General User Policy



ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT

 

Individual User Responsibilities

 

The following standards will apply to all users of the District’s electronic information/communications systems:

 

ON-LINE CONDUCT

1.      The individual in whose name a system account is issued will be responsible at all times for its proper use.

2.      The system may not be used for illegal purposes, in support of illegal activities, or for any other activity prohibited by District policy or guidelines

3.      System users may not disable, or attempt to disable, a filtering device on the District’s electronic communications system

4.      Communications may not be encrypted so as to avoid security review by system administrators

5.      System users may not use another person’s system account without written permission from the campus administrator or District Coordinator, as appropriate.

6.      Students may no0t distribute personal information about themselves or others by means of the electronic communications system; this includes, but is not limited to, personal addresses and telephone numbers.

7.      Students should never make appointments to meet people whom they meet on-line and should report to a teacher or administrator if they receive any request for such a meeting.

8.      System users must purge electronic mail in accordance with established retention guidelines.

9.      System users may not redistribute copyrighted programs or data except with the written permission of the copyright holder or designee. Such permission must be specified in the document or must be obtained directly from the copyright holder or designee in accordance with applicable copyright laws, District policy, and administrative regulations.

10.  System users should avoid actions are likely to increase the risk of introducing viruses to the system, such as opening e-mail messages from unknown senders and loading data from unprotected computers.

11.  System users may upload public domain programs to the system. System users may also download public domain programs for their own use but may not commercially redistribute a public domain program. System users are responsible for determining whether a program is in the public domain.

12.  System users may not send or post messages that are abusive, obscene, pornographic, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another’s reputation, or illegal.

13.  System users may not purposefully access materials that are abusive, obscene, pornographic, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another’s reputation, or illegal.

14.  System users should be mindful that use of school-related electronic mail addresses might cause some recipients or other readers of that mail to assume they represent the District or School, whether or not that was the user’s intention.

15.  System users may not waste District resources related to the electronic communications system.

16.  System users may not gain unauthorized access to resources or information.

 

VANDALISM OR PROHIBITED

 

Any malicious attempt to harm or destroy District equipment, data, or the data of another user of the District’s system or of any of the agencies or other networks that are connected to the internet is prohibited. Deliberate attempts to degrade or disrupt system performance are violations of the District policy and administrative regulations and may constitute criminal activity under applicable state and federal laws. Such prohibited activity includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creating of computer viruses.

 

Vandalism as defined above will result in the cancellation of system use privileges and will require restitution for costs associated with system restoration, as well as other appropriate consequences.

 

 

FORGERY PROHIBITED

 

Forgery or attempted forgery of electronic mail messages is prohibited. Attempts to read, delete, copy, or modify the electronic mail of other system users, deliberate interference with the ability of other system users to send/receive electronic mail, or the use of another person’s user ID and/or password is prohibited.

 

INFORMATION CONTENT/THIRD-PARTY SUPPLIED INFORMATION

 

System users and parents of students with access to the District’s should be aware that, despite the District’s use of technology protection measures as required by law, use of the system may provide access to other electronic communication systems in the global electronic network that may contain inaccurate and /or objectionable material.

 

An employee/student who gains access to such material is expected to discontinue the access as quickly as possible and to report the incident to a teacher/administrator.

 

An employee/student knowingly bringing prohibited materials into the school’s electronic environment will be subject to suspension of access and/or revocation of privileges on the District’s system and will be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct/District policies.

 

PARTICIPATION IN CHAT ROOMS

 

No participation in any chat room accessed on the Internet is permissible for students or employees.

 

NETWORK ETTIQUETE

 

System users are expected to observe the following network etiquette.

1.      Be polite; messages typed in capital letters are the computer equivalent of shouting and are considered rude.

2.      Use appropriate language; swearing, vulgarity, ethic or racial slurs, and any other inflammatory language are prohibited.

3.      Pretending to be someone else when sending/receiving messages is considered inappropriate.

4.      Transmitting obscene messages or pictures is prohibited.

5.      Be considerate when sending attachments with e-mail by considering whether a file may be too large to be accommodated by the recipient’s system or may be in a format unreadable by the recipient.

6.      Using the network in such a way that would disrupt the use of the network by other users is prohibited.

 

TERMINATION/REVOCATION OF SYSTEM USER ACCOUNT

 

Termination of an employee’s or a student’s access for violation of District policies or regulations will be effective on the date the principal or District coordinator receives notice of user withdrawal or of revocation of system privileges, or on a future date if so specified in the notice.

 

DISCLAIMER

 

The District’s system is provided on an “as is, as available” basis. The District does not make any warranties, whether express or implied, including, without limitation, those of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any services provided by the system and any information or software contained therein.  The District does not warrant that the functions or services performed by, or that the information or software contained on the system will meet the system user’s requirements, or that the system will be uninterrupted or error free, or 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 the district.

 


TENAHA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

EMPLOYEE AGREEMENT FOR ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

 

You are being given access to the District’s electronic communications system.

Through this system, you will be able to communicate with other schools, colleges, organizations, and people around the world through the Internet and other electronic information systems/networks. You will have access to hundred of databases, libraries, and computer services all over the world.

With this opportunity comes responsibility. It is important that: you read the District policy, administrative regulations, and agreement form and ask questions if you need help in understanding them.

Inappropriate system use will result in the loss of the privilege of using this educational and administrative tool.

 

Please note that the Internet is a network of many types of communication and information networks. It is possible that you may run across some material you might find objectionable. While the District will use filtering technology to restrict access to such material, it is not possible to absolutely prevent such access. It will be your responsibility to follow the rules for appropriate use.

 

RULE FOR APPROPRIATE USE

 

The account is to be used mainly for educational purposes, but some limited personal use is permitted.

 

You will be held responsible at all times for the proper use of your account, and the District may suspend or revoke your access if you violate the rules.

 

Remember that people who receive e-mail from you with a school address might think your message represents the school’s point of view.

 

INAPPROPRIATE USES

 

Using the system for any illegal purpose

Disabling or attempting to disable any Internet filtering device

Encrypting communications to avoid security review

Borrowing someone’s account without permission

Downloading or using copyrighted information without permission from the copyright holder

Intentionally introducing a virus to the computer system

Posting messages or accessing materials that are abusive, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another’s reputation, or illegal

 

Wasting school resources through improper use of the computer system

Gaining unauthorized access to restricted information or resources

 

CONSEQUENCES FOR INAPPROPRIATE USE

 

Suspension of access to the system; Revocation of the computer system account; or other disciplinary or legal action, in accordance with the District policies and applicable laws.

 

 

I understand that my computer use is not private and that the District will monitor my activity on the computer system.

 

I have read the District’s electronic communications system policy and administrative regulations and agree to abide by their provisions. In consideration for the privilege of using the District’s electronic communications system and in consideration for having access to the public networks, I hereby release the District, it’s operators, and any institutions with which they are affiliated from any and all claims and damages of any nature arising from my use of, or inability to use, the system, including, without limitation, the type of damages identified in the District’s policy and administrative regulations.