ACCEPTABLE USE, MEDIA RELEASE, AND INTERNET
SAFETY GUIDELINES
PURPOSE
Williamson County
Schools provide students and employee access to the Internet as a means to
increase learning and productivity toward achieving 21st century
literacy. The purpose of this contract
is to assure that users recognize the procedures which the school imposes on
their use of Internet, electronic media resources, and release of student
information. In addition, this contract requires that users agree to abide by
the Williamson County Schools Board of Education policies, the Williamson
County Schools Computer Guidelines, and stipulations of the Children’s Online
Protection Act 47 USC Section 231 (COPPA), the Family Education Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) as well
as Laws pertaining to stalking and harassment. The
policy is promulgated so as to be in compliance with the public records laws of
the State of
THE CONTRACT
Williamson County
Schools has outlined the following
guidelines as required for all technology users. The district has taken measures designed to
protect students and adults from obscene information and restrict access to
materials that are harmful to minors. Failure
to follow all or part of these guidelines, or any action that may expose
Williamson County Schools to risks of unauthorized access to data, disclosure
of information, legal liability, potential system failure, or compromise the
safety of users is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action up to and
including loss of network privileges, confiscation of computer equipment,
suspension, termination of employment and/or criminal prosecution.
1. Employee Compliance
All employees must
comply with the Williamson County Board of Education policy 5.404 4.407 4.404,
Williamson County Schools Web Publishing Guidelines, and the Williamson County
Schools Computer Guidelines.
2. Student Compliance
Users shall not attempt
to make use of material or attempt to locate material which would not be
acceptable in a school setting. Students
will be supervised by faculty during use of online resources. All students must comply with the Williamson
County Board of Education policy 4.406 and the Williamson County Schools
Computer Guidelines.
Students shall report to
school personnel any personal electronically transmitted attacks in any form
made by others over the Internet or local network using any Williamson County
Schools’ technology. Students shall
understand information obtained via the Internet may or may not be correct.
3. Network Security
Only users with valid
Do not allow anyone to use a
computer while you are logged in. All computer users should always logoff from
the network before leaving their room or office.
For the protection and
security of Williamson County Schools data, all computers attached to the
Williamson County Schools physical network (a computer located at a Williamson
County Schools facility either wired or wireless), must be the property of
Williamson County Schools. It is prohibited to attach a computer that is not
property of Williamson County Schools to the network without first receiving
approval from IT Department management.
Use of software designed to
gain passwords or access beyond the rights assigned to a user
or computer are strictly prohibited. Use of such programs risk the
security of the network and is considered "hacking". The intent
to control unauthorized access is a violation of State and Federal law.
Violators will be prosecuted. Should you inadvertently discover passwords or
any other measure used to control unauthorized access, to supervisory personnel
in the room (in the case of students) or IT personnel (in the case of staff).
No user shall encrypt files
or folders or attempt to hide files or folders stored on a network server or
local workstation. Any encrypted or hidden files will be deleted.
All network users may be
monitored at any time by authorized personnel for the purpose and inspection of
compliance to these guidelines.
4. Workstation/Computer
Use
All employees and
students are prohibited from installing any software on any computer unless
authorized in writing by a member of the IT Department. Illegal downloads or use
of copyrighted software, music, videos, pictures or other files is strictly
prohibited.
All employees and students
are prohibited from using any computer for illegal or commercial activity.
Any desktop applications
designed to limit access to students or staff, other than those used by the IT
Department for network security purposes, is prohibited.
Changing or tampering with
any computer's system configuration is strictly prohibited.
Use of a broadcast messenger
service such as "net send" to send messages over the network is
prohibited except in the case of an emergency.
All computers must be turned
off before 8:00pm every evening in order to complete the backup of all files on
the server and for server maintenance.
Computers found to be
tampered with or computers with unapproved software or files will be
re-formatted and restored to compliance.
Installing and using
personal accounts is prohibited under all circumstances through any type of
access or connectivity to include private phone lines.
No desktop computer shall be
moved by anyone other than IT Department personnel unless approved by a member
of the IT Department.
5. Server Software
Only authorized IT
Department personnel will install software to the server.
6. Saving Documents
Employees and students
must save all documents to the network.
Do not save any applications to the network, only documents and data.
Due to server storage limitations, any applications or executables residing in
your user directory will be deleted. (Exception is given where individuals have
created applications as part of a curriculum assignment and such activity has
been approved by a member of the Williamson County Schools' faculty or staff.)
Any documents residing solely on your local computer are at risk. It is your
responsibility to make sure important documents and data are saved to the
network.
7. Network Drives/Shares
All office staff and teachers have
access to a Grades directory on the server. This is your (“G” drive). The
Grades directory (“G” drive) should be used ONLY for saving your grades to the
network. When using eClass
Grades, please make sure you save your grades to the (“G” drive) within the
appropriate teacher ID subdirectory. Do not modify any directory names within
the (“G drive”). The directory names must be the original teacher ID number.
All users have access to a Public directory on the server. This is your (“P”
drive). Please use it with caution as anyone can read and possibly delete
information in this directory. Make sure you have a backup of anything you
place in this directory. The IT Department will not restore anything deleted
from the (“P” drive).
All teachers, librarians, and office staff have access to a Teacher directory
on the server. This is your (“T” drive). Only teachers, librarians and office
staff within your school will have access to this directory. It can be used for
more secure documents.
8. Viruses and Virus
Protection
The
Do not open any e-mail
attachments from anyone you do not know. Never send anyone an e-mail you may
suspect contains a virus. The intentional spreading of messages or files
containing damaging or destructive programs or data is against federal law.
Violators will be prosecuted. If you feel your computer may contain a virus,
please contact the IT Department immediately.
There are many virus hoaxes.
Never delete system files from a computer in order to remove a potential virus
without first checking with the IT Department to make sure the virus is valid
and not a hoax.
9. Copyright Policy
All students and employees will
comply with all applicable copyright laws in the use of all media and
materials. All employees will model legal and ethical practice related to
technology use as established in Williamson County Board of Education policy
4.404.
10. E-mail
The Williamson County Schools e-mail
system has been provided for the internal and external communication of
employees and board members. Responsible and ethical use of the e-mail system
is required. The e-mail system may not be used for personal gain,
or political or religious views or in any illegal, offensive or unethical
manner. The e-mail system is intended only for valid and legitimate Williamson
County Schools' related communication.
Williamson County Schools does
reserve the right to access any e-mail for any business purpose, and also for
inspection for disciplinary or legal actions.
Students in grades 7-12 may
be issued an e-mail account for the purpose of completing school work. Accounts
may include access to chat and message boards within the educational system.
Student e-mail accounts are filtered for content and monitored by authorized
personnel. Students are not allowed to use the account to communicate outside
of the educational system. Students must use appropriate language in all
communications. The use of profanity, obscenity and offensive or inflammatory
language is strictly prohibited and will result in disciplinary action. Instruction on safe and appropriate use will
accompany the issuance of accounts.
11. Donations
The current
standard for donated computers is a Pentium 4, 1.1 GHz or above with 10 GB hard
drive and 128 MB RAM. Macintosh computers will not be accepted unless they are
new, factory sealed. Regardless of the intended use of the donated computer,
all donations must comply with this minimum.
Williamson County Schools
reserves the right to modify these guidelines as deemed necessary in order to
provide a safe and secure environment for the technological needs of employees,
students and board members. We appreciate your cooperation in following these
guidelines.
These terms and conditions
reflect the entire agreement of the parties and supersede all prior oral and written
agreements and understandings of the parties.
If you are under the age of
18, a parent or guardian must also read and sign this contract.
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I
understand that should I fail to honor all the terms of this contract, future
Internet and other electronic media accessibility may be denied, and the
school administration will consider it a major disciplinary offense.
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Date |
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I have read
this contract and understand that the school wishes to expand the
availability of information to students and at the same time attempt to
assure the appropriateness of this information as it relates to the goals of
the school. By signing below, I give permission for the school to allow my
son or daughter to have access to the Internet and other technology resources under the conditions set
forth above. |
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Date |
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I agree to the following release
of information regarding my child: The
school or school district may feature my child in the local broadcast and
print media, on the school or school district web site, and in district
publications and programs. |
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Date |
07\26\2005