6141.321

Instruction

Telecommunications/Internet - Acceptable Use

The school district believes in the educational value of communications, the Internet, and electronic information services, and recognizes their potential to support its educational program, the curriculum and student learning. Resource sharing, communications, and innovation capabilities for both students and teachers have been increased with access to telecommunications and to the Internet. The district will make every effort to protect students and teachers from any misuses or abuses as a result of experience with an electronic information service. It is therefore imperative that members of the school community conduct themselves in a responsible, decent, ethical, and polite manner while using any network.  Further, they must abide by all local, state and federal laws.

Guidelines for General Use

It is important to recognize that with increased access to computers and people all over the world also comes the availability of controversial material that may not be considered of educational value in the context of the school setting. Further, the school district recognizes the importance of each individual's judgment regarding appropriate conduct in maintaining a quality resource system. While this policy does not attempt to articulate all required or proscribed behavior, it does seek to assist in such judgment by providing the following guidelines.

1.  All use of the Internet, electronic services or any telecommunications network must be support of educational objectives or research.

2.  Any electronic mail accounts shall be used only by the authorized owner of the account. Account owners are ultimately responsible for all activity under their account.

3.  All communications and information accessible via a network should be assumed to be private.

4.  Any use of the district's computing resources or networks for illegal or inappropriate purposes accessing materials that are objectionable in a public school environment, or supporting such activities, is prohibited. Language that is deemed to be vulgar is also prohibited. Illegal activities shall be defined as a violation of the intended use of the service or network. Inappropriate use shall be defined as a violation of the intended use of the service or network. Objectionable is defined as materials that are identified as such by the rules and policies of the Board of Education that relate to curriculum materials and textbook adoption.

5.  Any use of telecommunication opportunities for commercial purposes financial gain, product advertisement, political lobbying, or attempt to disrupt the use of the services by others, is prohibited.

6.  The Board of Education has no control of the information on the Internet. Other sites accessible via the Internet may contain material that is illegal, defamatory, inaccurate, or potentially offensive to some people.

7.  Violations of the provisions stated in this policy may result in suspension or revocation of access privileges to the Internet, electronic services or district networks.

The Superintendent shall identify one administrator as the "District Internet Administrator" who will have responsibility for implementing this policy, establishing procedures, and supervising access privileges.

Guidelines for Student Use

Student use of electronic services is considered to be a privilege.  Students at the elementary level may use telecommunications or the Internet only when supervised by a teacher or teacher aide. Guidelines for the use of these electronic services by elementary students will be developed by the District Internet Administrator.

Students in grades 6-12 who wish to use electronic services and networks that are available to them may do so provided that they:

1.  Read and agree to the Acceptable Use Policy;

2.  Sign Internet Use Agreement" (contract);

3.  Obtain the signature of one parent/guardian (if under the age of l8) on the contract;

4.  Have at least one teacher sign the contract form as a sponsor; and

5.  Submit the completed contract to the designated person in each building.

Any parent or student who wishes to appeal any decision relative to Acceptable Use Policy should contact the District Internet Administrator.

Legal Reference:   Connecticut General Statutes

51a-182b Harassment in the first degree: Class D Felony (as amended by PA 95-143)

20 U.S.C. Section 6777, No Child Left Behind Act

20 U.S.C. 254 Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000

47 U.S.C. Children’s Online Protection Act of 1998

Policy adopted:

6141.321

Agreement

Instruction

Telecommunications/Internet - Acceptable Use

____________________ PUBLIC SCHOOLS

____________________, CONNECTICUT

Internet Use Agreement

Please read this document carefully before signing.

Internet access is now available to students and teachers in the School District.

The Board of Education is pleased to bring this access to _________________ and believes the Internet offers vast, diverse, and unique resources to both students and teachers. Our goal in providing this service to teaches and students is to promote educational excellence in schools by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication.

The Internet is an electronic highway connecting thousands of computers all over the world and millions of individual subscribers. Students and teachers have access to:

1)  electronic mail communication with people all over the world;

2)  information and news from NASA as well as the opportunity to correspond with the scientists at NASA and other research institutions;

3)  public domain software and shareware of all type;

4)  discussion groups on a plethora of topics ranging from Chinese culture to the environment to music to politics; and

5)  access to many University Library Catalogs, the Library of Congress and ERIC.

With access to computers and people all over the world also comes the availability of material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting. The School District has taken precautions to restrict access to controversial materials. However, on a global network it is impossible to control all materials and an industrious user may discover controversial information. We firmly believe that the valuable information and interaction available on this worldwide network far outweighs the possibility that users may procure material that is not consistent with the educational goals of the district.

Internet access is coordinated through a complex association of government agencies, and regional and state networks. In addition, the smooth operation of the network relies upon the proper conduct of the end users who must adhere to strict guidelines. These guidelines are provided here so that you are aware of the responsibilities you are about to acquire. In general this requires efficient, ethical and legal utilization of the network resources. If a district user violates any of these provisions, his or her privileges/account will be terminated and future access could possibly be denied. The signature(s) at the end of this document is (are) legally binding and indicates the party (parties) who signed has (have) read the terms and conditions carefully and understand(s) their significance.

l)  Acceptable Use - The purpose of the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), which is the backbone network to the Internet, is to support research and education in and among academic institutions in the United States by providing access to unique resources and the opportunity for collaborative work. The use of telecommunications/an electronic mail account must be in support of education and research and consistent with the educational objectives of the School District. Use of other organizations' networks or computing resources must comply with the rules appropriate for that network. Transmission of any material in violation of any United States or state regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material threatening or obscene material, or material protected by trade secret. Use for commercial activities, product advertisement or political lobbying is prohibited.

2)  Privileges - The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. (Each student who uses the Internet or who receives an account will be part of a discussion with a district faculty member pertaining to the proper use of the network.) System administrators will deem what is inappropriate use and the decision is final. Also, the system administrators may close an account at any time as required. The administration, faculty, and staff may request the District Internet administrator to deny, revoke, or suspend specific user accounts.

3)  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 get abusive in your messages to others.

b.  Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language. Illegal activities are strictly forbidden.

c.  Do not reveal your personal address or phone number or those of students or colleagues.

d.  Note that electronic (e-mail) is not guaranteed to be private. People who operate the system do 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 such a way that you would disrupt the use of the network by other users.

f.  All communications and information accessible via the network should be assumed to be private property.

4)  The School 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 such as loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by negligence, errors or omissions.  The district specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy of quality of information obtained from the Internet.

5)  Security - Security on any computer system is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users. If you feel you can identify a security problem on the Internet, you must notify a system administrator or your District Internet Administrator. Do not demonstrate the problem to other users. 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 or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access to Internet.

6)  Vandalism - Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user, the Internet, or any of the above listed agencies or other networks that are connected to the NSFNET Internet backbone. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses. If there is any cost involved in repairing such vandalism, the cost will be assumed by the parent/guardian or the student if he/she is 18 years or older.

________________ Public Schools

Internet Use Agreement

Internet access is now available to students and teachers in the School District.

The Board of Education is pleased to bring this access to ________________ and believes the Internet offers vast, diverse, and unique resources to both students and teachers. Our goal in providing this service to teachers and students is to promote educational excellence in schools by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication.

STUDENT

I understand and will abide by the above Internet Use Agreement. I further understand that any violation of the regulations above is unethical and may constitute a criminal offense. Should I commit any violation, my access privileges may be revoked, school disciplinary action may be taken, and/or appropriate legal action.

___________________________________________________________________

Student Signature                                                                                    Date

__________________________________________________________________

School                                                                                                     Grade

PARENT OR GUARDIAN

As the parent or guardian of this student, I have read the Internet Use Agreement. I understand that this access is designed for educational purposes. The School District has taken precautions to eliminate controversial material. However, I also recognize it is impossible for the district to restrict access to all controversial materials and I will not hold them responsible for materials acquired on the network. Further, I accept full responsibility for supervision if and when my child's use is not in a school setting. I hereby give permission for my child to access the Internet, to have an account and certify that the information contained on this form is correct.

________________________________________________________________________

Parent or Guardian's Name (Please Print)

________________________________________________________________________

Signature                                                                                                 Date

SPONSORING TEACHER

I have read the Internet Use Agreement and agree to review this agreement with the student. Because the student may use the network for individual work or in the context of another class, I cannot be held responsible for the student use of the network. As the sponsoring teacher, I do agree to instruct the student on acceptable use of the network and proper network etiquette.

________________________________________________________________________

Teacher's Name (please print)

________________________________________________________________________

Signature                                                                                                  Date: