Trumbull Career and Technical Center
Bylaws & Policies
 

5136.01 - ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

While in some instances that possession and use of electronic equipment or devices by a student at school may be appropriate, often the possession and use of such equipment or devices by students at school can have the effect of distracting, disrupting and/or intimidating others in the school environment and leading to opportunities for academic dishonesty and other disruptions of the educational process. Students shall not use or carry any electronic equipment or devices on school property or at any school-sponsored activity without the permission of the director or appropriate administrator.

Examples of prohibited devices include but, are not limited to cameras (photographic and/or video), laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), lasers, laser pens or pointers, radios, "boom–boxes", headphones, portable CD/MP3 players/iPods, portable TV's, electronic games/toys, pagers/beepers, other paging devices, and/or cell phones.

Distracting behavior that creates an unsafe environment will not be tolerated.

The use of any communication functionally that is a part of or attached to the above-approved electronic equipment/devices is expressly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, wireless Internet access, peer-to-peer (ad-hoc) networking, or any other method of communication with other devices or networks. In no circumstances shall the device be allowed to connect to the District's network.

The preceding prohibitions do not apply to Board-owned and issued laptops, PDAs, or authorized assistive technology devices.

Students are prohibited from using electronic equipment or devices in a manner that may be physically harmful to another person (e.g. shining a laser in the eyes of another student). Further, at no time may any camera or other electronic equipment/device be utilized by a student in a way that might reasonably create in the mind of another person an impression of being threatened, humiliated, harassed, embarrassed, or intimidated. See Policy 5517.01 – Bullying and Other Forms of Aggressive Behavior.

Students are prohibited from using cameras and other electronic equipment/devices to capture or record test, information or any other information in a manner constituting fraud, theft, or academic dishonesty. Similarly, students are prohibited from using cameras and other electronic equipment and devices to capture or record the words (i.e. audio) and/or images (i.e. pictures/video) of any student, staff member or other person in the school or while attending a school-related activity, without express prior notice and explicit consent for the capture and/or recording of such words or images. Using a camera or other electronic equipment/devices to capture or record audio and/or pictures/video of an individual without his/her consent is considered an invasion of privacy and is not permitted, unless authorized by the building director. All devices are to be turned off and kept in lockers or cars during the school day. Devices may be used at other school events - so long as they are not creating a disturbance (as determined by any school official supervising such event) or used for unacceptable purposes (i.e., cheating, defamation, harm to self or others).

Unauthorized electronic equipment and devices will be confiscated from the student by school personnel and disciplinary action taken.

If a camera or other electronic equipment/device is confiscated, it will be released/returned to the student's parent/guardian after the student complies with any other disciplinary consequences that are imposed.

Any electronic equipment/device confiscated by District staff will be marked in a removable manner with the student's name and held in a secure location in the building's Dean of Students office until it is retrieved by the parent/guardian. Electronic equipment/devices in District custody will not be searched or otherwise tampered with unless school officials reasonably suspect that the search is required to discover evidence of a violation of the law or other school rules (e.g. a student is observed using a camera in a prohibited area). Any search will be conducted in accordance with Policy 5771 – Search and Seizure.

Students are personally and solely responsible for the care and security of any electronic equipment or devices they bring to school. The Board assumes no responsibility for theft, loss, damage, or vandalism to electronic equipment and devices brought onto its property, or the unauthorized use of such devices.

Adopted 6/11/09