Roma Independent School District
Acceptable Use Policy
I. General
Mission
Statement
Effective performance of computer and telecommunications
networks, whether local or global, relies upon end users adhering to
established standards of proper conduct.
The mission of this Acceptable Use Policy (“Policy” or “AUP”) is to
define the responsibilities of Roma Independent School District (“Roma ISD” or
“District”) employees and students (collectively, “Users”) using computer,
network and Internet resources (the “System”).
In general, this requires efficient, ethical, and legal utilization of
network resources. If a User violates
any of these provisions, his or her access to the District’s System will be
denied and disciplinary action will be taken.
The System, as with any other public resource, demands those entrusted
with the privilege of its use be accountable.
Use of the District’s System during school and business hours must be
(1) in support of education and/or research or (2) for school
business, and (3) must support the mission of the District and (4) be
in accordance with all School Board Policies and school regulations. Use of the District’s System is a privilege,
not a right.
Scope of
AUP
This Policy addresses the acceptable conduct of both
District students and employees. This
Policy is meant to augment and not usurp other District policies regarding
employee or student conduct.
This Policy will govern the use of all District System
resources owned, leased, in the possession of, or otherwise provided by the
District. Such resources include but
are not limited to hardware, software, firmware, and Internet or network
access. Additionally, all personal
electronic devices will be governed by this Policy when such devices are
connected to any portion of the District’s System.
II. Acceptable Conduct and
User Obligations
General
Use of the District’s System is limited to educational
purposes which include, but are not limited to, pursuing and promoting official
District business, promoting educational excellence, resource sharing,
facilitating innovative instruction and communication and preparing students to
live and work in an increasingly technology-oriented society by providing them
with electronic access to a wide range of information and the ability to communicate
with others throughout the world.
Further, the System will enable employees to improve skills and
knowledge through the enhanced ability to exchange information with peers. The System will also assist the District in
sharing information with the community, including parents, local, state and
federal governmental departments, agencies, employees and businesses.
To ensure that all Users continue to benefit from the
District’s System, Users shall take affirmative steps to do the following:
1. Maintain
passwords. Users are responsible
for the use of their individual account and should take all precautions to
prevent others from being able to access their account. Users should never disclose their passwords
to others.
2. Report
Security Issues. Users will
immediately notify the District’s Technology Coordinator if they have
identified a possible security problem.
3. Respect
Resource Limits. Users will use the
District’s System only for educational and professional activities during
school and business hours. Any activity
that does not fall within the Mission of this AUP and which degrades or taxes
the System’s resources is strictly prohibited.
Examples of activities that degrade or tax System resources include, but
are not limited to, sending mass unsolicited and unwanted email (“Spam”);
attaching large files to email; and flooding servers.
4. Report
Abusive Behavior. Students will
promptly disclose to a teacher or other administrator or school employee any
message they receive that is inappropriate, offensive or makes them feel
uncomfortable.
III. Unacceptable Use
Users are prohibited from engaging in any behavior that is
inconsistent with the Mission outlined in this Policy. Actions that constitute unacceptable uses of
the District’s System include, but are not limited to:
1. Hacking. Users will not attempt to gain unauthorized
access to the District’s system or to any other computer system through the
District’s system, or go beyond their authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through
another account or accessing or attempting to access another person’s files
without authorization. These actions
are prohibited, even if the User’s intent is only to browse.
2. Spreading
Malicious Code/Destroying Data.
Users will not deliberately attempt to disrupt the District’s system
performance or destroy or alter other people’s data by spreading computer
viruses, worms, malicious code or by any other means.
3. Viewing
Obscene Material. Users will not
use the District’s system to access, send, receive, view or download any
obscene material or child pornography.
Pursuant to the District’s Internet Safety Policy, no student may
access, send, receive, view or download any material that is harmful to minors.
4. Infringing
Others’ Copyrights. Users will not
use the District’s system to send, receive or download any copyrighted material
for which they do not have a license to send, receive or download. Users will not receive or transmit any code,
key, or other device that is used to circumvent a copyright protection scheme.
5. Engaging in
Criminal Activity. Users will not
engage in any illegal act, or in an act in furtherance of an illegal act. Examples of such illegal acts include, but
are not limited to arranging for the sale/purchase of contraband, engaging in
criminal gang activity, transferring stolen credit card information, gambling,
or threatening the safety of another individual.
6. Annoying or
Attacking Others. Users will not
use the District’s System to annoy, harass, threaten, or stalk any other
person. Users will also not attack,
flood, or engage in any other behavior that disrupts another’s computer,
system, or network.
7. Chatting. Unless otherwise authorized to do so by
Faculty, Students may not use the District’s System to engage in any form of
real-time chatting. Examples of
software used for real-time chatting include, but are not limited to, AOL
Instant Messenger (AIM); Internet Relay Chat (IRC); ICQ; Yahoo Messenger; and Trillian.
8. Using
Inappropriate Language. Students
and employees will conduct themselves in a manner that is appropriate and
proper as representatives of the school District. Users will not use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude,
inflammatory, threatening or disrespectful language. Users will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial
or discriminatory attacks. Restrictions
against inappropriate language apply to public messages, private messages and
material posted on the Internet.
9. Engaging in
Tortious Conduct. Users may not
engage in any conduct that causes harm to others. Examples of such conduct include engaging in fraud or knowingly
or recklessly posting false or defamatory information about a person or
organization.
10. Committing
Plagiarism. Users will not use the District’s
System to take the ideas or writings of others and present them as if they were
original to the User. Users will use
proper methods of attribution.
IV. Privacy
1. Student
Privacy. Unless authorized by
Faculty (and then only if the attached “Release Form” has been properly
executed) may students publish personally
identifiable information about themselves or other students. Personally
identifiable information includes a student’s name, photograph, address,
and telephone number.
2. Search
and Seizure
Users have no right of privacy and should have no
expectation of privacy in materials sent, received or stored in District owned
computers or on the District’s System.
School officials reserve the right to review System use at any time to
determine if such use meets the criteria set forth in School Board Policies and
this AUP. Moreover, routine maintenance
and monitoring of the system may lead to the discovery that the User has or is
violating this Acceptable Use Policy, the Code of Student Conduct or other
School Board Policies and regulations governing student or employee discipline
or the law. Once a problem is
discovered, an individual search will be conducted when there is a reasonable
suspicion that the User has violated the law, the Code of Student Conduct or
School Board Policies or regulations governing student discipline. The nature of the search/investigation will
be reasonable and in keeping with the nature of the alleged misconduct.
Employees should be aware that their personal files may be
subject to public inspection and copying under the Texas Open Records Act.
V. Parental Notification
and Responsibility
The District will notify parents and legal guardians about
the District’s System and the School Board Policy and Acceptable Use Policy
governing its use. Parents must sign
this Acceptable Use Policy to allow their children to have access to the
Internet. Parents who do not want their
children to have access to the Internet may indicate so on this Acceptable Use
Policy. Parents and legal guardians
also have the right to revoke their permission and terminate a student’s
Internet access at any time.
The District will provide information to parents about the
filtering software used by the District, describe the filtering levels in place
at each level (elementary, middle and high school) and remind parents that the
District cannot transmit the social values of the family to each child.
VI. Disclaimer and
Limitation of Liability
Pursuant to the Children’s Internet Protection Act, Roma ISD
uses filtering software to screen Internet sites for offensive material. The Internet is a collection of thousands of
worldwide networks and organizations that contain millions of pages of
information. Users are cautioned that
many of these pages contain offensive, sexually explicit, and inappropriate
material, including, but not limited to the following categories: Adult
Content; Nudity; Sex; Gambling; Violence; Weapons; Hacking; Racism/Hate;
Tasteless; and Illegal/Questionable. In
general it is difficult to avoid at least some contact with this material while
using the Internet. Even innocuous
search requests may lead to sites with highly offensive content. Additionally, having an e-mail address on
the Internet may lead to receipt of unsolicited e-mail containing offensive
content. Users accessing the Internet
do so at their own risk. No filtering
software is one hundred percent effective and it is possible that the software
could fail. In the event that the
filtering software is unsuccessful and children or staff gain access to
inappropriate and/or harmful material, the District will not be liable. To minimize these risks, student use of the
Roma ISD System is governed by this Policy.
THE DISTRICT MAKES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY OR THROUGH
THE DISTRICT’S SYSTEM WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR WITHOUT DEFECT. The District will not be responsible for any
damage Users may suffer, including but not limited to, loss of data or interruptions
of service. The District is not
responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through or
stored on the system. The District will
not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized
use of the system.
VII. Due Process
The District will cooperate fully with local, state and
federal officials in any investigation concerning or relating to any illegal
activities conducted through the District’s system.
In the event that there is an allegation that a student
has violated this Acceptable Use Policy, the student will be provided with a
written notice of the alleged violation and an opportunity to present an
explanation before the District terminates his/her account privileges.
Disciplinary actions will be tailored to meet the specific
concerns related to the violation and to assist the student in gaining the
self-discipline necessary to behave appropriately on an electronic
network. If the alleged infraction
involves a violation of other provisions of the Code of Student Conduct or
other School Board Policies and District Regulations governing student
discipline, the violation will be handled in accordance with School Board
Policies.
Employees violating this Acceptable Use Policy are subject
to disciplinary action by the Superintendent or designee. Violations of this Acceptable Use Policy may
subject the employee to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal,
depending upon the nature of the violation.
Violations of this Acceptable Use Policy will also be addressed by the
Director of the Office of Technology who may terminate the system privileges of
an employee by giving written notice of the alleged violation and the
opportunity to respond.
I have read this Acceptable Use Policy and agree to abide
by the terms of this Acceptable Use Policy.
Signature:
Date:
PARENT OR GUARDIAN (If the User is under the age of 18, a
parent or guardian must also read and sign this agreement.)
As the parent or guardian of (Student’s Name)
_______________________________________, I have read the Roma ISD Acceptable
Use Policy. I understand that this
access is designed for educational purposes and that Roma ISD has taken
precautions to eliminate student access to certain material that may be
offensive or harmful to minors. I also
recognize, however, that it is impossible for Roma ISD to restrict access to
all offensive material, and I will not hold the District responsible for
material acquired on the network.
Further, I accept full responsibility for supervision of my child when
my child’s use of the Internet is not in a school setting.
I hereby (check one)
give permission for my child to
access the Internet.
do not give permission for my child to access the Internet.
Parent or Guardian (please
print):
Signature:___________________________________________ Date:
Acknowledgement of Copyright Ownership and License
Agreement
I understand that pursuant to 17
U.S.C. § 201(b) all original works created by me as an employee of the Roma
Independent School District (the “District”) within the course and scope of my
employment are “works made for hire” and that the copyrights to said works are
owned by the District.
I further understand and agree
that I may, from time to time, be allowed to use District property, such as
computers or software, to create original works that may fall outside the
course and scope of my employment. In
exchange for using the District property to create these works, I hereby grant
to the District an irrevocable royalty-free license to publish, reproduce,
display, perform, alter, create derivative works, or otherwise use these
original works in any manner in which the District sees fit.
RELEASE FORM FOR
PUBLICATION OF STUDENT WORKS
AND PERSONALLY
IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
Dear Parent:
Pursuant to the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; and 34 CFR Part 99, a school
district must obtain the written consent of a parent before disclosing certain
personally identifiable information about a student.
Roma ISD (the “District”)
requests your permission to publish certain information about your child on its
Internet web site, the Internet sites of groups affiliated with the District,
and/or through any other multi-media source.
Additionally, the District may
seek to publish work created by your child on its Internet web site, the
Internet site of groups affiliated with the District, and/or through any other
multi-media source.
If you agree to allow such
publication, please complete the form below and return it to the school
district. You are under no obligation
to provide consent.
I have read this Release and give Roma ISD permission to publish to the
general public those works created by my child and to further publish certain
personally identifiable information about my child or a photograph of my child
in an electronic format (be it on the District’s Internet web site, the web
site of any group affiliated with the District, or through any other
multi-media source). On my behalf, and
my child’s behalf I grant the District a royalty-free license to publish,
reproduce, display, perform, alter, create derivative works, or otherwise use
any work created by my child for as long as the District sees fit.
The work, information or photo to be published is:
_______________________________________________________________________
Name(s) of Student(s)
_____________________________________________________
Parent’s Signature
________________________________________________________
Parent’s Printed Name
_____________________________________________________
Home
address___________________________________________________________
Date ___________________________ Home phone number ____________________
(PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR STUDENT’S SCHOOL.)