
user violates this Policy if he or she permits another person to use his or her
account or password to access the computer network and Internet. The District may also take other disciplinary
action in such circumstances.
VII.
WARRANTIES/INDEMNIFICATION
The District makes no warranties of any kind, either
express or implied, in connection with its provision of access to and use of
its computer networks and the Internet provided under this Policy. It shall not be responsible for any claims,
losses, damages or costs (including attorney’s fees) of any kind suffered,
directly or indirectly, by any user or his or her parent or guardian arising
out of the user’s use of the District’s computer networks or the Internet under
this Policy. By signing this policy,
users are taking full responsibility for this or her use, and the user who is
18 or older or, in the case of a user under 18, the parent or guardian is
agreeing to indemnify and hold the District, the Data Acquisition Site that
provides the computer and Internet access opportunity to the District and all
of the District’s administrators, teachers, and staff harmless from any and all
loss, costs, claims or damages resulting from the user’s access to its computer
network and the Internet, including but not limited to any fees or charges
incurred through purchases of goods or services by the user. The user or, if the user is a minor, the
user’s parent(s) or guardian(s) agree to cooperate with the District in the
event of the District initiating an investigation of a user’s use of his or her
access to its computer network and the Internet, whether that use is on a
District computer or on another computer outside the District’s network.
VIII.
UPDATES
Users, and if appropriate, the user’s
parents/guardians, may be asked from time to time to provide new or additional
registration and account information or to sign a new Policy. Such information must be provided by the user
(or his/her parent or guardian) or such new Policy must be signed if the user
wishes to continue to receive service.
If after you have provided your account information, some or all of the
information changes, you must notify the person designated by the District to
receive such information.
FACULTY AND STAFF
Agreement
I
acknowledge that I have read, understand and agree to all terms as outlined in
the Internet Acceptable Use Policy. I
further understand that this agreement will be kept on file at the school for
the academic year in which it was signed.
Student’s Agreement
Every student, regardless of age, must read and sign below:
I have read, understand, and agree to abide by the terms of
the foregoing Acceptable Use and Internet Safety Policy. Should I commit any violation or in any way
misuse my access to the school district’s computer network and the Internet, I
understand and agree that my access privilege may be revoked and school
disciplinary action may be taken against me.
Parent’s or Guardian’s Agreement
To be read and signed by parent or legal guardian of the
above student, I have read, understand, and agree that my child or ward shall
comply with the terms of the school district’s Acceptable use and Internet
Safety Policy for the student’s access to the school district’s computer
network and the Internet. I understand
that access is being provided to the students for educational purposes
only. However, I also understand that it
is impossible for the school to restrict access to all offensive and
controversial materials and understand my child’s or ward’s responsibility for
abiding by the policy. I am therefore
signing this policy and agree to indemnify and hold harmless the school, the
school district and the data acquisition site that provides the opportunity to
the school district for computer network and Internet access against all
claims, damages, losses and costs, of whatever kind, that may results from my
child’s or ward’s use of his or her access to such networks or his or her
violation of the foregoing policy.
Further, I accept full responsibility for supervision of my child’s or
ward’s use of his or her access account if and when such access is not in the
school setting. I hereby give permission
for my child or ward to use the building approved account to access the school
district’s computer network and the Internet.
ADOPTED: 09-25-01
REVISED:
Legal References: Children’s
Internet Protection Act of 2000 (H.R. 4577, P.L. 106-554)
Communications
Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 254 [h],[1])
Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended
(20
U.S.C. 6801 et seq., Part F)
CHOCTAW COUNTY
WORLD WIDE WEB POLICY
Policy governing the creation and
maintenance of the system/school website and subsidiary pages on the World Wide
Web (Much of the material contained herein is taken from the Bellingham,
Washington Schools' and Baldwin County Schools WWW pages with their
permission.
1. GENERAL
The
World Wide Web (WWW) provides schools, teachers, and student’s excellent
opportunities for providing information to themselves and other interested
parties on a global scale. With these opportunities come grave responsibilities
with respect to what is published. It is incumbent upon employees and students
of the Choctaw County Board of Education (CCBOE)--school faculty, staff, and
students--to be aware of these responsibilities during the creation and
maintenance of system/school home pages and subsidiary pages (pages created by
teachers and students and linked to from the school home page).
All
schools will have official school web pages.
Advertising on these pages will be restricted to the logos or other
unobtrusive designs of those entities that are CCBOE partners in education or
others as recommended by the school principal and approved by the CCBOE
Superintendent, Public Relations Coordinator or the System Technology Coordinator. All pages that pertain to school activities
and organizations will be subordinate to, and included as links within, the
official system/school website and governed by all provisions of the Acceptable
Use and Internet Safety Policy and this policy.
Teachers
who wish to create and maintain individual class pages may do so. These class web pages must comply with all of
the provisions in this policy on creation and maintenance of school home pages.
2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
a) Principal
The school home page is a public document
welcoming the outside world to the school.
Just as the principal would be expected to review any sign located on
the front lawn, he or she should review any proposed school home pages and
subsidiary pages.
b) Staff and Faculty
Staff and faculty will be an important part of
the design team, helping to advise those who gather information for the
school's pages regarding to curriculum content.
They will help carry out those aspects of the CCBOE Acceptable Use and
Internet Safety Policy which call for adult monitoring of Internet pages.
c) Library Media Specialists
Information specialists - those trained in how
to organize information to support efficient searching and retrieval - should
have a major voice in information to be submitted for the school home page.
d) School Technology Coordinator, or other
person as designated by the Principal, will make sure that the following
standards are observed:
·
A
staff committee will review all materials before submitting to be published on
the WWW.
·
Only
"official pages" - those whose content has been subject to strict
adult editorial control, complying with standards set by the CCBOE and the
School and containing no offensive material, nor any third party copyright
item, unless permission has been obtained - are allowed to become part of the
system/school WWW site. (See attached CCBOE Copyright Web Publishing Rules and
Copyright Permission Letter.)
·
System/School
home pages will contain a blanket copyright statement covering all subsidiary
pages. (See paragraph 1 of the CCBOE Copyright Web Publishing Rules and the
Copyright Permission Letter.)
·
School
home pages will contain a link to the district home page.
·
Before
publishing student work on the WWW, an authorization form must be obtained
from the parent or guardian. (See the Internet Publishing Permission Form.)
·
Subsidiary
pages will list or link to only those WWW sites outside the school's or school
district's pages which comply with the CCBOE policy on Internet usage and the
curriculum.
·
Subsidiary
pages will always include a link back to the system/school home page.
·
All
school home pages will include the school's postal service mailing address, the
school's telephone number, and the e-mail address. The e-mail address of the person most
responsible for design and maintenance of the system/school website will be
included on all home pages.
·
No
student names may appear without a signed Internet Publishing Permission
form. If a permission form is signed,
information about students that might reasonably be expected to be published by
the local media (recognition, awards, competition results, etc.) may include
first and last names. All other student listings (club memberships, sample
work, etc.) shall consist of first names and initials only.
·
Information
on all pages will be updated on a regular basis.
·
A
designated person(s) by the superintendent will be the only computer user(s)
with access to the file server directory into which WWW pages must be
placed. It is this person(s) whose
e-mail address must appear on each of the system/school's web pages.
e) Students
With careful staff supervision, students may
play a major role in the construction of pages to be submitted, acting as
"curators" for virtual museums and producers of good pages. Students should be given an opportunity to
have input concerning information to be submitted.
3. UNACCEPTABLE CONTENT
In addition to the more obvious areas of
disapproved and illegal content such as pornography, there are many other areas
that must be taken into account. Libel, material infringing copyright or other
intellectual property right, and material inciting violent or criminal activity
are just a few of the areas that must be avoided. Some other specific content and actions that
are prohibited include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
·
Transmission
of any material in violation of any U.S. or state regulation.
·
Material
or statements which might render the school or district vulnerable to legal
action.
·
Political
lobbying.
·
District
and school budget figures.
·
Links
to personal pages (staff or students) other than those pre-approved by the
local web page committee, principal, technology coordinator, public relations
coordinator and superintendent.
·
Non-factual
"brag" pages. Listing awards
and accomplishments is fine, but no "we are the best because we say
so" references.
4. UNACCEPTABLE LANGUAGE
·
Sexist
- any language which makes reference to the male or female of the human species
when either could in fact apply (Avoid using "he" or "she"
when referring to users.)
·
Adult
- sexual innuendo or explicit vocabulary
·
Racist
- racial references, other than those deemed to be politically correct.
·
Religious
references - use correct terminology, no slang or derogatory statements
·
Violence
- any language which suggests, condones, advocates, supports, or promotes
violence against one's self or others
CHOCTAW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
Copyright Web Publishing Rules
Copyright law and district policy do
not allow the re-publishing of text or graphics found on the Web on district
web sites or file servers without explicit written permission.
1) For each republishing (on a web site or file
server) of a graphic or a text file which was produced externally, there must
be a notice at the bottom of the page crediting the original producer and
noting how and when permission was granted. In many cases, that notice should
also include the URL (web address) of the original source.
2) Before the web pages containing text and/or
graphics from other sites are actually published, students and staff engaged in
producing those pages must obtain permission from the copyright holder of the
materials to re-publish those materials on the system/school site. Such permission must be either a letter or
printed e-mail from the copyright holder, which will be held on file. (Form
letter follows.) In the case of "public domain" documents, printed
evidence must be provided to document the status of the materials.
3) The failure of a site to display a copyright
notice may not be interpreted as permission to copy the materials. Only the
copyright owner may provide the permission. If the materials have been
improperly and illegally displayed by a web site, the manager of that web site
may not be considered a source of permission.
4) The "fair use" rules governing
student reports in classrooms are less stringent and permit limited use of
graphics and text.
5) Student work may only be published with written
permission from both parent and student.
Staff members and students with questions
regarding these guidelines are advised to check with the staff committee before
proceeding with the collection of images and text.
Internet Copyright
Resources for Further Study
1. Cyberspace Law -- Copyright <http://www.cudenver.edu/public/www/copyright.html>
This site provides an
excellent discussion of the protections afforded by copyright law to writers
and visual artists displaying work on the Web. This resource is part of a
course on Cyberspace Law for non-lawyers. The seminar is presented by Prof.
Larry Lessig University of Chicago Law School; Prof.
David Post, Georgetown University Law
Center; Prof. Eugene Volokh,
UCLA School of Law; the Cyberspace Law Institute and Counsel Connect, the
online community for lawyers.
2. The Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia <http://www.mu.edu/dept/ogc/fairuse1.html>
These guidelines were
created to suggest reasonable school uses of copyrighted materials by a
committee which included major publishers as well as educators. The guidelines
are an interpretation of the law.
3. The Copyright Web Site <http://www.benedict.com/>
An
extensive collection of articles and resources exploring copyright issues.
4. The Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Site <http://fairuse.stanford.edu/>
A comprehensive
offering of articles and resources exploring copyright issues.
DISCLAIMER: There are many who
would like to see information and graphics on the Web treated like "public
domain" possessions, available for the taking and the republishing. Some
of the web sites and resources referenced above represent the arguments for
that point of view. Others take a much more stringent approach to interpreting
the copyright law as it should be applied to web publishing. The Choctaw County
Board of Education does not take responsibility for the contents of the web
sites listed above and does not by their listing endorse the points of view
represented at any particular site. The
references are made here to provide a balanced representation of the arguments,
but the rules listed in the CCBOE Technology Plan are the guidelines which must
be followed in the Choctaw County Public School District.
CHOCTAW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
Copyright Permission
Letter
DIRECTIONS:
Whenever a
student or staff member wishes to “republish” someone else’s writing or
graphics on a Choctaw County
public School web site, explicit permission must be obtained from the owner of
copyright or evidence must be provided that the materials are “in the public
domain”. The form attached may be
incorporated into an e-mail message sent to the owner of the site and/or the
owner of copyright. An e-mail reply
which answers all questions fully and grants permission should be printed out
and presented along with any web pages being submitted to the staff committee
for publication. Every web page
containing such items must provide full credit to the source, indicate that
permission was granted, and include a notice clarifying that all rights are
still reserved by the copyright owner.
**** Refer to copyright Permission
Request Letter attached (E-mail to Copyright Owner) ****
CHOCTAW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
Copyright Permission
Request
Name of Site:______________________________________
Name of Site Manager: ______________________________
E-mail address of Site Manager: _______________________
URL(s) (addresses) of Web page containing desired item(s):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Site Manager:
I am a (student, teacher, ___________________) in the
Choctaw County, AL Public Schools creating web pages for a system/school
project. My system/school is ______________________________________________.
My e-mail address is _____________________________.
We are currently engaged in a project
Description of the project and its goals:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
While doing research for this project, I visited your
excellent site and was very much impressed with what you have done. I am interested in gaining permission to
“republish” the following material from your web site on our system/school’s
website:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Are you the holder of a copyright for these materials?
____ Yes ____
No
If you are not the holder of a copyright, can you identify
the owner and supply an e-mail address so that I may contact the owner?
________________________________________________________________________
If you are the holder of copyright, may we “republish” these
items, including at the bottom of the web page a clear notice that we are
“republishing” the item with your permission, with all rights reserved?
____ I give my permission. ____
I do not give my permission.
If you desire to have us include a particular wording at the
bottom of our page to describe your copyright restrictions, please write those
words in the space below:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks so much for you time and assistance. We appreciate your contribution to the
development of excellent content on the Web.
Please send back this whole message with your name and title at the
bottom so that we can identify the source of permission.
Sincerely,
_____________________
CHOCTAW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
Copyright Permission
Request
SCHOOL: ____________________________
FROM: ______________________________
(Teacher’s Name)
DATE: ______________________________
TO: _______________________________
(Family Name)
_______________________________
(Student’s Name)
Dear Parent or Guardian,
An example of your son/daughter’s school work product for
class and/or his/her picture has been selected for inclusion on our
system/school’s World Wide Web page and will, on your approval, be published on
the Internet*. Although this information
may be published on the Internet, your child will still own the copyright to
the item(s) that he/she produced.
Please complete the form below to authorize us to release
the above mentioned work example and/or photograph to be included on our school
web page.
Information published on our web page(s) about students that
might reasonably be expected to be published by the local media (recognition,
awards, competition results, etc.) may include first and last names. All other student listings (club memberships,
sample work, etc.) shall consist of first names and initials only.
I hereby give permission for the work/photo of my child,
_________________________
to be published on the school web
page. (Student’s Name)
Signature of Parent ____________________________
Signature of Student ____________________________
Date ____________________________
* Student work published on our system/school’s World Wide
Web site can be accessed by a global audience.