EFA, Computer and Internet Use

The Vermilion Parish School Board shall authorize the Superintendent and staff to establish appropriate guidelines for using the Vermilion Parish School Network (VPSB.NET) and Internet resources within the school district to enhance learning and teaching activities. Acceptable use of these resources shall be consistent with the philosophy, goals, and objectives of the School Board. Any user who wishes to use school district computers and VPSB.NET, including the Internet and/or e-mail services, must agree to abide by all district regulations.

The School Board shall incorporate into its VPSB.NET the use of computer-related technology or the use of Internet service provider technology designed to block access or exposure to any harmful materials or information, such as sites that contain obscene, pornographic, pervasively vulgar, excessively violent, or sexually harassing information or material. Sites which contain information on the manufacturing of bombs or other incendiary devices shall also be prohibited. However, the School Board does not prohibit authorized employees or students from having unfiltered or unrestricted access to Internet or online services, including online services of newspapers with daily circulation of at least 1,000, for legitimate scientific or educational purposes approved by the School Board.

Any use of the Internet that adversely affects its operation in pursuit of teaching and learning or jeopardizes its use or performance for other community members is prohibited and may result in loss of Internet privileges, suspension or other appropriate disciplinary action. The provisions of this policy shall also apply to the use of private e-mail accounts when access is attained using School Board equipment or VPSB.NET and to access attained through any authorized personal digital device while on School Board property. The Vermilion Parish School Board does not condone the use of the Internet for any illegal or inappropriate activities and shall not be responsible for any such use by staff, students, or other users.

The School Board may suspend or terminate any privilege to use the VPSB.NET or Internet at any time solely at the School Board's discretion. Any policies and/or regulations of the School Board defining use of the VPSB.NET or Internet shall serve as guidelines but do not warrant or guarantee access to or use of the VPSB.NET or Internet. Consequently, the School Board may, at any time and in its sole discretion, end the privilege of any individual to use the Internet without notice, cause, or reason.

Faculty and staff use of school computers, VPSB.NET, or the Internet shall be reserved for academic purposes and the conducting of business aspects of the school system. Anyone using VPSB.NET, school computers, a computer network located on school property, or computers accessing the Internet shall be accountable for their use. Teacher or class files on the network shall be treated as district property subject to control and inspection by School Board personnel. Use of the VPSB.NET, Internet and/or any District computers shall be considered a privilege and any inappropriate use may result in appropriate disciplinary action and loss of privileges to use School District computers, VPSB.NET, or the Internet.

Faculty and staff shall not be under direct supervision but must abide by School Board policy.

Tampering with selection menus, procedures, or icons for the purpose of misleading or confusing other users shall be prohibited. Any use by any person of the School District's internal network that incurs expenses to the school other than the monthly user fees and rates shall be strictly prohibited. Furthermore, the computer system shall not be used for commercial, political or religious purposes.

Use of the network for any illegal activities shall also be prohibited. Illegal activities include (a) tampering with computer hardware or software, (b) unauthorized entry into computers and files (hacking), (c) knowledgeable vandalism or destruction of equipment, and (d) deletion of computer files. Such activity is considered a crime under state and federal law.

Teachers and personnel who have computers in their charge shall be responsible for the security of those computers in terms of both hardware and software. Computers must be secured such that students acting without the consent or supervision of a teacher or administrator cannot enter the system or the Internet without using their own username and password.

The following regulations, terms, and conditions for the use of computers and other technology equipment and the School Board’s VPSB.NET and Internet resources are not all-inclusive, but are only representative and illustrative. Any user who commits an act of misconduct or inappropriateness which is not listed may also be subject to disciplinary action or suspension, or termination, or be subject to appropriate criminal or civil prosecution.

VPSB.NET has been established for educational purposes only. The term “educational purpose” includes classroom activities, educational research, career development, and limited high-quality self-discovery activities.
VPSB.NET has not been established as a public access service or a public forum. The Vermilion Parish School Board has the right to place reasonable restrictions on the material a user may access or post through the system. All users shall also be expected to follow the rules set forth by the Vermilion Parish School Board in the use of VPSB.NET.
Users may not use VPSB.NET for commercial purposes. This means a user may not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through VPSB.NET.
Users may not use VPSB.NET for political lobbying, but a user may use the system to communicate with elected representatives and to express opinions on political issues.

Users shall not post personal contact information about themselves or other people. Personal contact information includes address, telephone, school address, work address, etc.
Users shall not agree to meet with someone they have met online.
Users shall promptly disclose to the teacher or other school employee any message they receive that is inappropriate or make them feel uncomfortable.

Users shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to VPSB.NET or to any other computer system through VPSB.NET or go beyond authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another person’s account or access another person’s files. These actions are illegal, even if only for the purposes of “browsing”.
Users shall not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means.
Users shall not use VPSB.NET to engage in any other illegal act, such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of person, etc.

Users shall be responsible for their individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use the account. Under no conditions should a user provide their password to another person.
Users shall immediately notify a teacher or the system administrator if they have identified a possible security problem. A user shall not look for security problems, because this may be construed as an illegal attempt to gain access.
Users shall avoid the inadvertent spread of computer viruses by following the District virus protection procedures when downloading software.

Restrictions against inappropriate language apply to public messages, private messages, and material posted on Web pages.
Users shall not use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language.
Users shall not post information that could cause damage or a danger of disruption.
Users shall not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks.
Users shall not harass another person. Harassment is persistently acting in a manner that distresses or annoys another person. If a user is told by a person to stop sending them messages, the user must stop.
Users shall not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization.

Users shall not repost a message that was sent to them privately without permission of the person who sent the message.
Users shall not post private information about another person.

Users shall use the system only for educational and career development activities and limited, high-quality, self-discovery activities. There is no limit on use for education and career development activities. The limit on self-discovery or personal activities is no more than three (3) hours per week and such activities are only allowed when the network computers are not needed for educational purposes.
Users shall not download files unless absolutely necessary. If necessary, a user may download the file at a time when the system is not being heavily used and immediately remove the file from the system computer to the user’s personal computer.
Users shall not post chain letters or engage in “spamming”. Spamming is sending an annoying or unnecessary message to a large number of people.
Users shall subscribe only to high quality discussion group mail lists that are relevant to education or career development.

Users shall not plagiarize works found on the Internet. Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others and presenting them as if they were the user’s.
Users shall respect the rights of copyright owners. Copyright infringement occurs when a person inappropriately reproduces a work that is protected by a copyright. If a work contains language that specifies appropriate use of that work, the user shall follow the expressed requirements. If the user is unsure whether or not he/she can use a work, the user should request permission from the copyright owner.

The right to free speech applies also to communications on the Internet. The VPSB.NET is considered a limited forum, similar to the school newspaper, and therefore the District may restrict a user’s speech for valid educational reasons.

Users should expect only limited privacy in the contents of personal files on the District system.
Routine maintenance and monitoring of VPSB.NET may lead to discovery that a user has violated School Board policy, or regulations, or the law.
An individual search shall be conducted if there is reasonable suspicion that a user has violated School Board policy, or regulations, or the law. The investigation will be reasonable and related to the suspected violation.

The School District shall cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation related to any misuse of School Board computers or VPSB.NET.
In the event there is a claim that someone has violated School Board policy or regulations in the use of VPSB.NET, the user shall be provided with a written notice of the suspected violation and an opportunity to present an explanation before a neutral administrator.

The Vermilion Parish School Board technology network and computer system is provided on an “as is, as available” basis. The School Board does not make any warranties, whether expressed or implied, including, without limitation, those of fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any services provided by the system and any information or software contained therein. The School Board uses a variety of vendor-supplied hardware and software. Therefore, the School Board does not warrant that the functions or services performed by, or that the information or software contained on the system will meet the user’s requirements. Neither does the School Board warrant that the system will be uninterrupted or error-free, nor that defects will be corrected.

The School Board shall not be responsible for any damage the user may suffer, including but not limited to, loss of data or interruptions of service. The School Board shall not be responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through or stored on the system. The School Board shall not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system. 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 necessarily the School Board.