Internet Safety Policy       Acceptable Use Policy       Return to Home Page

INTERNET SAFETY POLICY

              The Board of Education is committed to undertaking efforts that serve to make safe for children the use of district computers for access to the Internet and World Wide Web.  To this end, although unable to guarantee that any selected filtering and blocking technology will work perfectly, the Board directs the Superintendent of Schools to procure and implement the use of technology protection measures that block or filter Internet access by:

•           adults to visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography, and

•           minors to visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors, as defined in the Children's Internet Protection Act.

            Subject to staff supervision, however, any such measures may be disabled or relaxed for adults conducting bona fide research or other lawful purposes, in accordance with criteria established by the Superintendent or his or her designee.

            The Superintendent or his or her designee also shall develop and implement procedures that provide for the safety and security of students using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications; monitoring the online activities of students using district computers; and restricting student access to materials that are harmful to minors.

              In addition, the Board prohibits the unauthorized disclosure, use and dissemination of personal information regarding students; unauthorized online access by students, including hacking and other unlawful activities; and access by students to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide Web.  The Superintendent or his or her designee shall establish and implement procedures that enforce these restrictions.

              The computer network coordinator designated under the district's Computer Network or Acceptable Use Policy, shall monitor and examine all district computer network activities to ensure compliance with this policy and accompanying regulation.  He or she also shall be responsible to ensuring that staff and students receive training on their requirements.

              All users of the district's computer network, including access to the Internet and World Wide Web, must understand that use is a privilege, not a right, and that any such use entails responsibility.  They must comply with the requirements of this policy and accompanying regulation, in addition to generally accepted rules of network etiquette, and the district's Acceptable Use Policy.  Failure to comply may result in disciplinary action including, but not limited to, the revocation of computer access privileges.

Cross Ref:            4526, Computer Network for Education

Ref:                  Public Law No. 106-554

                        47 USC §254

                        20 USC §6801

Adoption Date: April 16, 2002

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ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR DISTRICT INTERNET ACCESS

The Sachem School District has made Internet access available to students, faculty and staff, providing users with access to thousands of worldwide computer networks which contain a vast array of educational resources.  These will strengthen the communicative and research skills of students and significantly expand their knowledge base.

ACCEPTABLE USE – Accessing the Internet must be in support of education and research and within the educational goals and objectives of the Sachem School District.  I am personally responsible for this provision at all times when using the electronic information service.  Use of other organization’s networks or computing resources must comply with the rules appropriate to that network.  Transmission of any material in violation of any United States federal, state or local statutes, law, or policy is prohibited.  This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, or materials protected by trade secret.  Commercial activities by for-profit institutions are generally not acceptable.  Use of product advertisement or political lobbying is prohibited.  Any action which interferes with the intended use of the system, violates another person’s right to privacy, to include the following:  reposting personal communications without an author’s consent, giving out names, addresses, phone numbers or passwords of others or trespassing in another person’s account is also prohibited.  Attempting to gain unauthorized access to the system or network resources, downloading, storing or printing files or messages that are profane, obscene or contain inappropriate language, transmitting or causing to be transmitted, any communication that could be construed as harassment or disparagement of others, especially that which is based upon race, national origin, sex, age, disability or religious or political views is also inappropriate.  Using the network for financial or commercial gain, wasting resources by failing to monitor personal files, illegally installing copyrighted software on district computers, subscribing to list servers and/or newsgroups without prior approval of a school official, or accessing the Internet Relay Chat area are also forbidden.

PRIVILEGES – The use of the information system is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in cancellation of those privileges.  The school administrators will deem what is inappropriate use and their decision is final.  The school administrators may close an account at any time as required.

E-MAIL – Electronic mail is not guaranteed to be private.  System administrators reserve the right to access e-mail to investigate complaints.  Under these circumstances, messages which are found to be in violation of acceptable use will be reported to appropriate personnel.

SECURITY – Security on any computer is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users.  If you feel you can identify a security problem on the Internet, you must notify a school administrator or the technology coordinator.  Do not demonstrate the problem to other users.  Do not use another individual’s account without written permission from that individual.  Attempts to logon to the Internet as a system administrator will result in cancellation of user privileges.  Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access to Internet.

VANDALISM – Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges.  Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data or equipment of another user, Internet or any of the agencies providing Internet access.  This includes but is not limited to the uploading or creation of computer viruses.

NETIQUETTE – All users are expected to adhere to the generally accepted rules of network etiquette.  These include but are not limited to the following:  Be polite.  Do not get abusive in your messages to others.  Use appropriate language.  Illegal activities are strictly forbidden.  Do not reveal the personal address, phone number or credit card number of students or colleagues.  Note that e-mail is not guaranteed to be private.  People who operate the system do have access to all mail.  Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities may be reported to the authorities.  Do not use the network in such a way that would disrupt the use of the network by other users.  All communications and information accessible via the network should be assumed to be private property.

Sachem School District makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied for the service it is providing.  Sachem School District will not be responsible for any damages you suffer.  This includes loss of date resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or your errors or omissions.  Sachem School District specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through it services.

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