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POLICY STATEMENT:
The primary goal of the technology environment is to support the educational and instructional endeavors of students and employees of Hoover City Schools. Use of any and all technology resources is a privilege
and not a right.
INTRODUCTION:
To ensure that students receive a quality education and that employees are able to work in a professional
and intellectually stimulating environment, it is the policy of the Hoover City Schools to provide all students and employees with access to a variety of technology resources. All Hoover students and staff must acknowledge and adhere to this policy.
The creation of a large and varied technology environment demands that technology usage be conducted in legally and ethically appropriate ways, consistent with the Mission Statement and instructional goals of the Hoover City Schools. We recognize that the use of technology always requires attempts to balance the benefits against the possibilities of danger, security problems, and abuse. Rapid changes in technology and growth in the range of content available makes this a constant challenge.
Thus, it is the intention of the Hoover City Schools that all technology resources will be used in accordance with any and all school system policies and procedures as well as local, state, and federal laws and/or guidelines governing the usage of technology and its component parts. Additionally, it is implied that all students and employees of the Hoover City Schools will use the provided technology resources so as not to waste them, abuse them, interfere with or cause harm to other individuals, institutions, or companies. The administrators of each school will be responsible for establishing specific practices to enforce this policy at individual schools.
Some of these policies pertain to technology equipment personally owned by school employees and students and brought into school facilities. All personal technologies used on any Hoover campus
are subject to this policy and may be used only if such usage is in compliance with all school system policies, procedures, and guidelines as well as local, state, and federal laws.
All electronic content stored on any external storage medium or personal off-site storage location that is brought to or accessed from a Hoover City Schools campus is subject to all school system policies and guidelines, as well as local, state, and federal laws.
Employees are prohibited from emailing outside the school system or storing/saving on external storage devices or portable devices that do not remain on campus, electronic copies of student or staff personal information. This information includes, but is not limited to data containing social security numbers, information protected by FERPA, and any other sensitive and/or protected information. In the event that this type of information is stored on a portable or external device and said device is lost or stolen, the
Chief Technology Officer should be notified immediately.
Any questions about this policy, its interpretation, or specific circumstances shall be directed to the
Chief Technology Officer before proceeding.
Violations of this policy will be handled in a manner consistent with comparable situations requiring disciplinary and/or legal action.
Hoover Schools Technology department issues further specific guidelines detailing appropriate and legal use of copyright, email, technology resource purchasing and disposal, web page creation, and the publication of student work. These guidelines are updated as best practices dictate and as case law emerges. These guidelines are considered appendices of Hoover City Board of Education Technology Usage Policy. Students and staff are expected to be aware of and follow the guidelines which are updated annually on the Hoover City Schools web site Technology page and referenced in the teacher handbook and the Code of Student Conduct booklet. Additionally, training will be provided to staff and students.
I. ACCESS:
A. The use of all Hoover City Schools technology resources is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate or suspected inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges, pending investigation. Moreover, users of Hoover City Schools’ technology must be aware that Hoover City Schools cannot assume any liability arising out of the illegal or inappropriate use of technology resources.
B. Users should not purchase or dispose of software, hardware, peripherals, or other technology related devices without consulting the technology staff. Regardless of purchase date, location or funding source, all personnel should adhere to the Electronics Purchasing and Disposal Guidelines in regard to all purchases and disposals.
C. Individuals may use only accounts, files, software, and/or other technology resources that are assigned to, provided, or approved for him/her.
D. Individuals identified as a real or suspected security risk will be denied access.
E. Any use of technology resources that reduces the efficiency of use for others will be considered a
violation of this policy.
F. Individuals must not attempt to disrupt any computer services or data by engaging in inappropriate activities. Examples include, but are not limited to, spreading viruses, spamming, excess network and/or Internet activity, or modification of equipment or infrastructure.
G. Individuals must not attempt to modify technology resources, utilities, and configurations, or change the restrictions associated with his/her accounts, or attempt to breach any technology resources security system or filtering system, either with or without malicious intent.
H. Personal technology-related devices such as, but not limited to laptops, PEDs, smart-phones, iPods, etc. used on school grounds are subject to all items covered in this policy and other applicable published guidelines. The user should not access local area network or wide area network resources without the explicit permission of the technology staff. Public Internet access is available for visiting devices and is subject to the conditions outlined in this policy and all other school system policies and guidelines, as well as local, state, and federal laws.
I. The district Technology Director, local school Technology Coordinators and/or school system administrators will determine when inappropriate use has occurred, and they have the right to deny, revoke, or suspend specific user accounts.
II. PRIVACY:
A. To maintain network integrity and to insure that the network is being used responsibly, local school Technology Coaches, Technicians and/or other designated technology staff reserve the right to inspect any and all data, including data stored by individual users on individual school or personal devices.
Users should be aware that activities may be monitored at any time, without notice.
B. Users should not have any expectation that their use of technology resources, including files stored by them on the Hoover City Schools' network, will be private and will be secure from access by others. Reasonable steps will be taken to maintain the security of technology resources, but no assurance can be given that penetration of such security will not occur.
C. Because communications on the Internet are public in nature, all users should be careful to maintain appropriate and responsible communications.
D. Hoover City Schools cannot guarantee the privacy, security, or confidentiality of any information sent or received, either via the Internet, an email facility, telephone, or otherwise.
E. Users are encouraged to avoid storing personal and/or private information on the district and/or schools technology resources.
III. DATA SECURITY:
A. Students and staff are expected to follow all local, state and federal laws and system policy regarding the protection of student and staff confidential data.
B. Users should not have any expectation that their usage of such resources is private. Reasonable efforts will be taken to maintain security of technology resources, but Hoover City Schools cannot ensure that such security will not be penetrated or breached and cannot assume any liability arising out of any such penetration or breach of security.
C. Individuals must take all reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorized access to accounts and data and any other unauthorized usage within and outside the Hoover City Schools. Any such unauthorized usage shall be reported immediately to the local school Technology Coach, Technician, and/or the district Chief Technology Officer.
D. All employees shall be responsible for reporting suspected or actual breaches of data security whether due to inappropriate actions, carelessness, loss/theft of devices or failures of technical security measures.
E. Individuals may not attempt to log into the network using any network account and/or password other than the login(s) assigned to him/her. Individuals may not allow someone to use his/her network account and/or password to access the network, email, or the Internet.
F. Reasonable steps and procedures will be taken to secure student records, media center collections, child nutrition, and accounting information, and such information shall be backed up in a routine manner, with such information being maintained in secure offsite storage.
G. The system-wide technology staff does perform routine backups in an effort to assure continuity of business. There can be no assurance, however, that technology resources will be available within a particular time frame following an outage. There is no guarantee that information that existed prior to an outage, malfunction, or deletion, can be recovered. Users are expected to maintain and back up their critical files and data.
IV. COPYRIGHT:
A. Illegal copies of software may not be created or used on school equipment.
B. Any questions about copyright provisions should be directed to the district Chief Technology Officer, local school Technology Coach, or local school media specialist.
C. Legal and ethical practices of appropriate use of technology resources will be taught to students and employees in the system (i.e. as part of the Technology Education Curriculum, during lab orientation, network orientation, or faculty meetings, etc). Again, all questions regarding legal and ethical practices of appropriate use should be directed to the local school Technology
Coach and/or district Chief Technology Officer.
D. Copyright is implied for all information (text, data, and graphics) published on the Internet. Student and employee web page authors will be held responsible for the contents of their pages. Do not "borrow" icons, sounds, or graphics from other pages without documented permission. It is the student’s or employee’s responsibility to secure proper usage permission.
E. Duplication of any copyrighted software is prohibited unless specifically allowed in the license agreement and, then, should occur only under the supervision and direction of the technology staff.
F. A backup copy of all purchased software programs should be made and, thus, become the working copy.
G. All original copies of software programs, including those purchased with departmental funds, will be stored in a secure place.
H. For security and insurance purposes, the local school Technology Coordinators, technology aides, and/or the district level technology staff will be the only people with access to original software disks at a given school location, with the exception of CD-ROMs required when accessing the program. System-wide software originals will be housed at the district Chief Technology Officer’s office.
I. In almost every case, if a single copy of a given software package is purchased, it may only be used on one computer at a time. Multiple loading or "loading the contents of one disk onto multiple computers," (1987 Statement on Software Copyright) is NOT allowed.
J. If more than one copy of a software package is needed, a site license, lab pack, network version, or Internet portal license must be purchased. The district Chief Technology Officer and/or local Technology Coach and the person requesting the software will be responsible for determining how many copies should be purchased.
K. Either the district Chief Technology Officer or the local school Technology Coach is authorized to sign license agreements for a school within the system. Copies of any system-wide license agreements must be signed by the district Technology Coordinator and/or Superintendent and distributed to all schools that will use the software.
L. The district technology staff or local Technology Coach is responsible for installation of all software in use on the wide area network, local area network and/or individual workstations/laptops/PEDs within the Hoover City Schools. Technology lab aides or other designated staff may install software on local workstations with permission by the district Chief Technology Officer and/or local school Technology Coach.
M. Written permission to post student work on the internet is obtained through the Hoover City Schools’ Technology Usage Agreement.
V. EMAIL:
A. Hoover City Schools provide access to email accounts for all employees, long-term substitutes, and, on a limited basis, for students. Email accounts may be granted for school related organizations or classes with designated employee sponsors.
B. Hoover City Schools make a reasonable effort to maintain (backup) email for normal business operations. Backups are maintained for a maximum of 13 days.
C. Technical support is provided for Hoover City Schools email accounts used to conduct educational and/or instructional business.
D. Personal use of email is permitted as long as it does not violate Hoover City Schools' policy and/or adversely affect others or the speed of the network.
E. Use of Hoover City Schools’ email accounts for harassing or threatening is strictly prohibited.
F. Hoover City Schools' email accounts may not be used for political activity, personal gain, commercial purposes, or profit.
G. When employing email, all employees are responsible for maintaining professionalism at all times. Avoid impulsive and informal communication. Employees must be constantly mindful of the need to review carefully and reconsider email communications before responding to and/or sending email. As a general rule, the content of an email should be acceptable to a general audience.
H. Hoover City Schools' email accounts may not be used for attempting to send or sending anonymous messages.
I. Hoover City Schools' email accounts may not be used for sending mass emails unless to parent lists or for other for educational purposes.
J. Hoover City Schools' email accounts may not be used for posting or forwarding other user's personal communication without the author's consent.
K. Because email is not securely transmitted, discretion must be used when sending, or encouraging the receipt of email containing sensitive information about students, families, school system employees, or any individuals. There can be no assurance that email will be confidential and/or private.
L. There is a system imposed limit on storage for email accounts. Users meeting or exceeding the limit will be unable to send or receive emails.
M. Users required to maintain email for more than 180 days should print said emails.
N. The technology staff, Hoover City Schools’ administrative staff, or Hoover City Board of Education do not support or advocate the use of email archives.
O. Incoming and outgoing email is filtered by the district for inappropriate content. However, no filtering system is foolproof, and material deemed inappropriate by individual users may be transmitted in spite of filtering. Hoover City Schools cannot assume any liability for such breaches of the filter.
P. Email accounts will automatically expire on the last full day of employment.
Q. At the discretion of the Chief Technology Officer, email accounts may be locked without notice.
VI. INTERNET USE:
A. The intent of the Hoover City Schools is to provide access to resources available via the Internet with the understanding that staff and students will access and use information that is appropriate for their various curricula.
B. All school rules and guidelines for appropriate technology usage, as well as local, state, and federal laws apply to usage of the Internet.
C. Teachers should screen all Internet resources before projecting them in the classroom.
D. Students gain access to the Internet by agreeing to conduct themselves in a considerate and responsible manner and by providing written permission from their parents.
E. Students are allowed to conduct independent research on the Internet upon the receipt of the appropriate permission forms.
F. Permission is not transferable, and therefore, may not be shared. Existing permission forms are valid until new forms are received. Students are required to have new forms signed when changing schools.
G. Students who are allowed independent access to the Internet have the capability of accessing material that has not been screened.
H. Internet activity can and will be monitored, along with other aspects of technology usage.
I. Internet access for all users is filtered, through one central point, by URL (web address) and by IP address and may be filtered by keyword.
J. URLs (web addresses) and IP addresses may be added to or deleted from the filtered list by the Chief Technology Officer.
K. Staff members may request to review filtered categories. Users requesting sites for blocking or unblocking, must list specific URLs.
L. Successful or unsuccessful attempts to bypass the Internet filter by using proxies or other resources are a violation of this policy.
VII. WEB PUBLISHING:
A. The Hoover City Schools' web site is limited to usage associated with activities of Hoover City Schools. The web site cannot be used for profit, for commercial purposes, to express personal opinions, or to editorialize.
B. The Technology Staff reserves the right to reject all or part of a proposed or posted web page.
C. All pages posted on the Hoover City Schools' web site must be designed/written with approved software.
D. It must be easy to determine the name or title of the person responsible for the content on each web page or sections of web pages housed on the Hoover City Schools’ website.
E. A staff member’s primary web page should be housed on the Hoover City Schools’ web site.
F. Links from pages housed on the Hoover City Schools’ website to personal blogs, social networking sites, advertisements unrelated to school system business, and/or personal web pages are prohibited.
G. Student pictures or other personally identifiable information can be used in accordance with the signed “Hoover City Schools Technology Usage Agreement” and in accordance with FERPA guidelines.
H. Student posting of personally identifying information of any kind on the Hoover City Schools’ website or linking to personal information from the Hoover City Schools’ website is prohibited. Personally identifying information includes home and/or school address, work address, home and/or school phone numbers, full name, social security number, etc.
I. Individual students may be identified by first name and first letter of last name unless permission to do so is denied by the parent or guardian in writing on the Technology Resource Agreement form. Full names, for secondary students only, may only be used in reporting student participation in school sponsored extracurricular activities, achievements, and other positive recognitions.
J. Caution should be used when photographs of any students are included on web pages. Group photographs without names are preferred for all students. In some cases, use of first names, last initial is appropriate for secondary students. Photographs of individual secondary students, with full names, may be used to recognize student achievements, and other positive recognitions.
K. No written permission is required to list faculty/staff and their school contact information (phone extension, email address, etc.)
L. Permission for publishing employee photographs on the Hoover City Schools’ website is assumed unless the employee specifies otherwise in writing to his or her direct supervisor.
M. Infringement of copyright laws, obscene, harassing or threatening materials on web sites are against the law and are subject to prosecution.
VIII. MICROSOFT LIVE@EDU Usage
The basic purpose for you to use Microsoft Live@EDU is for education. This agreement states Hoover City Schools’ students and employees will not use Microsoft Live@EDU for personal emails and social networking. Also this agreement states that Hoover City Schools’ students and employees will be polite and respectful of other students, teachers, staff and administrators. You will also respect students' privacy and security when using Microsoft Live@EDU.
A. Personal Responsibility: Hoover City Schools’ students and employees will accept personal responsibility for reporting any misuse of Microsoft Live@EDU to my teacher.
B. Acceptable Use: The use of an assigned account will be in support of education and research and will support the educational goals and objectives of the Hoover City Schools. Hoover City Schools’ students and employees are personally responsible for this provision at all times when using Microsoft Live@EDU. In addition, I will abide by the following:
· WILL NOT USE Microsoft Live@EDU to post any web pages for commercial activities, product advertisement, or political advocacy.
· WILL NOT USE Microsoft Live@EDU to post any obscene, discriminatory or offence material. All material posted will be in keeping with school assignments.
· UNDERSTAND that school administration has the right to monitor all postings including emails.
C. Privileges: Hoover City Schools’ students and employees understand that the use of Microsoft Live@EDU is a privilege, not a right, and that inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges and possible disciplinary action in accordance with school policy. The system administrator(s) may close an account at any time deemed necessary.
D. Network Etiquette and Privacy: Hoover City Schools’ students and employees understand and will abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These rules include (but are not limited to) the following:
· BEING POLITE: Never sending or encouraging others to send abusive messages.
· USING APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE: Hoover City Schools’ students and employees understand that they ar a representative of our school and district on the Internet and will use polite and appropriate language.
· PRIVACY: Hoover City Schools’ students and employees will not reveal my home address or personal phone number or the addresses and phone numbers of other students. While using Internet services through Microsoft Live@EDU, Hoover City Schools’ students and employees will not reveal my e-mail address or the e-mail address of others.
· ELECTRONIC MAIL: Inappropriate language or harassment will result in loss of system privileges and/or other disciplinary measures. By signing this agreement, Hoover City Schools’ students and employees I affirm the following:
a) Hoover City Schools’ students and employees understand that e-mail sent via Microsoft Live@EDU must be school related and must abide by the guidelines outlined here. Hoover City Schools’ students and employees will immediately report any threatening, obscene, or harassing e-mail to school my teacher(s).
b)Hoover City Schools’ students and employees understand that they will not share their Microsoft Live@EDU password with others and that they are responsible for all e-mail sent through my account.
c) Hoover City Schools’ students and employees understand that e-mail sent through this account may be scanned for content violating the terms of this agreement and that suspect e-mail may be reviewed by school administration.
E. Vandalism: Any attempt to harm or destroy data of another user or student will result in the loss of computer services and disciplinary action.
VIIII. EXAMPLES OF INAPPROPRIATE USE OF RESOURCES:
This list is not all-inclusive, but is intended to provide general guidance. Anything that would be considered inappropriate in "paper form" is also considered inappropriate in electronic form. Information, such as but not limited to STI data, accessed through school system technologies may not be used for any private business activity. The following are examples of inappropriate activities when using any Hoover City Schools’ network, email system, hardware, software, technology service, and/or Internet access:
A. Using another user's password or attempting to discover another user's password
B. Sharing passwords
C. Trespassing in another user's files, folders, home directory, or work
D. Saving information on any network drive or directory other than your personal home directory or a teacher-specified and approved location
E. Downloading, installing, or copying software of any kind onto a workstation, laptop, home directory, or any network drive (except for approved updates)
F. Harassing, insulting, embarrassing, or attacking others via technology resources
G. Damaging any technology resources, including, but not limited to, printers, telephones, computers, computer systems, or computer networks (this includes changing workstation configurations such as screen savers, backgrounds, printers, BIOS information, preset passwords, etc.)
H. Intentionally wasting limited resources such as Internet bandwidth, disk space and printing capacity
I. Accessing inappropriate material such as, but not limited to, digital cameras, flash drives, iPods,
cell phones, web sites, etc.
J. Accessing inappropriate material from web sites or attempting to bypass the Internet filter to access web sites that have been blocked (Examples: information that is violent; illegal; satanic; sexual; demeaning; racist; inflammatory; and/or categorized as a social networking, blogging, or journaling site, etc.)
K. Sending, displaying, or downloading offensive messages or pictures
L. Using obscene, racist, profane, discriminatory, threatening, or inflammatory language in a document, email, etc.
M. Using a digital camera, camera phone, or any other device capable of storing a still or video image to take inappropriate embarrassing pictures
N. Editing or modifying digital pictures with the intent to embarrass, harass or bully is prohibited.
O. Participating in unsupervised or non-instructional on-line chat rooms without the permission/supervision of an adult staff member
P. Posting any false or damaging information about other people, the school system, or other organizations
Q. Posting of any personal information
R. Broadcasting network messages or participating in sending/perpetuating chain letters
S. Violating copyright laws
T. Plagiarism of materials that are found on the Internet
U. Use of technology resources to create illegal materials (i.e. counterfeit money, fake identification, etc.)
V. Use of any Hoover City Schools Technology resource for personal gain, commercial or political purposes
W. Accessing any website or other resources by falsifying information
X. Downloading games or playing games on-line
Y. Streaming video or audio not related to the core business of the School System |