Network and Internet access is available to students and teachers in the Pentucket Regional School District (hereinafter "the District").
A. Mission Statement
We believe the Internet and the District's LANs (Local Area Network) offer vast, diverse, and unique resources to both students and teachers. Our goal in providing this service to teachers and students is to promote educational excellence in schools by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication.
The Pentucket Regional School District will provide access for employees and students to the District's LANs and future WAN (Wide Area Network), including access to external networks (the Internet) for limited educational purposes. Educational purposes will be defined as classroom activities, career and professional development, and teacher supervised high quality self discovery activities of an educational nature. The purpose of access to the Internet, District's LANs and future WAN is to assist in preparing students for success in life and work by providing access to a wide range of information and the ability to communicate with others. This access will be used to increase communication (staff, parent, and student), enhance productivity, and assist staff in upgrading existing skills and acquiring new skills through a broader exchange of information. The WAN and Internet will also be utilized to provide information to the community, including parents, governmental agencies, and businesses.
B. Availability
The Superintendent or designee shall implement, monitor, and evaluate the District's network for instructional and administrative purposes.
Access to the LANs, WAN, and the Internet will be made available to employees and students for instructional and administrative purposes and in accordance with the administrative regulations and procedures outlined in this document.
Access to the LANs, WAN, and the Internet is a privilege, not a right. All users shall be required to acknowledge receipt and understanding of all administrative regulations and procedures governing use of the system and shall agree in writing to comply with such regulations and procedures. Noncompliance with applicable regulations and procedures may result in suspension or termination of user privileges and other disciplinary actions consistent with the policies of the Pentucket Regional School District. Violation of law may result in criminal prosecution as well as disciplinary action by the Pentucket Regional School District.
C. Services Available on the Network
The Internet is an electronic highway connecting thousands of computers all over the world and millions of individual subscribers. There is potential now and in the future for students and teachers to have access to:
1) Electronic Mail (e-mail) communication with people all over the world provided: The user (if a minor, a parent or guardian) has signed an Account Agreement to be granted an individual e-mail account on the Pentucket Regional School District Server.
a. Classroom Accounts. Elementary age students (grades K-6) will be granted e-mail access only through a classroom account.
b. Individual E-mail Accounts for Students. Secondary students may be provided with individual e-mail accounts. An agreement will be required for an individual e-mail account. This agreement must be signed by the student and his or her parent.
2) Graphical Access to the World Wide Web
a. World Wide Web. All students will have guided access to the Web through the District's networked computers. No individual account agreement will be required.
3) Access to many University Library Catalogs, the Library of Congress, and ERIC, a large collection of relevant information to educators and students.
4) Public Domain software and graphics of all types for school use.
a. ShareWare - Copyrighted program for which the author has set specific conditions as to when and how much compensation is legally required for its continued use. Shareware comes with a cost therefore students may not download these programs.
b. FreeWare - Copyrighted program for which the user is not obligated to compensate the author in any way.
c. System Administrators may upload or download public domain programs to the network. System Administrators or Technology Specialists are responsible for determining if a program is in the public domain.
5) Newsgroups and Listservs
D. Who is a Member of the Network Community?
It is important to be aware of the different kinds of people that might be a part of your electronic community. Think about these different kinds of people when you post messages or send e-mail.
Potential constituents of this community include students, teachers, parents, administrators, school staff, local community members, experts in various fields, and educational researchers.
E. Privileges and Rights of Network Community Members
Members of the network community have certain privileges and rights, subject to supervision by teachers and building administrators. Infringement of or disrespect to the rights of others may result in the loss of your network privileges. These rights include:
1. Privacy. You should not assume that information transmitted through the Internet or over any network is ever totally private. If a user is believed to be in violation of the guidelines stated in this policy, a system administrator or teacher may need to gain access to private correspondence or files. System administrators and teachers reserve the right to access private correspondence or files as they deem necessary and appropriate.
2. Equal Access. All members of the network community will be granted limited free and equal access to as many network services as their technology allows. Exploration of the Internet is encouraged relative to the purposes of the school's network (As described on p. 1 of this document). However, no single user should monopolize a computer or the network it uses. You may be asked to remove personal files if total system storage space becomes low.
3. Safety. To the greatest extent possible, members of the network community will be protected from harassment or unwanted or unsolicited contact. Any community member who receives threatening or unwelcome communications should bring them to the attention of a system administrator or teacher. Users must, however, be aware that there are many services available on the Internet that could potentially be offensive to certain groups of users. The designers of this network cannot eliminate access to all such services, nor could they even begin to identify them. Thus individual users must take responsibility for their own actions in navigating the network.
4. Intellectual Freedom. The school network must be a free and open forum for expression, including viewpoints that are strange, unorthodox, or unpopular. However, users posting an opinion should be aware that other community members may be openly critical of such opinions. Occasionally, a message that you post may be met from outside the local school network community with especially harsh criticism (a practice known as "flaming"). It is best not to respond to such attacks, unless you believe you are capable of a measured, rational reply. Personal attacks are not an acceptable use of this network at any time. This organization does not officially endorse any opinions stated on the network. Any statement of personal belief is implicitly understood to be representative of the author's individual point of view, and not that of this school as a whole.
F. Responsibilities of Network Community Members
With the rights and privileges of membership in the network community come certain responsibilities. Users need to familiarize themselves with these responsibilities. Failure to adhere to them may result in the loss of network privileges:.
With access to computers and people all over the world, also comes the availability of material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting. However, on a global network it is impossible to control all materials and an industrious user may discover controversial information. We, Pentucket Regional School District, firmly believe that the valuable information and interaction available on this worldwide network far out weigh the possibility that users may procure material that is not consistent with the educational goals of the District.
Internet access is coordinated through a complex association of government agencies, and regional and state networks. In addition, the smooth operation of the network relies upon the proper conduct of the end users who must adhere to strict guidelines. These guidelines are provided here so that you are aware of the responsibilities you are about to acquire. In general this requires efficient, ethical and legal utilization of the network resources. If a Pentucket Regional School District user violates any of these provisions, his or her access will be terminated and future access could possibly be denied.
1. Never share your password or account with anyone. 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.
2. Do not knowingly degrade the performance of the network. Electronic chain letters and mail bombs are prohibited for this reason.
3. Downloading of files is prohibited.
4. Honor all rules of copyright and personal property. A good rule of thumb is to ALWAYS reference your resources. Permission must be specified in the document.
5. Do not quote personal communications in a public forum without the original author's prior consent.
6. No software may be installed on the system without written approval of the system administrator.
7. Use of the network for any illegal activities is prohibited.
a. Due Process
1. The District will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation related to any illegal activities conducted through the Pentucket Regional School District network.
2. In the event there is a claim that you have violated this policy or the school disciplinary code in your use of the District Network, you will disciplined accordingly.
3. If the infraction also involves a violation of any provision of the disciplinary code it will be handled in a manner described in the disciplinary code. Additional restrictions may be placed on your use of the Internet or the network.
b. Limitation of Liability
1. The District makes no guarantee that the functions or 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 you may suffer, including but not limited to, loss of data or interruption of service. The District is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through or stored on the system.
2. The District assumes no responsibility for any unauthorized charges of fees, including telephone charges, long-distance charges, per-minute surcharges, and/or equipment or line costs.
3. The District assumes no responsibility for any financial obligations arising from unauthorized use of the system for the purchase of products or services.
4. The user agrees to indemnify the School District for any losses, costs, or damages, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred by the District relating to, or arising out of any breach of this Authorization.
8. Avoid the knowing or inadvertent spread of computer viruses. "Computer viruses" are programs that have been developed as pranks, and can destroy valuable programs and data. Spreading computer viruses is considered criminal activity under state and federal law.
9. Use appropriate language. Profane, obscene, lewd, vulgar, rude, disrespectful, threatening, or inflammatory language; harassment; personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks; or false or defamatory material about a person or organization is prohibited.
10. Impersonation, anonymity, or pseudonyms are not permitted. As an educational network, we believe that individuals must take responsibility for their actions and words.
11. Revealing personal information (addresses, phone numbers, etc.) is prohibited.
12. Viewing or transmitting obscene material is prohibited.
13. Viewing or transmitting material that is unrelated to educational purposes is prohibited.
14. Commercial or political use of LANs, WAN, and the Internet is prohibited.
15. Students completing required course work will have first priority for after hours use of equipment.
16. Attempts to interfere with, read, delete, copy or modify the files, documents, or electronic mail of other users is prohibited.
17. Damaging or abusing computers, computer systems or computer networks is prohibited.
18. Electronic mail transmissions and other use of electronic resources by students and employees shall NOT be considered confidential and may be monitored at any time by designated staff to ensure appropriate use for instructional and administrative purposes.
19. Exemplary behavior is expected. You are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. Network community members must conduct themselves as representatives of both their class and the entire school community as a whole. Conduct that is in conflict with the responsibilities outlined in this document will be subject to loss of network privileges.
20. All material placed on the web must be pre-approved by the Technology Specialist and the Principal of the building. If approved the user may create a personal web page on the Pentucket Regional School District Server. All material placed on Web pages must be pre-approved. Material placed on the Web page must relate to school and career preparation activities. Student photos will not be included on any school generated web pages without prior parental permission.
21. Principals or their designees will be responsible for disseminating and enforcing policies and procedures in the buildings under their control.
G. Services Provided By the District
1. The District will provide training to users in the proper use of LANs, WAN, and the Internet.
2. The District will provide each user with copies of the Acceptable Use Policy and Procedures.
3. Access will be granted to students with a signed access agreement and permission of building administrator or designee(s) and a parent or guardian.
4. Account names will be recorded on access agreements and kept on file at the building level.
5. Although not completely foolproof, blocking software may be used by the district.
6. All Internet access points will be monitored by staff via a log.
7. Principals or their designees reserve the right to change user passwords periodically.
8. Principals or their designees will ensure that training is provided to users on appropriate use of electronic resources.
9. Principals or their designee will monitor or examine all system activities, including electronic mail transmissions, as deemed appropriate to ensure proper use of electronic resources.
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