FILE: IFBGA
Cf: EFA
STUDENT COMPUTER ACCESS AND USE
INTERNET SAFETY
The Internet is a vast, global computer network that provides access to major universities, governmental agencies, other school systems, and commercial providers of data banks. The Vermilion Parish School Board shall establish appropriate guidelines for exploring and using 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 Vermilion Parish School Board. Age and grade appropriate classroom instruction shall be provided regarding Internet and cell phone safety. Such instruction shall include appropriate online behavior, interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response, as well as areas of concern as authorized in state and federal law.
Internet access has been made available to enhance innovative education for students through access to unique resources and collaborations. Furthermore, the School Board expects teachers will improve learning and teaching through research, teacher training, collaboration, and dissemination of successful educational practices, methods, and materials.
In its continued efforts to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act, the School Board shall adopt and enforce a policy of Internet safety that incorporates the use of computer-related technology or the use of Internet service provider technology designed to block or filter Internet access for minors and adults to certain visual depictions, including without limitation those that are obscene, child pornographic, or harmful to minors, including without limitation sites that are excessively violent, pervasively vulgar, or sexually harassing. Sites which contain information on the manufacturing of bombs or other incendiary devices shall also be prohibited. Only authorized persons may disable for an adult user the blocking or filtering mechanism in order to enable Internet access for bona fide research or other lawful purposes, which shall include online services for legitimate scientific or educational purposes approved by the School Board, or access to online services of a newspaper with a daily circulation of at least 1,000.
In addition to filtering requirements, the School Board shall maintain regulations which:
Prohibit access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide Web;
Address the safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications, such as "Instant Messaging";
Prohibit unauthorized access, including what is now known as “hacking” and other unlawful on-line activities by minors online;
Prohibit unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors; and
Institutes measures designed to restrict minors' access to materials harmful to minors.
Guidelines are provided so that Internet users are aware of the responsibilities they are about to assume. Responsibilities include efficient, ethical, and legal utilization of network resources. All users, including students, employees, or any other users of School Board computers, hardware, and School Board network shall abide by all policies of the School Board and any applicable administrative regulations and procedures.
The student and parent or guardians shall sign an Acceptable Use of Computers and Internet Agreement, which shall be required before any student will be allowed to use school district computers or the Vermilion Parish School Network VPSB.NET. The student and parent/guardians signatures shall be legally binding on all parties and shall indicate they have read the terms and conditions carefully and understand their significance.
COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Acceptable Use - The purpose of VPSB.NET and access to the Internet is to support research and education by providing access to unique resources and opportunities. Transmission of any material in violation of any U.S., state, local or School Board regulations shall be prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, or material protected by trade institutions. Use for product advertisement, political lobbying, or illegal activities shall be strictly prohibited. Subscriptions to listservers, bulletin boards, and on-line services must be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
Privileges - The use of VPSB.NET is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use shall result in a cancellation of those privileges and may result in disciplinary action by the administration, faculty or staff and/or legal action by the School Board. All users shall be advised that School Board personnel shall have access to all messages or mail and that routine monitoring of the system and tracking of student navigation on the Internet shall be conducted. Routine maintenance of the system may purge files from individual accounts.
Security - Security on any computer system is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users. Any suspected security problem with VPSB.NET or the Internet shall be reported to the teacher, building technology coordinator or the principal. The problem shall not be demonstrated to other users. Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems shall be denied access to the Internet through the VPSB.NET.
Vandalism - Vandalism shall result in cancellation of privileges and or other disciplinary actions. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy hardware or software data of the school system, another user, the Internet Service Provider, or the VPSB.NET or other networks that are connected to Internet. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses or worms. No software, programs, or files may be installed or downloaded by any user without the prior permission of the building technology coordinator, who must scan for appropriateness and viruses or worms.
Consequences of Misuse - School principals may suspend from school any student who accesses, sends, receives, or configures electronically any profane language or pictures, or violates any regulations for computer use, or any rules contained herein. Moreover, students may also be disciplined for off-campus speech, Internet activities, or use of off-campus computer and/or electronic systems that may cause a substantial disruption to the educational environment, interfere with the rights of others, or can be considered a threat. Consequences for violations of these standards may range from loss of Internet privileges to expulsion from school depending on the nature and severity of the act.
UNAUTHORIZED AND ILLEGAL USE
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 District's VPSB.NET that incurs expenses to the school other than the monthly user fees and rates shall be strictly prohibited. Furthermore, district computers and the VPSB.NET shall not be used for commercial, political or religious purposes.
Use of the VPSB.NET 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.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE
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.
Student Internet Access/E-mail Accounts
Students may have e-mail access only under their teacher’s direct supervision using a classroom account. Students may be provided with individual e-mail accounts under special circumstances, at the request of their teacher and with the approval of their parent.
The student and parent shall sign an Account Agreement to be granted an individual e-mail account on VPSB.NET. This Agreement must be renewed on an annual basis. The parent may withdraw their approval at any time, at which time the e-mail account shall be terminated.
If approved by the building principal, school sponsored organizations may create a Web page on VPSB.NET. All material placed on the organizations Web page must be pre-approved in a manner specified by the school. Material placed on this Web page must relate to the school or career preparation activities.
Unacceptable Uses
Personal safety
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.
Illegal Activities
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. Any activity that may be a violation of local, state, or federal laws shall be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
System Security
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 School District virus protection procedures when downloading software.
Inappropriate Language
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. 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.
Respect for Privacy
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.
Respecting Resource Limits
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 check their e-mail frequently, delete unwanted messages promptly, and stay within the allotted e-mail quota.
Users shall subscribe only to high quality discussion group mail lists that are relevant to education or career development.
Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
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.
Users shall not use or post information related to the school, school staff, students, use images of the school, the school logo, initials or seal, in any form on the Internet or in any form of electronic communication without specific written permission of the Superintendent and/or his/her designee. The posting of any such information on any website, bulletin board, chat room, e-mail, or other messaging system without permission, or the posting or transmission of images or information in any format related to the school, staff, or students that are defamatory, abusive, pornographic, or which could be construed as threatening or impugning the character of another person is prohibited.
User Rights
Free Speech
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 School District may restrict a user’s speech for valid educational reasons.
Search and Seizure
Users should expect only limited privacy in the contents of personal files on the School 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.
Due Process
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.
CONSEQUENCES OF INAPPROPRIATE USE
The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use may result in the temporary or permanent cancellation of that privilege and/or other disciplinary action as outlined in the Vermilion Parish School Board Discipline Matrix (including disabling account(s) and permission(s), suspension, termination, or legal action) as deemed appropriate by administration, faculty, and staff.
Users should expect no privacy of the contents of personal files and information on district computers and email on the district system. Messages relating to, or in the support of, illegal activities must and will be reported to the authorities.
Misuse of the system can result in possible legal action and/or prosecution and will require restitution for costs associated with the system restoration, hardware, or software costs.
Users bringing illegal and/or inappropriate materials onto the network shall be subject to disciplinary action.
DISCLAIMER
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.
Adopted: August 25, 2016
Revised: July 21, 2022
Ref: 20 USC 7131 (Internet Safety)
47 USC 254 (Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA))
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:100.7, 17:280
Board minutes, 8-25-16, 7-21-22
Vermilion Parish School Board