7540.04 - STAFF EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTABLE USE AND SAFETY

Cedar Springs Public School District

Administrative Guidelines

7540.04 - STAFF EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTABLE USE AND SAFETY

Staff members are authorized to use the Board's computers, laptops, tablets, personal communication devices (as defined by Policy 7530.02), network, and Internet connection and online educational services ("Education Technology" or "Ed-Tech") for educational and professional purposes. Use of the Education Technology is a privilege, not a right. Staff members must conduct themselves in a responsible, efficient, ethical, and legal manner. Unauthorized or inappropriate use of the Ed-Tech, including any violation of these guidelines, may result in cancellation of the privilege, disciplinary action consistent with the applicable collective bargaining agreement and Board policy, and/or civil or criminal liability. Prior to accessing the Education Technology, staff members must sign the Staff Education Technology Acceptable Use and Safety Agreement.

Smooth operation of the Board's Education Technology relies upon users adhering to the following guidelines. The guidelines outlined below are provided so that users are aware of their responsibilities.

	A.	Staff members are responsible for their behavior and communication on the Education Technology. All use of the Education Technology must be consistent with the educational mission and goals of the District.

	B.	Staff members may only access and use the Education Technology by using their assigned account and may only send school-related electronic communications using their District-assigned email addresses. Use of another person's account/address/password is prohibited. Staff members may not allow other users to utilize their passwords. Staff members are responsible for taking steps to prevent unauthorized access to their accounts by logging off or "locking" their computers/laptops/tablets/personal communication devices when leaving them unattended.

C.	Staff members may not intentionally seek information on, obtain copies of, or modify files, data or passwords belonging to other users, or misrepresent other users on the District’s network. Staff members may not intentionally disable any security features of the Education Technology.

D.	Staff members may not use the Education Technology to engage in "hacking" or other unlawful activities.

	1.	Slander and libel are terms defined specifically in law. Generally, slander is "a statement of fact which is false in some material respect and is communicated to a third person by words or gestures and has a tendency to harm a person's reputation," and libel is "a statement of fact which is false in some material respect and is communicated to a third person by printing, writing, signs, or pictures and has a tendency to harm a person's reputation." (M Civ. JI 118.01-118.02). Staff members shall not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization. Staff members are reminded that material distributed over the Internet is "public" to a degree no other school publication or utterance is. As such, any remark may be seen by literally millions of people and harmful and false statements will be viewed in that light.

	2.	Staff members shall not use the Education Technology to transmit material that is threatening, obscene, disruptive, or sexually explicit or that can be construed as harassment or disparagement of others based upon their race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or transgender identity, age, height, weight, disability, religion, or political beliefs. Sending, sharing, viewing, or possessing pictures, text messages, e-mails, or other materials of a sexual nature (i.e. sexting) in electronic or any other form, including the contents of a personal communication device or other electronic equipment is grounds for discipline up to and including termination. Such actions will be reported to local law enforcement and child services as required by law.

E.	Transmission of any material in violation of any State or Federal law or regulation, or Board policy is prohibited.

F.	Any use of the Education Technology for commercial purposes, advertising, or political lobbying is prohibited.

G.	Staff members are expected to abide by the following generally accepted rules of online etiquette:

	1.	Be polite, courteous, and respectful in your messages to others. Use language appropriate to school situations in any communications made through the Board's Education Technology. Refrain from using obscene, profane, vulgar, sexually explicit, defamatory, or abusive language in your messages (including, but not limited to, public messages, private messages, and material posted on web pages).

	2.	Never reveal names, addresses, phone numbers, or passwords of students while communicating on the Education Technology, unless there is prior written parental approval or it is otherwise permitted by Federal and/or State law.

	3.	Check e-mail frequently and delete e-mail promptly. Nothing herein alters the staff member's responsibility to preserve e-mail and other electronically stored information that constitutes a public record, student education record, and/or a record subject to a Litigation Hold.

	H.	Use of the Education Technology to access, process, distribute, display or print child pornography and other material which is obscene, objectionable, inappropriate or harmful to minors is prohibited. As such, the following material is prohibited: material that appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex and excretion; material that depicts, describes or represents in a patently offensive way with respect or what is suitable for minors an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals, and material that lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value as to minors. Offensive messages and pictures, inappropriate text files, or files dangerous to the integrity of the Board's computers/network (e.g., viruses) are also prohibited.

	I.	Malicious use of the Education Technology to develop programs that harass other users or infiltrate a computer or computer system and/or damage the software components of a computer/laptop/tablet or computing system is prohibited. Staff members may not engage in vandalism or use the Education Technology in such a way that would disrupt its use by others. Vandalism is defined as any malicious or intentional attempt to harm, steal or destroy data of another user, school networks, or technology hardware. This includes but is not limited to uploading or creation of computer viruses, installing unapproved software, changing equipment configurations, deliberately destroying or stealing hardware and its components, or seeking to circumvent or bypass Network security and/or the Board's technology protection measures. Staff members also must avoid intentionally wasting limited resources. Staff members must immediately notify the building Principal, or Technology Director if they identify a possible security problem. Staff members should not go looking for security problems, because this may be construed as an unlawful attempt to gain access.

	J.	All communications and information accessible via the Internet should be assumed to be private property (i.e, copyrighted and/or trademarked). All copyright issues regarding software, information, and attributions of authorship must be respected.

	K.	Downloading of information onto school-owned equipment or contracted online educational services is prohibited; all downloads must be to removal device. If a staff member transfers files from information services and electronic bulletin board services, the staff member must check the file with a virus-detection program before opening the file for use. Only public domain software may be downloaded. If a staff member transfers a file or software program that infects the District’s Education Technology with a virus and causes damage, the staff member will be liable for any and all repair costs to make the Education Technology once again fully operational.

	L.	Privacy in communication over the Internet and through the District’s Education Technology is not guaranteed. To ensure compliance with these guidelines, the Board reserves the right to monitor, review and inspect any directories, files and/or messages residing on or sent using the Board's Education Technology. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

		Staff members have no right or expectation to privacy when using the Education Technology. The District reserves the right to access and inspect any facet of the Education Technology, including, but not limited to, computers, laptops, tablets, personal communication devices, networks or Internet connections, or online educational services, e-mail or other messaging or communication systems or any other electronic media within its technology systems or that otherwise constitutes its property and any data, information, e-mail, communication, transmission, upload, download, message or material of any nature or medium that may be contained therein.

		A staff member's use of the Education Technology constitutes his/her waiver of any right to privacy in anything s/he creates, stores, sends, transmits, uploads, downloads or receives on or through the Education Technology and related storage medium and equipment. Routine maintenance and monitoring, utilizing both technical monitoring systems and staff monitoring, may lead to discovery that a staff member has violated Board policy and/or the law.

		An individual search will be conducted if there is reasonable suspicion that a staff member has violated Board policy and/or law, or if requested by local, State or Federal law enforcement officials.

		Staff are reminded that their communications are subject to Michigan's public records laws and FERPA.

	M.	Use of the Internet and any information procured from the Internet is at the staff member's own risk. The Board makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, that the functions or the services provided by or through the Ed-Tech will be error-free or without defect. The Board is not responsible for any damage a user suffers, including loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions. The Board is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services. Information (including text, graphics, audio, video, etc.) from Internet sources used in class should be cited the same as references to printed materials. The Board is not responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the Ed-Tech. Staff members will indemnify and hold the Board harmless from any losses sustained as the result of misuse of the Ed-Tech by the staff member.

	N.	Disclosure, use and/or dissemination of personally identifiable information of minors via the Internet is prohibited, except as expressly authorized by the minor student's parent/guardian on the "Student Education Technology and Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Agreement Form."

O.	Proprietary rights in the design of web sites hosted on Board-owned or leased servers remains at all times with the Board without prior written authorization.

P.	File-sharing is strictly prohibited. Staff members are prohibited from downloading and/or installing file-sharing software or programs on the Ed-Tech.

Q.	Since there is no central authority on the Internet, each site is responsible for its own users. Complaints received from other sites regarding any of the District’s users will be fully investigated and disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate.

R.	Preservation of Resources: Computer resources are limited. Because space on disk drives and bandwidth across the lines which connect the District’s Ed-Tech (both internally and externally) are limited, neither programs nor information may be stored on the system without the permission of the Technology Director. Each staff member is permitted reasonable space to store e-mail, web, and personal files. The Board reserves the right to require the purging of files in order to regain disk space.

	Staff members are encouraged to limit student exposure to commercial advertising and product promotion when developing the District or classroom websites or giving other assignments that utilize the Internet. Under all circumstances, staff members must comply with COPPA.

	1.	Websites with extensive commercial advertising may be included on the District or classroom websites or designated as a required or recommended site only if there is a compelling educational reason for such selection.

	2.	Staff members may make use of high-quality, unbiased online educational materials that have been produced with corporate sponsorship. Staff members may not make use of educational materials that have been developed primarily for the purpose of promoting a company and/or its products or services.

Staff members are reminded that personally identifiable student information is confidential and may not be disclosed without prior written parental permission.

Any individual who is aware of a violation of the Board policy or this guideline, including inappropriate on-line contact, content or conduct, such as sexting, harassment or cyberbullying, should bring it to the attention of the school Principal or Superintendent immediately.

P.L. 106-554, Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000
18 U.S.C. 1460
18 U.S.C. 2246
18 U.S.C. 2256
20 U.S.C. 6777, 9134 (2003)
20 U.S.C. 6801 et seq., Part F, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (2003)
47 U.S.C. 254(h), (1), Communications Act of 1934, as amended (2003)