ACCEPTABLE COMPUTER SYSTEM USE
The School Board provides a
computer system, including the internet, to promote educational excellence by
facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication. The term computer system includes
hardware, software, data, communication lines and devices, terminals, printers,
CD-ROM devices, tape drives, servers, mainframe and personal computers, the
internet and other internal or external networks.
All use of the Division’s
computer system must be (1) in support of education and/or research, or (2) for
legitimate school business. Use of
the computer system is a privilege, not a right. The Division Superintendent shall
establish administrative procedures, for the School Board’s approval, containing
the appropriate uses, ethics and protocol for the computer system, including the
prohibition of illegal material, prevention of access to material that the
school division deems to be harmful to juveniles as defined in Va. Code sections
18.2-390 and measures to enforce this policy and regulation including the
selection of a technology for the division’s computers having Internet access to
filter or block Internet access through such computers to child pornography as
set out in Va. Code section 18.2-374.1:1 and obscenity as defined in Va. Code
section 18.2-372. Any communication
or material used on the computer system, including electronic mail or other
files deleted from a user’s account may be monitored or read by school
officials.
Use of the School Division’s
computer system shall be consistent with the educational or instructional
mission or administrative function of the Division as well as the varied
instructional needs, learning styles, abilities and developmental levels of
students. The Division’s computer
system is not a public forum.
Each teacher, administrator,
student and parent/guardian of each student shall sign the Acceptable Computer
System Use Agreement, IIBEA-E2, before using the Division’s computer
system. The failure of any student,
teacher or administrator or follow the terms of the Agreement, this policy or
accompanying regulation may result in loss of computer system privileges,
disciplinary action, and/or appropriate legal action.
The School Board is not
responsible for any information that may be lost, damaged or unavailable when
using the computer system or for any information retrieved via the
Internet. Furthermore, the School
Board will not be responsible for any unauthorized changes or fees resulting
from access to the computer system.
The Division Superintendent
shall submit to the Virginia Department of Education this policy and
accompanying regulation biennially.
Adopted:
August 10, 1998
Amended:
August 13, 2001
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Legal Refs: The
Communications Decency Act of 1995, 47 U.S.C. 201 et
seq.
All use of the Westmoreland
County Public School Division’s computer system shall be consistent with the
School Board’s goal of promoting educational excellence by facilitating resource
sharing, innovation and communication. The term computer system includes
hardware, software, data, communication lines and devices, terminals, printers,
CD-ROM devices, tape drives, servers, mainframe and personal computers, the
internet and any other internal or external network.
Computer System Use-Terms and
Conditions:
1. Acceptable Use. Access to the Division’s computer system
shall be (1) for the purposes of education
or research and be consistent with the educational objectives
of the Division or (2) for legitimate
school business.
2. Privilege. The use of the Division’s computer
system is a privilege, not a right.
3. Unacceptable Use. Each user is responsible for his or her
actions on the computer system.
Prohibited
conduct includes:
• using the network
for any illegal activity, including violation of copyright or other contracts,
or
transmitting any material in violation of any
federal, state or local law.
•
sending, receiving, viewing or downloading illegal material via the
computer system.
• unauthorized downloading of software.
• downloading copyrighted
material for unauthorized use.
• using the computer
system for private financial or commercial gain.
• wastefully using resources, such as file
space.
• gaining unauthorized
access to resources or entities.
•
posting material authorized or created by another without his or her
consent.
• using the computer
system for commercial or private advertising.
• submitting, posting,
publishing or displaying any obscene, profane, threatening, illegal or
other inappropriate
material.
• using the computer
system while access privileges are suspended or revoked.
• vandalizing the
computer system, including destroying data by creating or spreading viruses or
by other means.
4. Network Etiquette. Each user is expected to abide by
generally accepted rules of etiquette, including
the following:
• Be
polite.
• Users shall not
forge, intercept or interfere with electronic mail
messages.
• Use appropriate
language. The use of obscene, lewd,
profane, threatening or disrespectful language is
prohibited.
• Users shall not
post personal contact information about themselves or
others.
• Users shall
respect the computer system’s resource limits.
• Users shall not
post chain letters or download large files.
• Users shall not
use the computer system to disrupt others.
• Users shall not
read, modify or delete data owned by others.
5. Liability. The School Board makes no warranties for
the computer system it provides.
The School
Board shall not be
responsible for any damages to the user for use of the computer system,
including
loss of data, non-delivery or missed delivery of information,
or service interruptions. The
School
Division denies any
responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through
the
computer system.
The user agrees to indemnify the School Board for any losses, costs or
damages
incurred by the School Board relating to or arising out of
any violation of these procedures.
6. Security. Computer system security is a high
priority for the school division.
If any user identifies a
security problem, the user shall notify the building
principal or system administrator immediately. All
users shall keep their passwords confidential and shall
follow computer virus protection procedures.
7. Vandalism. Intentional destruction of any part of
the computer system through creating or
downloading computer viruses or by any other means is
prohibited.
8. Charges. The School Division assumes no
responsibility for any unauthorized charges or fees as a
result of using the computer system, including telephone or
long distance charges.
9. Electronic Mail. The School Division’s electronic mail
system is owned and controlled by the School
Division. The
School Division may provide electronic mail to aid students and staff in
fulfilling their
duties and as an education tool. Electronic mail is not private and may
be monitored and accessed by
the School Division.
Unauthorized access to an electronic mail account by any student or
employee is
prohibited.
Users shall be held personally liable for the content of any electronic
message they create.
Downloading any file
attached to an electronic message is prohibited unless the user is certain of
that
message’s authenticity and the nature of the
file.
10. Enforcement. This procedure and the policy it
supports shall be enforced by monitoring information
on the School Division’s computer system. To protect students, software will be
installed on the
division’s computers having Internet access to filter or
block internet access through such computers to
child pornography as set out in Va. Code 18.2-374.1:1 and
obscenity as defined in Va. Code section
18.2-372 and may
be installed on the computer system to block other obscene/illegal material as
well
as material that the school division deems to be harmful to
juveniles. Any violation of these
regulations shall result in loss of computer system
privileges and may also result in appropriate
disciplinary action, as determined by School Board policy, or
legal action.
Adopted:
September 13, 1999
Amended:
August 13, 2001
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Legal Refs: Code
of Virginia, 1950, as amended, 22.1-70.2 and 22.1-78.
Cross Refs:
JFC-R, Standards of Student
Conduct