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Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools
Network and Internet Acceptable
Use Policy
To enhance the educational
experience of students the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools have implemented an
extensive computer network, and contracted high-speed, redundant access to the
Internet for all schools.
The District’s experience with the use of
technology has been very positive and the vast majority of students use the
system appropriately; however, inherent in the use of computer networks and the
Internet is the potential for misuse and abuse. This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
is reviewed and approved by the School Committee annually to comply with
existing law and balance the desire to use technology with the need to protect
the District from unnecessary liability.
The Network and Internet AUP consists of two
parts: 1) the statement of terms and conditions of network and Internet use that
outlines the acceptable uses, rules of behavior, and access privileges.
Penalties for violations of the policy, including security violations and
vandalism of the system, are outlined, as are guidelines for the protection of
student privacy; 2) the User and Parent/Guardian Contract is a written
agreement, signed by students and parents/guardian.
No student will be permitted
to use the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools Network or Internet connection
without the student and parents/guardians signing and submitting the User
Contract.
Statement of Terms and
Conditions
1. Network and Internet
access is a privilege, not a right. The use of these tools must be consistent
with the educational objectives of the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools.
All files and messages
created on school equipment or messages sent or retrieved over the network or
Internet, are the property of Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools. Electronic mail
messages are also the property of the school department and should not be
considered confidential, consistent with the Electronic Communications Privacy
Act. Copies of all information created, sent or retrieved are stored on the
school department’s back-up tapes. Each month student email accounts are
randomly selected in the Middle School and High School and reviewed by
Administrators to ensure the email system is being used for its intended
purpose. File and web servers are regularly scanned for inappropriate
materials. The school department reserves the right to access and monitor all
messages and files on the network as it deems necessary and appropriate in the
ordinary course of its business for purposes including, but not limited to,
ensuring proper use of resources and conducting routine network maintenance.
Where appropriate, communications including text and images may be disclosed to
law enforcement or other third parties without prior consent of the sender or
receiver.
2. Abuse may result in
suspension or termination of access privileges and may also result in other
disciplinary action consistent with the disciplinary policies of the
Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools. In addition, if such conduct constitutes a
violation of law, criminal prosecution may result.
Abuse includes, but is not
limited to, the following conduct:
a) Intentionally uploading,
downloading, posting, e-mailing, or otherwise transmitting
unlawful and/or inappropriate information on a system.
b) Intentionally uploading,
downloading, posting, e-mailing, or otherwise transmitting
profane, vulgar, threatening, defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, harassing or
otherwise objectionable or criminal language in a public or private message.
c) Intentionally uploading,
downloading, posting, e-mailing, or otherwise transmitting
information that would likely result in the loss of a recipient’s work or
system.
d) Bulk e-mailing to address
lists, directories, or conferences without authorization.
e) While limited use of
e-mail for personal communications is considered acceptable, provided it does
not interrupt class work, the content of these e-mails must comply with the
acceptable standards set forth in this document. All electronic information,
sent or received, is the property of the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools and is
subject to review at any time.
f) Participating in other
types of use which would cause congestion or interference of the networks or
interfere with the work of others – including, but not limited to playing online
games, downloading games, downloading music, streaming audio or video, or uploading,
posting, emailing, or otherwise transmitting, or posting links to any content
that facilitates hacking. All of these activities disrupt or diminish network
bandwidth that is then denied to the student or staff member pursuing
appropriate educational activities.
g) Using the network or
Internet in a manner which would violate any U. S. or state law. This includes,
but is not limited to: uploading and downloading copyrighted material or
threatening material, spreading computer viruses, or attempting to gain
unauthorized access to system programs or computer equipment, including attempts
to override, or to encourage others to override, any firewalls or other security
techniques on the network, including the creation of proxy server connections.
h)
Uploading, posting, e-mailing, otherwise
transmitting, or posting links to any material that contains software viruses,
worms, trojan horses, time bombs, trap doors, keyboard recorders or any other
computer code, files or programs or repetitive requests for information designed
to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or
hardware or telecommunications equipment or to diminish the quality of,
interfere with the performance of, or impair the functionality of the
Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools Network.
i) Intentionally accessing, uploading,
posting, e-mailing, otherwise transmitting, or posting links to any materials
that are racially or ethnically offensive.
j) Intentionally accessing,
uploading, posting, e-mailing, otherwise
transmitting, or posting links to obscene
or sexually explicit materials, including but not limited to, sexually explicit
images, messages, cartoons, jokes, and audio files.
k) Intentionally revealing
one’s own personal address or telephone number, as well as another person’s
personal address, telephone number, or other personally identifying information.
l) Intentionally
disseminating network login information such as user passwords. This includes
revealing one’s own or another student’s network or email passwords to a third
party.
m) Intentionally accessing
web sites for the purpose of plagiarizing papers is a violation of the student
code of conduct and will be dealt with consistent with existing disciplinary
guidelines relating to plagiarism.
n) Attempting to harm,
modify or destroy data of another user.
o) Exhibiting any other
action whatsoever which would in any way subject the user or the Dover-Sherborn
Regional Schools to any civil or criminal action.
p) Discussing highly
sensitive or confidential school department information in E-mail
communications.
3. Dover-Sherborn Regional
Schools assumes no responsibility for:
a) Any unauthorized charges
of fees, including telephone charges, long distance charges, per minute
surcharges and/or equipment or line costs.
b) Any financial obligations
arising out of unauthorized use of the system for the purchase of products or
services.
c) Any cost, liability or
damages caused by a user’s violation of these guidelines.
d) Any information or
materials that are transferred through the Internet, including the receipt of
any such information and materials by a student.
4. Dover-Sherborn Regional
Schools makes no guarantee, implied or otherwise, regarding the reliability of
the data connection. Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools shall not be liable for any
loss or corruption of data.
5. The District will comply
with the Child Internet Protection Act of 2000, which places a duty on the
District to protect students from inappropriate material on the Internet, in
Email, and chat rooms, among other things. For this reason the District takes
many precautionary measures to protect children from exposure to inappropriate
materials, including filtering student access to the Internet through the use of
firewalls and filtering software. This method is very effective, but it is
impossible to provide 100% assurance that students will not encounter some
inappropriate material while using District resources. The District also blocks
access to free email systems such as Yahoomail, MSN Hotmail, and AOL because the
contents of email within those systems cannot be filtered or monitored.
Students are provided FirstClass email accounts by the District to foster
collaboration and communication. This system can be filtered to a limited degree
and monitored.
6. Dover-Sherborn Regional
Schools strongly condemns the illegal distribution (otherwise known as pirating)
of software; making available copyrighted
software or other content that has had the copyright protection removed; making
available serial numbers for software that can be used to illegally validate or
register software; making available tools that can be used for no purpose other
than for "cracking" software or other copyrighted content.
Any users caught engaging in
such activity shall immediately have their accounts permanently revoked. All
users should be aware that software piracy is a federal offense and is
punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
7. Many kinds of materials
can be found on the Internet. If a user finds materials which are inappropriate
while using a Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools account, he or she shall refrain
from downloading this material and shall not identify or share the material. It
should be understood that the transfer of certain kinds of materials is illegal
and punishable by fine or imprisonment. Students who encounter inappropriate
material must notify appropriate staff or faculty of the encounter so that
action can be taken to prevent its further viewing.
8.
The publishing of materials to web pages is increasingly common in the
Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools. All students are permitted to publish an
electronic portfolio of their work to an Intranet web site that can be viewed
only within the school district network. A student’s work can be further
published to the Internet through an intermediary teacher/sponsor. This opens
the material up for viewing to the wider Internet. This is commonly desired for
students to share with peers in other towns, states, or countries or to submit
an electronic portfolio to a college admissions program. The following
guidelines will be applied to the publishing of student web pages to the
Internet as well as to other web pages on the District web site:
a.
The work will appear with a
copyright notice prohibiting the copying of such work without express written
permission. The following copyright statements will appear at the bottom of all
web sites “© 2003 Dover-Sherborn Regional
School
District, All Rights Reserved”. That
line will be hyperlinked to the District Copyright page that states the
following: “The contents
of this web site, the
Dover-Sherborn
Regional School District name and logo, are the property of the Dover-Sherborn
Regional School District School Committee. They may not be used or reproduced
without the owner's express permission.”
b.
A web site may have the student’s
full name appear. However, no further identifying information such as home
address, phone number, or student email address will appear on the page, and no
pictures will appear beyond general group pictures that do not identify
individuals consistent with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
If a contact email is needed for the site the intermediary teacher/sponsor’s
email address should be used.
c.
Students should be sensitive to the
information they include on a web site that is going to be published to the
Internet. Some papers written for English classes often have a very personal
tone. Including this type of material on a student web site is discouraged.
d.
In accordance with the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), no web site will display any information
about a student’s disability without the express written permission of the
student and parent/guardian.
e.
Links to non-District web sites
should not hyperlink to objectionable material. The following disclaimer should
appear below the links section of a web site: “Linked sites are not under the control of the school district,
and the district is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any
link contained in a linked site. The link is provided only as a convenience, and
its inclusion implies no endorsement.”
f.
All web pages created by students
and student organizations on the district’s network will be subject to treatment
as district-sponsored publications. Accordingly, the district reserves the
right to exercise editorial control over such publications.
9. Dover-Sherborn Regional
Schools’ administration reserves the right to amend this policy at any time
without prior notice.
Approved at
the Joint/Union School Committee
4/28/03
Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools
User Contract
I
understand and will abide by the Network and Internet Acceptable Use Policy. I
have received a copy of the Policy and am aware there is a copy of the document
maintained on the Dover-Sherborn web site. I further understand that any
violation by me of the terms of the Policy may result in the suspension or
revocation of my Network and/or Internet privileges and may also result in
school disciplinary action. If a violation constitutes a criminal offense,
appropriate legal action may be taken. I further agree to indemnify the
Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools for any losses, costs or damages, including
reasonable attorney’s fees, incurred by the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools
relating to or arising out of any violation by me of the Network and Internet
Acceptable Use Policy.
Name
(please print)
___________________________________________________________________
Date
_____________ Signature: _________________________________________
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Parent/Guardian Contract (for Users Under 18 Years of Age)
As
parent/guardian of the above-named student, I have read the Network and Internet
Acceptable Use Policy. I understand that this access is designed for educational
purposes. I recognize that some controversial materials exist on the Internet. I
have discussed with my son/daughter his/her responsibilities regarding the use
of the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools’ Network and Internet access. My
son/daughter understands and agrees to follow the Network and Internet
Acceptable Use Policy of the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools. I understand that
any violation by my son/daughter of the terms of the Network and Internet
Acceptable Use Policy may result in the suspension or revocation of his/her
Network and/or Internet privileges and may also result in school disciplinary
action. I will not hold the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools liable or
responsible for any materials my son/daughter accesses, acquires or transmits
via the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools’ computer network and/or Internet
connection. I hereby give permission for my son/daughter to use the Network and
Internet at school. I further agree to indemnify the Dover-Sherborn Regional
Schools for any losses, costs or damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees,
incurred by the Dover-Sherborn Regional Schools relating to or arising out of
any violation by my son/daughter of the Network and Internet Acceptable Use
Policy.
Parent/Guardian Name (please print)
_______________________________________________________________
Date
_________ Signature: _________________________________________
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