FILE: IFBGA
Cf: JCDAF
STUDENT ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR
DISTRICT TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
Technology resources will be used in the Iberia Parish School District (IPSD) to enhance student learning by providing the student with the latest tools to make learning relevant. The school district recognizes that this access gives the student greater opportunities to gain future-ready technology and communication skills that will prepare him/her for work, life, and citizenship. This is accomplished by facilitating student research, differentiating instruction, accommodating student needs, augmenting student communication skills, and motivating the student to become a life-long learner.
Iberia Parish technology resources, as used herein, may include, but shall not be limited to, the following: Internet access, wired and wireless network, servers, cloud services, content filter, desktop computers, mobile computers (laptop, iPad, Chromebook), email, videoconferencing capabilities, electronic files, online collaboration capabilities, and numerous instructional resources delivered with computer technology.
Student use of the district’s technology resources shall be reserved for educational purposes only. The student will be held accountable for his/her use. All network activity or files created by the student shall be treated as district property subject to control, inspection, and/or search by School Board personnel without just cause.
The School Board authorizes the Superintendent and staff to establish appropriate guidelines for exploring and using the technology resources within the school district to enhance teaching and learning activities. Acceptable use of these resources shall be consistent with the philosophy, goals and objectives of the School Board. Terms and Conditions within the district’s Acceptable Use of Technology Resources Agreement are provided so that the student is aware of the responsibilities he/she will assume when using IPSD resources. Responsibilities include efficient, ethical, and legal utilization of the district’s technology resources. The student shall abide by all laws, policies, agreements, and procedures concerning the use of the district’s technology resources. Each student and his/her parent or guardian shall sign the Acceptable Use of Technology Resources Agreement before the student will be granted access privileges. The signatures shall be legally binding and will indicate that he/she has read the agreement carefully and agrees to abide by them.
The School Board does not allow the use of technology resources for any illegal or inappropriate activities and shall not be responsible for such use by the student. Use of these resources shall be considered a privilege and any inappropriate use may result in loss of privileges to use same and/or disciplinary action. School Board policies and/or agreements governing use of the Internet and/or network resources do not warrant or guarantee use of or access to same. The School Board may, at any time and in its sole discretion, suspend or terminate the privilege of any individual to use or access its technology resources without notice, cause, or reason.
INTERNET SAFETY
In compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act, the School Board shall incorporate the use of computer-related technology or the use of Internet service provider technology designed to filter and/or block access or exposure to any harmful materials or information, such as sites that contain obscene, pornographic, pervasively vulgar, excessively violent or sexually harassing information or material. Sites which contain information on the manufacturing of bombs or other incendiary devices shall also be prohibited. However, the School District shall not prohibit authorized employees or students from having unfiltered or unrestricted access to Internet or online services, including online services for newspapers with daily circulation of at least 1,000, for legitimate scientific or educational purposes approved by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
Age and grade appropriate classroom instruction shall be provided regarding Internet and cell phone safety. Such instruction shall include appropriate online behavior, interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response, as well as areas of concern as authorized in state and federal law.
In addition, the School District, in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies, shall develop and distribute age and grade appropriate information to each student regarding Internet and cell phone safety and online content that is a threat to school safety. The information shall include the following:
Instruction on how to detect potential threats to school safety
exhibited online, including posting on any social media platform.
Visual examples of possible threats.
The process for reporting potential threats, which shall be in accordance with the procedures referenced in policy EBBB, School and Student Safety.
Such information shall be either distributed to or explained to students and school personnel at the beginning of each school year and shall be posted on an easily accessible page of the School District’s website and the website of each school. If information reported to a school is deemed a potential threat to school safety, the school shall present the written form and any further evidence to local law enforcement.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE
Personal Safety and Privacy
Student shall not post personal contact information about
themselves or other people without appropriate approval. Personal
contact information includes home address, telephone number, home
email address, school name and address, etc.
Student shall never agree to physically meet with someone
they have met online without his/her parent or guardian’s prior
written approval. Inappropriate contacts should be
reported to school authorities immediately.
Student shall promptly disclose to school district personnel
any message they receive that is inappropriate or makes him/her
feel uncomfortable.
Student shall have no expectation of privacy in their use of IPSD’s technology resources. Student use of the technology resources will be monitored, accessed, reviewed and retained. Illegal activity will be reported to appropriate authorities.
Access and Use of Content/Resources
Student shall not take the ideas or writings of others and
present them as if original to the student.
Student shall respect copyright materials and other intellectual
property. Student may not duplicate, copy, or distribute
electronic resources without the appropriate permission, documentation,
or citation.
Student shall not download or install copyrighted software
from any source on any school device.
Student shall use IPSD-provided email account, if one is issued, for the purpose of school-related communication. Student shall be responsible for the content of email messages in their account. Email communication is not a confidential medium for transmitting information and should be viewed as public in nature.
Illegal Activities
Student shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to
or “hack” into the school district’s network, any computer system
through the district’s network, or go beyond student authorized
access. This includes attempting to access, alter and/or
delete another person’s account or files.
Student shall not tamper with hardware and/or software and/or
make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system performance
or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other
means.
Student will not use IPSD’s technology resources to engage
in any illegal acts, such as, but not limited to, illegal drug
activity, fraud, and criminal gang activity.
Student will not use IPSD’s technology resources to participate
in cyberbullying. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting,
or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone
else. It can include sharing personal or private information
about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation.
Student will not attempt to impersonate another individual or organization using IPSD technology resources for any reason (i.e. “Phishing” or “Spoofing”).
Inappropriate Language/Content
Student will not use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude,
inflammatory, threatening, unprofessional, or disrespectful language
in any electronic format using IPSD’s technology resources. This
includes personal attacks or harassment of another person.
Student shall not use IPSD’s technology resources to access
and/or display obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory,
threatening, harmful, unprofessional or disrespectful content
in any electronic form including audio, images, video and text.
Student shall not post information in any electronic format
that could cause damage, pose a danger of disruption, or incite
confusion or panic, or may result in a disruption of the educational
process of the school.
Student shall not attempt to remove, modify, or bypass district
content filters, security systems, software, and/or configurations
installed in order to access inappropriate content.
Student shall immediately report to school authorities any website inadvertently accessed with inappropriate content. Note: IPSD, in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, will use its best effort to block content as described above; however, given the ever-changing nature of the Internet, there is no filtering system that is capable of blocking 100% of the objectionable material available on the Internet.
Respecting Resources
Student use of technology resources shall be reserved for
educational purposes only as directed by the teacher. Educational
purposes include classroom activities and assignments, directed
student research, interpersonal communication, collaborative projects,
and dissemination of successful educational practices, methods,
and materials.
Student shall not use IPSD’s technology resources for activities
such as online shopping, listening to online radio stations, viewing
streaming videos, downloading large files, and playing games unless
directed by the teacher as part of the curriculum.
Student and the student’s parent or guardian shall be accountable for the proper use and care of technology resources and for the repair or replacement of willfully damaged equipment.
Security
Student shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality
of passwords. Under no condition should the student
give his/her password to others nor post the password in written
form to be viewed by others. Likewise, using another
person’s password to gain access is not permitted.
Student shall log off or lock user account when away from
a computer for more than a few minutes to prevent unauthorized
access.
Student shall immediately notify school authorities if a
possible security problem is detected. Student shall
not search for security problems, attempt to circumvent security
safeguards or in any way gain unauthorized access to any system
or files.
Student may only use memory storage devices (i.e. external
hard drives, flash drives, etc.) with permission from school authorities
and that have been scanned and found to be free of viruses.
Student shall not download, install, or execute programs
from the Internet and/or external devices without permission.
Student shall not attach any device to the network without
appropriate approval.
Student activity and files residing on IPSD’s technology resources will be treated as district property subject to control, inspection, and/or search by School Board personnel.
Consequences for Inappropriate Use
Student use of technology resources shall be considered
a privilege, not a right. Any violation of this agreement
may result in, but are not limited to, the following disciplinary
actions: (1) student/parent conference with school officials,
(2) restriction of privileges, (3) detention, in-school suspension,
out-of-school suspension, or expulsion, (4) restitution for damages
or replacement, (5) legal action and/or prosecution.
Student will be responsible for all assignments in paper/pencil format if privileges are revoked.
DISCLAIMER
The School Boardt’s technology network and computer system is provided on an “as is, as available” basis. The School Board does not make any warranties, whether expressed or implied, including, without limitation, those of fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any services provided by the system and any information or software contained therein. The School Board uses a variety of vendor-supplied hardware and software. Therefore, the School Board does not warrant that the functions or services performed by, or that the information or software contained on the system will meet the user’s requirements. Neither does the School Board warrant that the system will be uninterrupted or error-free, nor that defects will be corrected.
The School Board, its agents or employees shall not be responsible for any damage the student may suffer occasioned by or arising out of the student’s use of the technology resources, including, but not limited to, any loss of data or interruptions of service. The School Board shall not be responsible for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through or stored on the network. The School Board shall not be responsible for financial obligations that may arise through the unauthorized use of its resources. The student and his/her parent or guardian shall hold the School Board harmless for any losses sustained as the result of the use of any resources by the student.
Opinions, advice, services, and all other information expressed by system users, information providers, service providers, or other third-party individuals are those of the providers and not necessarily the School Board.
The School Board shall cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation concerning or relating to misuse of the School Board’s technology resources.
DEFINITIONS
Technology Protection Measure:
The term technology protection measure means a specific technology that blocks or filters Internet access to visual depictions that are:
Obscene, as that term is defined in section 18
USC 1460, United States Code;
Child Pornography, as that term is defined in section 18 USC 2256, United States Code; or
Harmful to Minors:
The term harmful to minors means any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction that:
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; and
Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to minors.
Sexual Act/Sexual Contact:
The terms sexual act and sexual contact have the meanings given such terms in section 18 USC 2246, United States Code.
Revised: December 19, 2012
Revised: November 14, 2018
Revised: August 5, 2020
Ref: 20 USC 7131 (Internet Safety)
47 USC 254 (Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA))
47 CFR 54.520 (Children's Internet Protection Act Certifications for Schools and Libraries)
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:100.7, 17:280, 17:410
Board minutes, 8-6-08, 12-19-12, 11-14-18, 8-5-20
Iberia Parish School Board