Internet Acceptable Use Agreement AUA
INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE AGREEMENT (AUA)
Take directly from page 39 of Parent/Student Handbook - (Revised 4/20/2017)
The Internet is available to students and school employees to increase the use of technology as a teaching and learning tool. Our goal is to promote student achievement and facilitate communication in order to share resources in education, business, government, and science. Use of these resources is considered a privilege to which great responsibility is attached. To that end, the Board of Education has enacted a strict agreement governing acceptable use of the Internet and technology resources. Parents wishing to prohibit their child’s ability to access the Internet should provide notice in writing to the school.
The Board of Education realizes the significant importance of access to the Internet and the wealth of information and educational resources that are made available through it. As such, staff and students shall be afforded equitable access to these resources to pursue the educational mission of the Effingham County School District. This access is provided contingent upon the following:
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Acceptable Use: The purpose of providing access to the Internet and any device(s) providing access to district network resources is to promote learning through research and collaboration. The use of the Internet must be consistent with this and with the instructional objectives of the Effingham County School System. Internet use for professional development purposes is acceptable, as well, so long as it does not interfere with instructional use.
Privileges: The use of the Internet and any device(s) providing access to district network resources is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use will result in revocation of those privileges. Building administrators may determine what is inappropriate use within the framework of this policy. Administrators and staff may request that Internet privileges be denied, revoked, or suspended, if the AUA is violated.
Users must agree to abide by the following guidelines:
- Users may not give out personal information such as names, phone numbers, or addresses of themselves or others, over the Internet, with the exception that staff may do so in conducting the business of the school.
- Users may not access or send material that is obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors, and the Board of Education shall install and operate technology protection measures including commercial Internet blocking and filtering software that blocks or filters access to such material and any other materials that are determined to be inappropriate by school or system administrators. The terms "obscene", "child pornography" and "harmful to minors" have the meanings given such terms in section 1460 of Title18, section 2256 of Title 18, and section 254 (h)(7)(G) of Title 47, United States Code, respectively.
- Users may not violate copyright laws of the United States or the established copyright policies of the local Board of Education.
- Users may not engage in any unauthorized access, including so-called "hacking", or other unlawful activities while using district computer resources.
- Users may not engage in non-educational games or waste valuable bandwidth (network capacity).
- Users may not download software (to include weather applications, browser toolbars, etc) from the Internet without the permission of the Information Technology Department.
- Users may not engage in acts of vandalism, including harming or destroying data of another user. This includes uploading, downloading, or creating computer viruses.
- Users may not harass others by persistent annoyance or interference while others are online. This includes, but is not limited to, sending unsolicited e-mail (SPAM).
- E-mail sent by district personnel, utilizing the district e-mail system should always be professional in nature. The district e-mail address you use identifies you as representing the district, and therefore should only be used to communicate matters related to the business of the school. At no time should the district e-mail provided to personnel be used to sell goods or services or solicit funds or participation in any cause or activity not related to the business of the school unless prior approval is received from the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee.
- Users must observe common rules of network etiquette such as politeness and allowing others ample online time.
- Users are not to bypass district protection measures via proxy or any other mechanism.
Security: Users are required to notify the classroom teacher or school administrator if they observe a security problem to include vandalism, theft, sharing of personal information, hacking, and any violation of the guidelines listed above. In turn, this individual will notify the Information Technology Coordinator of the problem. Use of the Internet, including e-mail, chat rooms, social networking, and other forms of direct electronic communications, are not private and for the safety and security of the users will be monitored. Inappropriate or unlawful messages will be reported to the appropriate authorities.
Home Networking Equipment: Users are NOT to bring networked equipment to include WiFi access points, home assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, etc. Additionally, mobile “hot spots” or “jet packs” must not be used in the schools. All personal devices must use the GUEST INET network for access to the district’s network resources.
Social Networking: Employees may participate in social networking services (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) or internet based applications for personal use. Any communication between student and employee on these sites should exhibit the proper student/employee relationship and maintain professional etiquette. The title of “student” – according to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission Code of Ethics for
Educators – is applicable until August 31 of the year the student has graduated.Employees shall not create a webpage, website, blog, social networking site or any other resources that represents a school-sponsored activity, club, team, organization, etc. without prior approval from the Director of IT and Media Services. Accepted Internet resources used to represent district programs, personnel and organizations shall be provided and maintained by the district. Personnel should utilize these resources as opposed to other freely available resources on the Internet. In the event a district-funded resource does not provide specific functionality seen within a non-supported resource, staff members should consult with the Director of IT and Media Services before integrating it into their instruction plans.
Publishing on the Internet: Student work will be published only under the direction of the supervising teacher(s) who will be responsible for verifying permission via the handbook acknowledgment form submitted annually by the student’s guardian(s).
*Note to Parents/Guardians: Parents, legal guardians or eligible students may make a written request to the principal of the school where the student is enrolled, within 10 days of enrollment or the first 10 days of the academic school year, to request that such information (as indicated above) not be published or used on any school-sponsored websites.