Beckville
ISD
Acceptable Use Policy(AUP)
BACKGROUND:
Access to the Internet allows connections to
computer systems located all over the world. Users (and parents of student
users) must understand that neither the District nor any Beckville Independent District
employee controls the content of the information found on these systems. Some
of the information may be controversial and may even be offensive to some
individuals. Teachers, administrators, and other school personnel should ensure
connections to the Internet are used in a responsible, efficient, ethical, and
legal manner, and such use must be in support of education and research
consistent with Beckville Independent School District educational objectives.
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
(AUP) FOR THE INTERNET
Beckville Independent School District is
providing computer network and Internet access for its students and employees.
This service allows employees and students to share information, learn new
concepts, research diverse subjects, and create and maintain school-based
websites.
The District has adopted this Acceptable Use
Policy (“Policy”) to set guidelines for accessing the computer network or the
Internet service provided by the District. Every student and employee who wants
computer network and Internet access is required to sign and submit this Policy
to the District. Students who are under 18 also must have their parents or guardians sign this Policy. By
signing this agreement, the student, employee, and parent or guardian agree to
follow the rules set forth in this Policy and to report any misuse of the
computer network or the Internet to a teacher or supervisor. Parties agreeing
to this policy also understand the District may revise the Internet Acceptable
Use Policy as it deems necessary. The District will provide notice of any
changes either by posting such a revised version of the Policy or by providing
written notice to the students, employees and parents or guardians.
To obtain free computer network and Internet
access, all students must follow any school procedures developed at the school
site. Each student or employee who qualifies may access the computer network or
Internet. This Acceptable Use Policy must accompany any request for a Beckville
ISD user account (which provides district email and internet access). The
student or employee is required to change the password the first time he or she
uses the Account and routinely thereafter.
The Account may only be used during the time the user is a
student or employee of the District. Anyone who receives an Account is
responsible for making sure it is used properly.
Acceptable Uses
of the Computer Network or the Internet
The Account provided by the District should be
used only for educational or professional purposes. Staff may use the Internet
for personal use only if such use is incidental and occurs during their
duty-free time.
If a user is uncertain about whether a
particular use of the computer network or the Internet is appropriate, he or
she should consult a teacher or supervisor.
Acceptable Uses of eChalk
1.
Users are entirely responsible for all activities conducted through
their eChalk account.
2.
Users will not use their eChalk account to:
a.
Transmit or cause the transmission of any harassing, threatening, or
otherwise abusive messages, data or information
b.
Post or transmit any unsolicited advertising, promotional or marketing
materials
3.
Users will not violate any privacy rights or rights of publicity of any
person.
4.
Users will not attempt, or assist others in attempting to, compromise
the security or integrity of your school’s eChalk system.
5.
Violations of this Acceptable Use Policy may result in the termination
of all privileges relating to the use of your school’s eChalk system.
6. Users should be made aware
that the eChalk system can be configured to allow certain users to monitor
their accounts (both student as well as faculty and staff).
Unacceptable Uses
of the Computer Network or the Internet
The following uses of the Account provided by
the District are unacceptable. Uses that violate any state or federal law or
municipal ordinance are unacceptable.
Unacceptable uses
include, but are not limited to the following:
1) Selling or purchasing any illegal
substance; Penalty: Report submitted to local, state or federal authorities,
expulsion, and termination.
2) Accessing, transmitting, or downloading
child pornography, obscene depictions, harmful materials, or materials that
encourage others to violate the law; Penalty: Report submitted to local, state
or federal authorities, expulsion, and termination.
3) Transmitting or downloading confidential
information or copyrighted materials.
4) 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.
5) Uses that involve obtaining and or using
anonymous email site; Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer privileges or other
appropriate action.
6) Uses that cause harm to others or damage to
their property are unacceptable.
7) Deleting, copying, modifying, or forging
other users’ e-mails, files, or data; Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer
privileges or other appropriate action.
8) Accessing another User’s email without
their permission, and as a result of that access, reading or forwarding the
other User’s e-mails or files without that User’s permission; Penalty:
Suspension, loss of computer privileges or other appropriate action.
9) Damaging computer equipment, files, data or
the network; Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer privileges, compensation or
other appropriate act.
10) Using profane, abusive, or impolite
language; Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer privileges or other appropriate
action.
11) Disguising one’s identity, impersonating
other users, or sending anonymous e-mail messages; Penalty: Suspension, loss of
computer privileges or other appropriate action.
12) Threatening, harassing, or making
defamatory or false statements about others; Penalty: Suspension, loss of
computer privileges or other appropriate action.
13) Accessing, transmitting, or downloading
offensive, harassing, or disparaging materials; Penalty: Suspension, loss of
computer privileges or other appropriate action.
14) Accessing, transmitting or downloading computer viruses or
other harmful files or programs, or in any way degrading or disrupting any
computer system performance; Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer privileges
or other appropriate action.
15) Accessing, transmitting or downloading
large files, including “chain letters” or any type of “pyramid schemes.”
Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer privileges or other appropriate action.
16) Using any district computer to pursue
hacking, internal or external to the district, or attempting to access
information that is protected by privacy laws; Penalty: Suspension, loss of
computer privileges or other appropriate action.
Uses that
jeopardize access or lead to unauthorized access into Accounts or other
computer networks are unacceptable. Unacceptable uses include, but are not
limited to the following:
17) Using other users’ Account passwords or
identifiers; Penalty: Suspension, loss of computer privileges or other
appropriate action.
18) Disclosing one’s Account password to other
users or allowing other users to use one’s Accounts; Penalty: Verbal or written
warning or loss of computer privileges.
19) Getting unauthorized access into other
users’ Accounts or other computer networks; Penalty: Suspension, loss of
computer privileges or other appropriate action.
20) Interfering with other users’ ability to
access their Accounts; Penalty: Verbal or written warning, loss of computer
privileges.
Commercial uses
are unacceptable. Unacceptable uses include, but are not limited to the
following:
21) Selling or buying anything over the
Internet for personal financial gain; Penalty: Verbal or written warning or
loss of computer privileges.
22) Using the Internet for advertising,
promotion, or financial gain; Penalty: Verbal or written warning or loss of
computer privileges.
23) 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; Penalty: Verbal or written warning or loss of
computer privileges.
Penalties for
Improper Use
The use of the Account is a privilege, not a
right, and inappropriate use will result in the restriction or cancellation of
the Account. Inappropriate use may lead to any disciplinary and/or legal
action, including but not limited to suspension or expulsion or dismissal from
employment from the District, or criminal prosecution by government
authorities. The District will attempt to tailor any disciplinary action to
meet the specific concerns related to each violation.
Internet Safety
In compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act
(“CIPA”), the District has implemented filtering and/or blocking software to
restrict access to Internet sites containing child pornography, obscene
depictions, or other materials harmful to minors less than 18 years of age. The software works by scanning for objectionable
words or concepts, as determined by the District. [Note: CIPA does not
enumerate any actual words or concepts that should be filtered or blocked.
Thus, CIPA necessarily requires that the District determine which words or
concepts are objectionable.] However, no software is foolproof, and there is
still a risk an Internet user may be exposed to a site containing such
materials. An Account user who incidentally connects to such a site must
immediately disconnect from the site and notify a teacher or supervisor. If an
Account user sees another user accessing inappropriate sites, he or she should
notify a teacher or supervisor immediately.
In compliance
with CIPA, the District and its representatives will implement a mechanism to
monitor all minors’ on-line activities, including website browsing, email use,
chat room participation and other forms of electronic communications. Such a
mechanism may lead to discovery a user has violated or may be violating this
Policy, the appropriate disciplinary code or the law. Monitoring is aimed to
protect minors from accessing inappropriate matter, as well as help enforce
this policy, on the Internet, as determined by the school board, local
educational agency or other related authority. The District reserves the right
to monitor other users’ (e.g., employees, students 17 years or older)
online activities, and to access, review, copy, store or delete any electronic
communications or files and disclose them to others as it deems necessary.
If a student
under the age of eighteen accesses his/her Beckville Account or the Internet
outside of school, a parent or legal guardian must supervise the student’s use
of the Account or Internet at all times and is completely responsible for
monitoring the use. Filtering and/or blocking software may or may not be
employed to screen home access to the Internet. Parents and legal guardians
should inquire at the school or district if they desire more detailed
information about the software.
Student
information shall not be posted unless it is necessary to receive information
for instructional purposes, and only if the student’s teacher and parent or
guardian has granted permission.
Account users
shall not reveal on the Internet personal information about themselves or about
other persons. For example, Account users should not reveal their full names,
home addresses, telephone numbers, school addresses, or parents’ names on the
Internet.
Account users
shall not meet in person anyone they have met on the Internet in a secluded
place or a private setting. Account users who are under the age of 18 shall not
meet in person anyone they have met on the Internet without their parent’s
permission.
Account users
will abide by all District security policies.
Privacy Policy
The System Administrator has the authority to
monitor all Accounts, including e-mail and other materials transmitted or
received via the Accounts. All such materials are the property of the District.
Account users do not have any right to or expectation of privacy regarding such
materials.
Storage Capacity
To ensure that Account users remain within the
allocated disk space, users with email accounts should check their email
frequently and delete unwanted messages and other files or data that take up
excessive storage space. The system administrator will also routinely delete
messages from Account users’ inbound and outbound log files, messages saved to
the archive folders on the system, and messages posted to the District’s web
site.
Disclaimer
The District makes no guarantees about the
quality of the services provided and is not responsible for any claims, losses,
damages, costs, or other obligations arising from the unauthorized use of the
Accounts. The District also denies any responsibility for the accuracy or
quality of the information obtained through the Account.
Any statement, accessible on the computer
network or the Internet, is understood to be the author’s individual point of
view and not that of the District, its affiliates, or employees.
Account users are responsible for any losses sustained by the
District or its affiliates, resulting from the Account users’ intentional
misuse of the Accounts.
Beckville ISD Student Acceptable Use Policy
This Technology AUP was
developed by the Technology Committee and approved by the Beckville ISD Board
of Trustees.
BECKVILLE
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT STUDENT/PARENT ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCE AGREEMENT
Please read this document
carefully. When the student and the parent sign this document, it becomes an
agreement between the student, parent, and the District. The student and
parent’s signature indicates agreement to abide by the conditions and guidelines
established herein.
Terms and
Conditions of this Agreement
These policies shall apply
to:
·
Users of electronic information resources, which are
utilized with equipment located in the Beckville Independent School District
(BISD).
·
Users who obtain their access privileges through
association with BISD.
·
Electronic information resources include (but are not
limited to) CD-ROM’s, videodiscs, multimedia, on-line services, software,
videocassettes and electronic mail.
Personal
Responsibility
I agree to report misuse
of the network to the Superintendent’s office. Misuse can come in many forms,
including but not limited to, sending or receiving material that exhibits or
suggests pornography, unethical or illegal behavior; using racist, sexist, or
inappropriate language; or violating the guidelines set forth below.
Acceptable
Use Guidelines
-
The use of electronic information resources must be in
support of education, research, and the educational goals and objectives of
BISD.
-
I will use electronic information resources for
educational purposes only.
-
I agree not to submit, publish, display, or retrieve
any defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented,
threatening, racially offensive, or illegal material.
-
I will abide by all copyright regulations.
-
I will not reveal home addresses or personal phone
numbers of others.
-
I understand that electronic mail is not private.
-
I will not use the electronic information resources in
any way that would disrupt use by others.
-
I understand that many services and products are
available for a fee and acknowledge that I am responsible for any expenses
incurred. Failure to pay for expenses may result in denial of my privileges. I
will not use the electronic information resources for any commercial purposes.
-
I will not attempt to harm, modify or destroy hardware
or software, or interfere with system security.
-
I agree to accept financial responsibility for any
intentional harm to the system.
-
I will abide by the regulations established by the
District regarding use and access to the electronic information resources.
-
I will follow all rules of the BISD Student Code of
Conduct while using electronic information resources.
-
Rights of
the District Technology Director
-
BISD reserves the right to log the use of all systems and
monitor fileserver space utilization. Should it become necessary, files may be
deleted.
-
The Technology Director may close an account at any
time.
-
BISD is not responsible for any service interruptions,
changes, or consequences arising there from, even if these arise from
circumstances under the control of the District.
-
BISD makes no warranties of any kind, whether
expressed or implied regarding use of the electronic information resources.
Service is provided on an “as is, as available” basis. The District is not
responsible for the accuracy of information received.
-
BISD reserves the right to establish such rules and
regulations as may be necessary for the efficient operation of the electronic
information systems.
-
Consequences
The use of the electronic
information resources is a privilege, not a right; and may be revoked in
accordance with local policy. Infractions of the provisions set forth in this
Beckville ISD Student Acceptable Use Policy or the policies and regulations
established pursuant to the Agreement may result in suspension or termination
of access privileges and/or appropriate disciplinary action. Additionally,
activities in violation of state and federal statutes will be subject to
prosecution by those authorities.
The user of electronic information resources agrees to
accept full responsibility for his/her use and will hold the District harmless
for any damages resulting from use of the resources, whether that injury or
damage is to the user or to another person.