CENTRAL COLUMBIA SCHOOL DISTRICT

POLICY FOR ACCEPTABLE USE OF TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES                      5413

5413   Board supports use of the Internet and other computer networks in the district's instructional and operational programs in order to facilitate learning, teaching, daily operations through interpersonal communications and access to information, research and collaboration.  For instructional purposes, the use of network facilities shall be consistent with the curriculum adopted by the school district as well as the varied instructional needs, learning styles, abilities, and developmental levels of students.

               5413.1     The electronic information available to students and staff does not imply endorsement by the district of the content, nor does the district guarantee the accuracy of information received. The district shall not be responsible for any information that may be lost, damaged or unavailable when using the network or for any information that is retrieved via the Internet.

         5413.2     The district shall not be responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting from access to the Internet.

               5413.3     The district reserves the right to log network use and to monitor fileserver space utilization by district users, while respecting the privacy rights of both district users and outside users.

               5413.4     The Board establishes that network use is a privilege, not a right.  Inappropriate, unauthorized and illegal use will result in cancellation of those privileges and appropriate disciplinary action.

               5413.5     The Board shall establish a list of materials, in addition to those stated in law, which are inappropriate for access by minors, including:

                            5413.5.a    ADULT: Material labeled by its author or publisher as being strictly for adults.  (Examples:  “Adults Only”, “You must be 18 to visit this site”, “Registration is allowed only for people 18 or older”, “You must be of legal drinking age to visit this site”.)

                            5413.5.b    ALCOHOL: Advocating or promoting recreational use of alcohol.  (See also “Adults Only”.)

                            5413.5.c     CHAT: Chat sites, services that allow short messages to be sent to others immediately in real time.  Downloadable chat software.  (See also “Moderated”.)

                            5413.5.d    DISCRIM: Advocating discrimination against others based on race, religion, gender, ancestry, age, sex, national origin or non-job-related handicap or disability.

                            5413.5.e    DRUGS: Advocating or promoting recreational use of any controlled substance.  (Also see “Illegal”.)

                            5413.5.f      FREEMAIL: Sites that offer e-mail accounts over the Web for free.  Such sites can expose users to harmful content delivered via e-mail file attachments.  Blocking such sites also helps to enforce local acceptable-use policies when e-mail is already provided locally to users.

                            5413.5.g    FREEPAGES: Sites where home page space is offered for free.  These sites historically have done nothing to prevent capricious abuse of their services by users who post offensive content under multiple pseudonyms, making them difficult to track.  Individual pages that have been reviewed by on such sites are removed from this category, but filed under other categories as necessary.

                            5413.5.h     GAMBLING: Gambling services, or information relevant primarily to gambling.

                            5413.5.i       GROSS: Bodily functions.  Tasteless humor.  Some extreme forms of body modification (cutting, branding, genital piercing).

                            5413.5.j      ILLEGAL: Advocating, promoting, or giving advice on carrying out acts widely considered illegal.  This includes lock-picking, bomb-making, fraud, breaching computer security (“hacking”), phone service theft (“phreaking”), pirated software archives, or evading law enforcement.

                            5413.5.k     LANGUAGE: Crude, vulgar, or obscene language or gestures.

                            5413.5.l      LINGERIE: Models in lingerie (except those that qualify for “Nudity”).

                            5413.5.m   NUDITY: Bare or visible genitalia, pubic hair, buttocks, female breast, etc.  (See also Swimsuits, Lingerie, Sex, and Pornography.)

                            5413.5.n     PERSONALINFO: Sites that gather personal information (name, address, phone number, etc.).

                            5413.5.o    PERSONALS: Personal advertisements, including “mail-order brides.”  (See also “Adults Only”.)

                            5413.5.p    PORN: Material intended to be sexually arousing or erotic.  (See also “Sex and Nudity”.)

                            5413.5.q    SCHOOLCHEAT: Any site that promotes plagiarism or similar cheating among students (such as by offering term papers, exam keys, etc.).

                            5413.5.r     SEX: Images or descriptions of sexual activity.  Any sexual merchandise.  Sexual fetishism.  (See also “Pornography” and “Nudity”.)

                            5413.5.s     SUIDER: Information on committing murder or suicide.

                            5413.5.t      TOBACCO: Advocating or promoting recreational use of tobacco.  (See also “Adults Only”.)

                            5413.5.u     VIOLENCE: Graphic images or written descriptions of wanton violence or grave injury (mutilation, maiming, dismemberment, etc.).  Includes graphically violent games.

                            5413.5.v     WEAPONS: Information on use of illegal or terroristic weapons, weapon collecting, or weapon making used specifically for terrorist acts.

5413.6         The district shall make every effort to ensure that students and staff use this resource responsibly.

5413.7         Administrators, teachers and staff have a professional responsibility to work together to help students develop the intellectual skills necessary to discriminate among information sources, to identify information appropriate to their age and developmental levels, and to evaluate and use the information to meet their educational goals.

5413.8         Students and staff have the responsibility to respect and protect the rights of every other user in the district and on the Internet.

5413.9         The building administrator shall have the authority to determine what is inappropriate use.

5413.10     The Superintendent or designee shall be responsible for implementing technology and procedures to determine whether the district's computers are being used for purposes prohibited by law or for accessing sexually explicit materials. The procedure shall include but not be limited to:

5413.10.a     Utilizing a technology protection measure that blocks or filters Internet access for minors and adults to certain visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, harmful to minors with respect to use by minors, or determined inappropriate for use by minors by the Board.

5413.10.b     Maintaining and securing a usage log of

                       activities in general.

5413.10.c     Monitoring online activities of minors of activities in general.

5413.11     Only the authorized owner of the account shall use network accounts for its approved purpose. All communications and information accessible via the network should be assumed to be private property and shall not be disclosed. Network users shall respect the privacy of other users on the system.

5413.12     Students and staff are expected to act in a responsible, ethical and legal manner in accordance with district policy, accepted rules of network etiquette, and federal and state law. Specifically, the following uses are prohibited:

5413.12.a   Illegal activity.

5413.12.b   Commercial or for-profit purposes.

5413.12.c    Product advertisement or political lobbying.

5413.12.d   Hate mail, discriminatory remarks, and offensive or inflammatory communication.

5413.12.e   Unauthorized or illegal installation, distribution, reproduction, or use of copyrighted materials.

5413.12.f     Access to obscene or pornographic material or child pornography.

5413.12.g   Access by students and minors to material that is harmful to minors or is determined inappropriate for minors in accordance with Board policy.

5413.12.h    Inappropriate language or profanity.

5413.12.i     Transmission of material likely to be offensive or objectionable to recipients.

5413.12.j     Intentional obtaining or modifying of files, passwords, and data belonging to other users.

5413.12.k    Impersonation of another user, anonymity, and pseudonyms.

5413.12.l     Fraudulent copying, communications, or modification of materials in violation of copyright laws.

5413.12.m  Loading or using of unauthorized games, programs, files, or other electronic media.

5413.12.n    Disruption of the work of other users.

5413.12.o   Destruction, modification, abuse or unauthorized access to network hardware, software and files.

5413.12.p   Degrading or disrupting equipment or system performance.

5413.12.q   Invading the privacy of other individuals by accessing and/or vandalizing their computerized data.

5413.12.r    Wasting technology resources including bandwidth, file space, and printers.

5413.12.s    Providing, assisting in, or gaining unauthorized or inappropriate access to the district's technology resources, including any type of voice, video, or data information server.

5413.12.t     Posting personal communications without the author's consent.

5413.12.u    Interfering with the operation of the network by installing illegal software, shareware, or freeware.

                                                                                                        Adopted:  November 17, 1997

                                                                                                       Revised:  September 17, 2001