| Newark Digital Academy |
| Bylaws & Policies |
7540.03 - ACCEPTABLE COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE
TRECA (Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association) Digital Academy (TDA) is pleased to make available to students access to interconnected computer systems within the Academy and to the Internet, the world-wide network that provides various means of accessing significant educational materials and opportunities.
All students must take responsibility for appropriate and lawful use of this access. Students must understand that their misuse of the network and Internet access may jeopardize their ability to enjoy such access. While TDA's teachers and other staff will make reasonable efforts to supervise student use of network and Internet access, they must have student and parent cooperation in exercising and promoting responsible use of this access.
TDA provides each student with the tools and equipment necessary for participation in TDA. The equipment shall not be abused, misused, or disassembled. Parents and students hereby accept responsibility for damages resulting from abuse, misuse, or disassembly, and agree to abide by appropriate disciplinary actions. Students who transfer to another school, withdraw, graduate, are expelled, or leave TDA for any reason, must return all tools and equipment provided by TDA in working order and in original or equivalent packing materials to TDA (1713 Marion-Mt. Gilead Road, Marion, Ohio 44302). Damaged or stolen equipment must be reported to TDA immediately.
Below is the Acceptable Computer and Internet Use Policy of TDA and TRECA. Upon reviewing, signing and returning this policy as the students have been directed, each student is agreeing to follow the policy. If a student is under eighteen (18) years of age, s/he must have his/her parents or guardians read and sign the policy. TDA cannot serve any student who, if eighteen (18) or older, fails to sign and submit the policy to TDA as directed or, if under eighteen (18), does not return the policy as directed with the signatures of the student and his/her parents or guardians.
Listed below are the provisions of your agreement regarding computer, network and Interest use. If you have any questions about these provisions, you should contact the TDA administration. If any user violates this policy, the student's access will be disabled or revoked, and s/he may be subject to additional disciplinary action.
Personal Responsibility
By signing this policy, you are agreeing not only to follow the rules in this policy, but are agreeing to report any misuse of the network to the TDA administration. Misuse means any violations of this policy or any other use that is not included in the policy, but has the effect of harming another or his/her property.
Terms of the Permitted Use
A student who submits to TDA, as directed, a properly signed policy and follows the policy to which s/he has agreed will have computer network and Internet access during the course of the school year only. Students will be asked to sign a new policy each year during which they are students in the TDA before they are given an access account.
Acceptable Uses
| A. | Responsible Use. The purpose of this agreement is to ensure that use of Internet resources remains consistent with our stated mission, goals, and objectives. The computer and Internet resources must be used in a responsible, safe, ethical and legal manner. Parents are asked to play an active role in their child’s educational experiences, both on and off the computer. | |
| B. | Unacceptable Uses of Network. Among the uses that are considered unacceptable and which constitute a violation of this policy are the following: |
| 1. | Uses that violate the law or encourage others to violate the law. Do not transmit offensive or harassing messages; offer for sale or use any substance the possession or use of which is prohibited by the School District's Student Discipline Policy; view, transmit or download pornographic materials or materials that encourage others to violate the law; intrude into the networks or computers of others; and download or transmit confidential, trade secret information, or copyrighted materials. Even if materials on the networks are not marked with the copyright symbol, you should assume that all materials are protected unless there is explicit permission on the materials to use them. | ||
| 2. | Uses that cause harm to others or damage to their property. For example, do not engage in defamation (harming another’s reputation by lies); employ another’s password or some other user identifier that misleads message recipients into believing that someone other than you is communicating or otherwise using his/her access to the network or the Internet; upload a worm, virus, "trojan horse", "time bomb" or other harmful form of programming or vandalism; participate in "hacking" activities or any form of unauthorized access to other computers, networks, or information systems. |
3.
Uses that jeopardize the security of student access and of the computer network or other networks on the Internet. For example, do not disclose or share your password with others; do not impersonate another user.| 4. | Uses that are commercial transactions. Students and other users may not sell or buy anything over the Internet. You should not give others private information about you or others, including credit card numbers and social security numbers. |
| C. | Netiquette. All users must abide by rules of network etiquette, which include the following: |
| 1. | Be polite. Use appropriate language. No swearing, vulgarities, suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or threatening language. | ||
| 2. | Avoid language and uses which may be offensive to other users. Do not use access to make, distribute, or redistribute jokes, stories, or other material which is based upon slurs or stereotypes relating to race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. | ||
| 3. | Do not assume that a sender of e-mail is giving his/her permission for you to forward or redistribute the message to third parties or to give his/her e-mail address to third parties. This should only be done with permission or when you know that the individual would have no objection. | ||
| 4. | Be considerate when sending attachments with e-mail (where this is permitted). Be sure that the file is not too large to be accommodated by the recipient’s system and is in a format that the recipient can open. |
Internet Safety
| A. | General Warning; Individual Responsibility of Parents and Users. All users and their parents/guardians are advised that access to the electronic network may include the potential for access to materials inappropriate for school-aged students. Every user must take responsibility for his/her use of the computer network and Internet and stay away from these sites. Parents of minors are the best guides to identify materials to avoid. | |
| B. | Personal Safety. Be safe. In using the computer network and Internet, do not reveal personal information such as your home address or telephone number. Do not use your real last name or any other information that might allow a person to locate you without first obtaining the permission of a supervising teacher. Do not arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you "meet" on the computer network or Internet without your parent’s permission (if you are under eighteen (18)). Regardless of your age, you should never agree to meet a person you have only communicated with on the Internet in a secluded place or in a private setting. | |
| C. | "Hacking" and Other Illegal Activities. It is a violation of this policy to use the TDA’s computer network or the Internet to gain unauthorized access to other computers or computer systems, or to attempt to gain such unauthorized access. Any use which violates State or Federal law relating to copyright, trade secrets, the distribution of obscene or pornographic materials, or which violates any other applicable law or municipal ordinance, is strictly prohibited. | |
| D. | Confidentiality of Student Information. Personally identifiable information concerning students may not be disclosed or used in any way on the Internet without the permission of a parent or guardian or, if the student is eighteen (18) or over, the permission of the student himself/herself. Users should never give out private or confidential information about themselves or others on the Internet, particularly credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. A supervising teacher or administrator may authorize the release of directory information, as defined by Ohio law, for internal administrative purposes or approved educational projects and activities. | |
| E. | Active Restriction Measures: TDA, either by itself or in combination with TRECA, will utilize filtering software or other technologies to help prevent students from accessing visual depictions that are (1) obscene, (2) contain child pornography, or (3) are harmful to minors. Internet filtering software or other technology-based protection systems may be disabled by a supervising teacher or administrator, as necessary, for purposes of bona fide research or other educational projects being conducted by students age seventeen (17) and older. |
Harmful to Minors
The term "harmful to minors" is defined by the Communications Act of 1934 (47 USC Section 254 (h)(7)), as meaning any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction that's taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion; depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to 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; taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to minors.
Privacy
Network and Internet access is a tool for your education. TDA reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review and store at any time and without prior notice any and all usage of the computer network and Internet access and any and all information transmitted or received in connection with such usage. All such information files shall be and remain the property of the TDA and no user shall have any expectation of privacy regarding such materials.
Failure to Follow Policy
The user’s use of the computer network and Internet is a privilege, not a right. A user who violates this policy, shall at a minimum, have his/her access to the computer network and Internet terminated, which the School District may refuse to reinstate for the remainder of the student’s enrollment in the School District. A user violates this policy by his/her own action or by failing to report any violations by other users that come to the attention of the user. Further, a user violates this policy if s/he permits another to use his/her account or password to access the computer network and Internet, including any user whose access has been denied or terminated. TDA may also take other disciplinary action in such circumstances.
Warranties/Indemnification
TDA school makes no warranties of any kind, either express or implied, in connection with its provision of access to and use of its computer networks and the Internet provided under this policy. It shall not be responsible for any claims, losses, damages or costs (including attorney fees) of any kind suffered, directly or indirectly, by any user or his/her parent(s) or guardian(s) arising out of the user’s use of its computer networks or the Internet under this policy. By signing this policy, users are taking full responsibility for his/her use, and the user who is eighteen (18) or older or, in the case of user under eighteen (18), the parent(s) or guardian(s) are agreeing to indemnify and hold the TDA, and TRECA harmless from any and all loss, costs, claims or damages resulting from the user’s access to its computer network and the Internet, including but not limited to any fees or charges incurred through purchases of goods or services by the user. The user or, if the user is a minor, the user’s parent(s) or guardian(s) agree to cooperate with TDA in the event of the initiating of an investigation of a user’s use of his/her access to its computer network and the Internet, whether that use is on a TDA computer or on another computer outside the TDA network.
Updates
Users, and if appropriate, the user’s parents/guardians, may be asked from time-to-time to provide new or additional registration and account information or to sign a new policy, for example, to reflect developments in the law or technology. Such information must be provided by the user (or his/her parents or guardian) or such new policy must be signed if the user wishes to continue to receive service, and TDA must be notified of such changes).
R.C. 1329.54-1329.67, 3313.20, 3319.321