Network Use

1. All use of the system must be in support of education and research and consistent with the mission of the district. District reserves the right to prioritize use and access to the system. Personal use must be of a reasonable duration and frequency and should be made before or after class times, during lunch or other authorized breaks.

2. Any use of the system must be in conformity to state and federal law, K-20 Network policies, and district policy. Use of the system for soliciting business, advertising, or engaging in other selling activities for personal financial gain, or in support of private business or commercial enterprises, or for fundraising activities (other than those sanctioned by school district approval) is prohibited.

3. The system constitutes public facilities and may not be used to support or oppose political candidates or ballot measures.

4. No use of the system shall serve to disrupt the operation of the system by others; system components including hardware or software shall not be destroyed, modified, or abused in any way.

5. Malicious use of the system to develop programs or institute practices that harass other users or gain unauthorized access to any entity on the system and/or damage the components of an entity on the network is prohibited.

6. Users are responsible for the appropriateness of the material they transmit over the system. Storing, processing displaying, sending, downloading, or otherwise transmitting offensive or obscene language or material is expressly prohibited. Offensive material includes, but is not limited to “hate literature” such as racist literature, materials, or symbols, and other harassing materials, hate mail, discriminatory remarks, or other antisocial behaviors. Obscene material includes sexually explicit materials.

7. Use of the system to access, store, or distribute obscene or pornographic material is prohibited.

8. Subscriptions to mailing lists, bulletin boards, chat groups, and commercial on-line services and other information services must be pre-approved by the superintendent or technology coordinator. Unapproved use of Internet email accounts, chat, online games, peer-to-peer clients, high bandwidth applications or other messaging systems is prohibited.

Security

9. System logins or accounts are to be used only by the authorized owner of the account for the authorized purpose. Users may not share their account number or password with another person or leave an open file or session unattended or unsupervised. Account owners are ultimately responsible for all activity under their account.

10 . Users shall not seek information on, obtain copies of, or modify files, other data, or passwords belonging to other users; misrepresent other users on the system; or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any entity on the K-20 Network.

11. Communications may not be encrypted so as to avoid security review. Each user acknowledges and consents that Touchet School District officials may access, review, delete, copy, modify, disclose, and otherwise use any electronic data, information or communication on the systems. The user will be notified of any pending action.

12. Users should change passwords with the Technology Coordinator regularly and avoid easily guessed passwords.

Personal Security

13. Personal information such as complete names, addresses, telephone numbers and identifiable photos should remain confidential when communicating on the system. Students should never reveal such information without permission from their teacher and parent or guardian.

14. Students should never make appointments to meet people in person whom they have contacted on the system without district and parent permission.

15. Students should notify their teacher or other adult whenever they come across information or messages they deem dangerous or inappropriate.

16. Touchet School District will make every reasonable attempt to limit access to inappropriate material by using an Internet filtering system, and providing teacher training. However, it is the personal responsibility of all staff and students to use the system in a manner that is appropriate and ensures their own personal security.

Copyright

17. The unauthorized installation, use, storage, or distribution of copyrighted software or materials on district computers is prohibited. This shall include any licensed software both shareware and freeware. All users of the K-20 Network shall comply with current copyright laws. Completion of “New Software Installation” Form and submission of said form to the Technology Coordinator for approval is required prior to installation.

General Use

18. Diligent effort must be made to conserve system resources. For example, users should frequently delete E-mail and unused files, and users should promptly disconnect videoconferences on completion.

19. Computer vandalism is subject to disciplinary action. Vandalism includes but is not limited to: modification of system setup; theft of data, equipment or intellectual property; intentional disruption of network traffic; crashing the network or connected systems; or degrading or disrupting equipment or system performance; forging electronic mail messages; use of an account owned by another user; attaining unauthorized access to information; committing software piracy or hacking.

20. No person shall have access to the K-20 Network without having received appropriate training, and a signed Individual User Release Form must be on file with the district. In addition, students under the age of 18 must have the approval of a parent or guardian.

21. Nothing in these regulations is intended to preclude the supervised use of the network while under the direction of a teacher or other approved user acting in conformity with district policy and procedure.

From time to time, the district will make a determination on whether specific uses of the K-20 Network are consistent with the regulations stated above. Under prescribed circumstances non-student or staff use may be permitted, provided such individuals demonstrate that their use furthers the purpose and goals of the district. For security and administrative purposes the district reserves the right for authorized personnel to review network use and content. The district reserves the right to remove an individual’s network access privileges to prevent further unauthorized activity.

Violation of any of the conditions of use may be cause for disciplinary action. Violation by staff may result in the initiation of disciplinary action against them in accordance with district policy and against students consistent with attached discipline policy.

The Touchet School District network may be monitored for all lawful purposes, including ensuring their use is authorized, for management of the system, to facilitate protection against unauthorized access, and to verify security procedures, survivability, and security. Monitoring includes, but is not limited to, active attacks by authorized entities to test or verify the security of this system. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied and used for authorized purposes. All information, including personal information, placed on or sent over this system may be monitored. Use of the Touchet School District network constitutes consent to monitoring. Unauthorized use of the Touchet School District network may subject you to criminal prosecution. Evidence of unauthorized use collected during monitoring may be used for administrative, criminal or other adverse action. Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring for all lawful purposes. There maybe legal ramification for violations of this policy.

The contents of this page are maintained by Mark Perkins. For questions, comments, or corrections, please use this email link or the webmaster link below. .