Procedure No. 5710P

 

Internet and Other Electronic Information Networks

Acceptable Use Guidelines

Networks

1. All district employees are authorized users of the network and are expected to abide by the acceptable-use guidelines. No staff member shall have unsupervised access to the internet and other electronic information networks without having signed and received approval in the form of an individual internet use agreement form which will be on file with the district.
2. All use of networks must be in support of education and research and consistent with the mission of Longview School District and Washington State K-20 Network. The district will continue to rely upon the use and implementation of the Skyward data system for district, student, and parental use.
3. The Longview School District retains the final authority on the assignment of all Internet and other network accounts.  Assignment of accounts will be limited to available resources and district priorities.
4. Any use of networks must be in conformity to law; commercial or for-profit purposes, including product advertising, is prohibited.
5. Any use of networks for religious purposes or political lobbying which is not related to classroom instructional goals or objectives is prohibited.
6. No use of networks shall serve to disrupt the use of the networks by others; hardware or software shall not be destroyed, modified, or abused in any way.
7. Malicious use of networks to develop programs that harass other users or unauthorized entry into a computer or computing networks and/or damage the software components of a computer or computing networks is prohibited.
8. Use of networks to transmit material likely to be offensive or objectionable to recipients is prohibited. Hate mail, harassment, discriminatory remarks, and other antisocial behaviors are expressly prohibited.
9. Use of networks to access, down load, or transmit obscene or pornographic material is prohibited. 
10. The networks shall not be used for disclosure and dissemination of personal information regarding students without authorization.

Security 

11. Network accounts are to be used only by authorized persons and for authorized purposes.  Users may not share their account number with another person or leave an “on-line” session unattended or unsupervised.
12. Users shall not seek information on, obtain copies of, or modify files, other data, or passwords belonging to other users, or misrepresent other users on networks.
13. Communications may not be encrypted to avoid security review.
14. Users should change passwords regularly, using combinations of letters and numbers and avoiding standard English words and names.
15. The illegal installation and/or use of copyrighted software on district computers is prohibited

E-mail

16. Diligent effort must be made to delete or archive internet e-mail daily from the personal mail directory to conserve file space.

General Use

17. No staff member shall allow students unsupervised access to the internet and other electronic information networks without ensuring that students have signed and received approval in the form of an individual internet use agreement form which will be on file with the district.
18. Nothing in these procedures is intended to preclude the supervised use of the networks by students while under the direction of a teacher or other approved user acting in conformity with district policy and procedure.

From time to time, Longview School District and Washington State K-20 Network will make determinations on whether specific uses of the networks are consistent with the procedures stated above. Longview School District reserves the right to monitor networks/internet/e-mail use and fileserver space utilization by users while respecting the privacy of user accounts. Longview School District reserves the right to remove a user account or to deny access to the networks to prevent further unauthorized activity. 

Violation of any of the conditions of use described here or in the electronic information networks may be cause for disciplinary action.

Appropriate Network Use

The district network includes wired and wireless computers and peripheral equipment, files and storage, e-mail and internet content (blogs, web sites, web mail, groups, wikis, etc.). The district reserves the right to prioritize the use of, and access to, the network.

All use of the network must support education and research and be consistent with the mission of the district.

Acceptable network use by district students and staff includes:

19. Creation of files, projects, videos, web pages and podcasts using network resources in support of educational research;
20. Participation in blogs, wikis, bulletin boards, social networking sites and groups and the creation of content for podcasts, e-mail and web pages that support educational research;
21. Staff use of the network for incidental personal use in accordance with all district policies and guidelines;
22. Connection of staff personal laptops to the district network after checking with superintendent or her designee to confirm that the laptop is equipped with up-to-date virus software, compatible network card and is configured properly. Connection of any personal electronic device is subject to all guidelines in this document.

Unacceptable network use by district students and staff includes but is not limited to:

23. Personal gain, commercial solicitation and compensation of any kind;
24. Liability or cost incurred by the district;
25. Downloading, installation and use of games, audio files, video files or other applications (including shareware or freeware) without permission or approval from the superintendent or designee;
26. Support or opposition for ballot measures, candidates and any other political activity;
27. Hacking, cracking, vandalizing, the introduction of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, time bombs and changes to hardware, software and monitoring tools;
28. Unauthorized access to other district computers, networks and information systems;
29. Cyber bullying, hate mail, defamation, harassment of any kind, discriminatory jokes and remarks;
30. Information posted, sent or stored online that could endanger others (e.g., bomb construction, drug manufacturing);
31. Accessing, uploading, downloading, storage and distribution of obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit material; and
32. Attaching unauthorized equipment to the district network. Any such equipment will be confiscated and destroyed.

The district will not be responsible for any damages suffered by any user, including but not limited to, loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or any other errors or omissions. The district will not be responsible for unauthorized financial obligations resulting from the use of, or access to, the district’s computer network or the Internet.

Internet Safety

Personal Information and Inappropriate Content:

34. Students and staff should not reveal personal information, including a home address and phone number, on web sites, blogs, podcasts, videos, wikis, e-mail or as content on any other electronic medium.
35. Students and staff should not reveal personal information about another individual on any electronic medium.
36. Student pictures or names may be published on any class, school or district web site consistent with district policy.
37. If students or staff encounter dangerous or inappropriate information or messages, they should notify the appropriate school authority.

Filtering and Monitoring

Filtering software is used to block or filter access to visual depictions that are obscene and all child pornography in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Other objectionable material could be filtered. The determination of what constitutes “other objectionable” material is a local decision.

38. Filtering software is not 100 percent effective. While filters make it more difficult for objectionable material to be received or accessed, filters are not a solution in themselves. Every user must take responsibility for his or her use of the network and Internet and avoid objectionable sites;
39. Any attempts to defeat or bypass the district’s internet filter or conceal internet activity are prohibited: proxies, https, special ports, modifications to district browser settings and any other techniques designed to evade filtering or enable the publication of inappropriate content;
40. E-mail inconsistent with the educational and research mission of the district will be considered SPAM and blocked from entering district e-mail boxes;
41. The district will provide appropriate adult supervision of internet use. The first line of defense in controlling access by minors to inappropriate material on the internet is deliberate and consistent monitoring of student access to district computers;
42. Staff members who supervise students, control electronic equipment or have occasion to observe student use of said equipment online, must make a reasonable effort to monitor the use of this equipment to assure that student use conforms to the mission and goals of the district; and
43. Staff must make a reasonable effort to become familiar with the internet and to monitor, instruct and assist effectively.

Copyright

Downloading, copying, duplicating and distributing software, music, sound files, movies, images or other copyrighted materials without the specific written permission of the copyright owner is generally prohibited. However, the duplication and distribution of materials for educational purposes are permitted when such duplication and distribution fall within the Fair Use Doctrine of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17, USC) and content is cited appropriately.

Network Security and Privacy

Network Security

Passwords are the first level of security for a user account. System logins and accounts are to be used only by the authorized owner of the account for authorized district purposes. Students and staff are responsible for all activity on their account and must not share their account password.

The following procedures are designed to safeguard network user accounts:

44. Change passwords according to district policy;
45. Do not use another user’s account;
46. Do not insert passwords into e-mail or other communications;
47. If you write down your user account password, keep it in a secure location;
48. Do not store passwords in a file without encryption;
49. Do not use the “remember password” feature of Internet browsers; and
50. Lock the screen, or log off, if leaving the computer.

Student Data is Confidential

District staff must maintain the confidentiality of student data in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

No Expectation of Privacy

The district provides the network system, e-mail and internet access as a tool for education and research in support of the district’s mission. The district reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review and store, without prior notice, information about the content and usage of:

51. The network;
52. User files and disk space utilization;
53. User applications and bandwidth utilization;
54. User document files, folders and electronic communications;
55. E-mail;
56. Internet access; and
57. Any and all information transmitted or received in connection with network and e-mail use.
58. No student or staff user should have any expectation of privacy when using the district’s network. The district reserves the right to disclose any electronic messages to law enforcement officials or third parties as appropriate. All documents are subject to the public records disclosure laws of the sate of Washington.

Archive and Backup

Backup is made of all district e-mail correspondence for purposes of public disclosure and disaster recovery. Barring power outage or intermittent technical issues, staff and student files are backed up on district servers nightly – Monday through Friday. Refer to the district retention policy for specific records retention requirements.

 

 

Cross Reference: Policy and Procedure 2022, Electronic Resources

 

Initially Adopted: February 13, 1995

Adopted: March 22, 2010