ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR

Central School Corporation COMPUTER SYSTEM AND THE INTERNET

 

 

STUDENT USE

 

RATIONALE

 

In an effort to provide students the vast resources accessible through a computerized information resource system such as the Internet, Central School Corporation believes it is necessary for all users to become aware of an acceptable use policy.  The benefit of having access to resources from all over the world must be weighed against objectionable materials found on the Internet.  In essence we must balance value with liability.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY

 

Student use of school computers or the Central School Corporation Computer System (CSCCS) will be reserved for academic or administrative use.  All students using a school computer or CSCCS  located on school property, or computers accessing he Internet will be held accountable for their use.  This includes, but is not limited to, (a) unauthorized use resulting in expense to the school or school system; (b) equipment damage; (c) use of unauthorized software; (d) privacy and copyrights; (e) tampering; (f) accessing obscene and objectionable materials; (g) sending or soliciting inflammatory, abusive, harassing, vulgar, or obscene messages or language; and (h) any action that is deemed inappropriate by the supervisory personnel.  Files on the network (CSCCS) will be treated as district property subject to control and inspection, rather than private property, which cannot be searched without just cause.  Access codes and passwords will be assigned by the CSCCS administrator.  The Principal and/or his/her designee will keep records of these accounts in case an inspection is warranted.

 

UNAUTHORIZED AND ILLEGAL USE

 

Students should be under the supervision of a teacher, monitor, principal, librarian, or supervisor while using the CSCCS or any school computer.  Tampering with selection menus, procedures, or icons for the purpose of misleading or confusing other users is prohibited.  Any use by any person of the CSCCS that incurs expenses to the school or school system other than the regular monthly fees and rates are strictly prohibited. 

 

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

 

If an account system is used, students will have full responsibility for the use of their account.  All violations of this policy that can be traced to an individual account name will be treated as the sole responsibility of the owner of that account.  Under no conditions should an account code or password be given to another user.  Impersonations, pseudonyms, and anonymity are not permitted.  Real names must be used.

 

COPYRIGHTS AND PRIVACY

 

All students must adhere to copyright rules regarding software, authorship, and copying information.  The unauthorized copying or transfer of copyrighted materials may result in the loss of network privileges.  Re-posting personal communications without the original author’s prior consent is prohibited.  To do this is a violation of the author’s privacy.  However, all messages posted in a public forum such as newsgroups or listservers (a means of broadcasting E-mail message for the purpose of maintaining a discussion list) may be copied in subsequent communications, so long as proper attribution is given.  All E-mail must be deleted as soon as possible after reading it in order to conserve file space.

 

Students are not to access information and files belonging to other staff members, teachers, or students.  This includes grades, counseling information, information, schedules, discipline records, transcripts, test scores, health records, special education records, E-mail, word processing files, and any information protected by law [R.S. 17:1941 and Section 438, PL 93-380].