COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE FOR EMPLOYEES

 FILE: EFA Cf: IFBGA, II

The St. Mary Parish School Board shall authorize the Superintendent and staff to establish appropriate guidelines for exploring and using Internet resources within the school district to enhance learning and teaching activities. Acceptable use of these resources shall be consistent with the philosophy, goals, and objectives of the School Board. Any employee who wishes to use school district computers, including the Internet and/or e­mail services, shall abide by all district regulations as a condition of continued employment.

The School Board shall incorporate the use of computer­related technology or the use of Internet service provider technology designed to 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 Board does not prohibit authorized employees or students from having unfiltered or unrestricted access to Internet or online services, including online services of newspapers with daily circulation of at least 1,000, for legitimate scientific or educational purposes approved by the Board.

INTERNET USAGE

Any use of the Internet that adversely affects its operation in pursuit of teaching and learning or jeopardizes its use or performance for other community members is prohibited and may result in loss of Internet privileges, suspension or other appropriate disciplinary action. The provisions of this policy shall also apply to the use of private e­mail accounts when access is attained using School Board equipment or networks and to access attained through any authorized personal digital device while on School Board property. The St. Mary Parish School Board does not condone the use of the Internet for any illegal or inappropriate activities and shall not be responsible for any such use by staff or students.

The School Board may suspend or terminate any privilege to use the Internet at any time solely at the School Board's discretion. Any policies and/or regulations of the School Board defining use of the Internet serve as guidelines but do not warrant or guarantee access to or use of the Internet. Consequently, the School Board may, at any time and in its sole discretion, end the privilege of any individual to use the Internet without notice, cause, or reason.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Faculty and staff use of school computers or the Internet shall be reserved for academic purposes and the conducting of business aspects of the school system. All personnel using school computers, a computer network located on school property, or computers accessing the Internet shall be accountable for their use. Teacher or class files on the network shall be treated as district property subject  to  control  and  inspection  by  School  Board  personnel. Access codes or passwords shall be kept on file in a secured location by the principal or his/her designee in case an inspection is warranted. Use of the Internet and/or any computers shall be considered a privilege and any inappropriate use may result in appropriate disciplinary action and loss of privileges to use district computers or the Internet.

UNAUTHORIZED AND ILLEGAL USE

Faculty and staff shall not be under direct supervision when using computers, but must abide by Board policy and all pertinent regulations regarding such use.

Tampering with selection menus, procedures, or icons for the purpose of misleading or confusing other users shall be prohibited. Any use by any person of the district's internal network that incurs expenses to the school other than the monthly user fees and rates shall be strictly prohibited. Furthermore, the computer system shall not be used for commercial, political or religious purposes.

Use of the network for any illegal activities shall also be prohibited. Illegal activities include, but are not limited to: (a) tampering with computer hardware or software, (b) unauthorized entry into computers and files (hacking), (c) knowledgeable vandalism or destruction of equipment, and (d) deletion of computer files. Such activity is considered a crime under state and federal law.

SECURITY

Teachers and personnel who have computers in their charge shall be responsible for the security of those computers in terms of both hardware and software. Computers must be secured such that students acting without the consent or supervision of a teacher or administrator cannot enter the system or the Internet.

General Guidelines

1. The user will immediately notify the system administrator if a possible security problem is identified. 
2. The user shall not use or distribute password(s) belonging to others. 
3. The user shall not surf the Internet to search other people's folders, work, or files.
4. The user shall not log on or attempt to log on as a school administrator. Any such attempts shall result in the cancellation of the user’s privileges. Any user identified as a security risk may be denied access to the network.
5. The user shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any other computer system or go beyond authorized access.
6. The user shall not use the system to engage in any illegal acts such as arranging for drug sales, engaging in criminal gang activities, or threatening the safety of other people.

The user must refrain from revealing any information that might compromise the security of district students.

Routine maintenance and monitoring of the system may produce evidence of violation of policy and/or regulations. The Superintendent or his/her designee shall take action appropriate to any such violation.

User Names and Passwords

All users of the St. Mary Parish Network, and any other School Board information systems, shall be supplied with an individual user name and/or password to access the data necessary for the completion of their job responsibilities. Users of School Board information systems shall be required to abide by the following guidelines.

1. Passwords provide access to information that has been granted specifically to the individual user. 
2. All transactions, processed by a user ID and password, shall be the responsibility of the person to whom the user ID has been assigned.
3. The user’s ID and password must remain confidential and must not be shared with anyone. 
4. Using someone else’s password is a violation of policy, no matter how it was obtained.
5. To reduce the risk of shared passwords, employees should not post passwords on or near workstations or share passwords with anyone.
6. It is the employee’s responsibility to change a password immediately if it has been compromised or revealed inadvertently.
7. Attempts to fraudulently log on to any network as a system administrator or another user shall result in immediate cancellation of user privileges and the offender may be subject to further disciplinary action.
8. Any user identified as a security risk, or having a history of problems with other computer systems, may be denied access to the service.
   
   

Access to Information

Access to any student or employee information (in any format) shall be determined based on specific job requirements.

1. The appropriate principal or supervisor shall be responsible for ensuring that access is granted only to authorized individuals, based on their jobresponsibilities.
2. Written authorization must be received by the Technology Department prior to granting system access.
3. An employee shall be prohibited from viewing or accessing additional information (in any format) unless that person has been authorized to do so. Any access obtained without authorization shall be considered unauthorized access and may subject the person to disciplinary action including suspension or termination from employment.
4. In order to prevent unauthorized use, the user shall log out of all applications that are sensitive in nature, such as employee/student personal information, when leaving their workstation. This is especially important during breaks, lunch and at the end of the workday. 
5. Upon termination or transfer of an employee, written notification shall be sent by the Personnel Office to the Technology Department, which will then modify or delete access as appropriate.
6. Generally, temporary employees should not have access to the St. Mary Parish School Board records system. Written authorization from the Personnel Supervisor or the Superintendent must be received by the Technology Department prior to granting system access for a temporary employee. Temporary employees shall be held to the same standards as all School Board employees and must be made aware of their responsibilities to protect student and employee privacy rights and data integrity. 
7. Each employee shall agree to properly secure and dispose of any output or files in a manner that fully protects the confidentiality of records.
    

VANDALISM

Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges or other disciplinary action including suspension or termination of employment. Vandalism is defined as any attempted or actual harm or destruction of the data of another user or other networks connected to  the  Internet. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses, attempts to tamper with any programs, applications, files, and so forth.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

The following regulations, terms, and conditions for the use of computers and other technology equipment and the School Board’s network and Internet resources are not all­ inclusive, but are only representative and illustrative. A user who commits an act of misconduct or inappropriateness which is not listed may also be subject to disciplinary action or suspension, or termination, or be subject to appropriate criminal or civil prosecution. The Superintendent of St. Mary Parish School Board shall decide what is inappropriate use and such decision shall be final.

1. The user shall abide by such laws, policies, regulations, and procedures concerning technology use in the St. Mary Parish School System. 
2. In general, employees shall communicate with telecommunication tools in a professional manner consistent with state laws and district policies governing the behavior of school employees and with federal laws governing copyright and conduct with juveniles. 
   1. Electronic mail and telecommunications should not be utilized to share confidential information about pupils or district employees. This shall not apply to the pupil database programs or other district administrative data such as IEP information, student attendance, student discipline, etc.
   2. All electronic or other communications between employees and students at any time shall be expected to be professional, acceptable in content to any reasonable person, and limited to information that is school­related or is acceptable to both student and parent. Employees are required to report to their supervisors at the first opportunity available, any student­initiated communication that may be construed as inappropriate in content, including, but not limited to, anything that may be considered derogatory, sexual or lewd in content, threatening or harassing, discriminatory, simple fraternization, or suggestive in nature. Likewise, employees’ communications with students shall not contain any content that may be construed as inappropriate, including but not limited to, anything that may be considered derogatory, sexual or lewd in content, threatening or harassing, discriminatory, simple fraternization, or suggestive in nature.
3. Communication over networks shall not be considered to be private. 
   1. The district network administrator(s) from time to time shall review directories, stored record files, electronic communications, including e­mail transmissions, to ascertain compliance with network guidelines. 
   2. Complaints about employee misuse may result in a complete and thorough investigation utilizing all technological tools available (i.e., real­time monitoring, screen captures, file analysis, etc.)
   3. The network administrator(s) may delete files which are not kept to a manageable storage level.
4. Teachers, administrators, and others who make decisions regarding student access to the Internet shall, in making such decisions, at all times consider the district's stated educational mission and all policies and regulations.
   1. To the extent possible, students’ use of the Internet shall be structured in ways which point pupils to those resources that have been evaluated prior to use.
   2. Students utilizing district-­provided Internet access shall be supervised by district professional staff.
   3. Students shall not be allowed to utilize electronic communications unless an annually signed consent form is on file.
5. Computer users shall observe the following etiquette at all times while using any computer or the Board’s technology network.
   1. Users shall exhibit polite behavior. 
   2. Users shall not post defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually­ oriented, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials or pictures. 
   3. Users shall not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.
   4. Users shall not intentionally disrupt the network of other users.
   5. Users must respect the privacy of others. 
   6. Users shall not harass, insult or attack others. 
   7. Users shall demonstrate respect and care for the equipment. 
   8. Users shall keep food, drink, gum, and magnets away from the computers. 
   9. Users shall not post private information about another person. 
   10. Users shall not post any message that was sent privately without permission of the person who sent the message. 
   11. Users shall not engage in personal attacks or discriminatory attacks. 
   12. Users shall limit the use of the system to educational activities. 
   13. Users shall not download files without approval. 
   14. Users shall not post or forward chain letters or send annoying or unnecessary messages to a large number of people. 
   15. Users shall not intentionally waste the limited resources of the system by overuse. 
   16. Users shall not use the system for personal or commercial use. 
6. In consideration for the privilege of using the system, the user shall release the Mary Parish School Board from any and all claims arising from the use/inability to use the technology systems and networks.
7. The user shall agree to indemnify the Mary Parish School Board for any loss suffered to the Board by reason of improper use of the system, and to compensate anyone harmed by the improper use of the system.
8. The information provided through the technology systems and networks shall be offered as a service and shall not be a substitute for individual professional consultation. 
9. The proper use of any user ID/password which may be assigned is the ultimate responsibility of the individual whose name it has been assigned. User ID's and passwords are not to be shared under any circumstances.
    

CONSEQUENCES OF INAPPROPRIATE USE

1. The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use may result in the temporary or permanent cancellation of that privilege and/or other disciplinary action (including suspension, expulsion, or legal action) as deemed appropriate by administration, faculty, and staff. Inappropriate use of the network may also result in legal action and/or prosecution, and may require restitution for costs associated with system restoration, hardware, or software costs.
2. No information on the network (including email and personal files) is guaranteed to be private. Information relating to or in support of illegal activities must be reported to the authorities and shall be dealt with accordingly. 
3. Users bringing illegal and/or inappropriate materials onto the network shall be subject to disciplinary action. 
   
   

DISCLAIMER

The St. Mary Parish School Board 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  vendor­supplied  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 error­free, nor that defects will be corrected. Opinions, advice, services, and all other information expressed by system users, information providers, service providers, or other third party individuals in the system are those of the providers and not necessarily the School Board.

The School Board will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation concerning or relating to misuse of the School Board’s computer systems and networks.

New policy: March, 2009 Approved: June 11, 2009

Ref:     La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81,17:100.7 Board minutes, 6­11­09

St. Mary Parish School Board