(Revised April 2012)

(For the purposes of this document there are two types of persons making use of District Technology; students and users.  Users are defined as anyone other than a Student who is granted access to District Technology.)

Technology is a vital part of education and the curriculum in the School District of Edgefield County.  In an effort to promote learning and expand educational resources for students and employees, the District has made arrangements to provide access to technology for students and staff.  Technology includes calculators, any automated audiovisual equipment, any computer/media lab equipment, networking hardware and any computer hardware or software.  The technology in the District must be used in a responsible, efficient, ethical, and legal manner to support the mission of the School District of Edgefield County.

Accessing Inappropriate Sites

Student Internet activities will be monitored by the district to ensure students are not accessing inappropriate sites that have visual depictions that include obscenity, child pornography or are harmful to minors.  The school district will use technology protection measures to protect students from inappropriate access.

The internet can provide a vast collection of educational resources for students and staff.  Internet access is available for students and teachers in the School District of Edgefield County.  Our goal in providing this service is to promote educational excellence in schools by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication.

The internet is a global network; because information appears, disappears, and changes constantly, it is not possible to predict or control what students may locate.  Furthermore, the District makes no guarantees as to the accuracy of information received on the Internet.  Students will be under teacher's supervision while on the Internet.

Social networking sites such as MySpace and Youtube may have some educational values, but they are also havens for predators and are not controlled and/or monitored sufficiently so as to ensure the safety of the individuals using those sites.  Thus, it is the policy of this district to block all such sites to ensure the district remains in compliance with the CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act).  If someone requires access to one of these sites, the Technology Department will consider each request to unblock said site on a case by case basis.

Reporting

District and school computer technicians who are working with a computer and come across sexually explicit images of children must report this to local law enforcement.  The report must include the name and address of the owner in possession of the computer.

With access to online 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.  The School District of Edgefield County has taken precautions to block and/or filter controversial materials; however, on a global network, it is impossible to control all materials, and an industrious user may discover controversial information.  We firmly believe that the valuable information and interaction available on this worldwide network far outweighs the possibility that users may procure material that is not consistent with the education goals of the District.

Vandalism of any technology will result in cancellation of privileges and possible disciplinary action.  Vandalism includes, but is not limited to, malicious damage to hardware, another users' data, installation of any software not explicitly approved by the Technology Department to include software intended to bypass any filtering or security systems in use by the School District.

Online Behavior

The district will educate minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbulling awareness and response. The superintendent or his/her designee will develop a program to educate students on these issues.

Violation of the Acceptable Use Agreement will result in cancellation of privileges and possible disciplinary action.  Malicious Internet immediately revokes any students' rights to technology access for the remainder of the school year.  Users will be dealt with on a case by case basis by their supervisor.  It should be noted that violations may occur in the spirit as well as in the physical realm.

The effective use of technology requires responsible users to adhere to strict guidelines outlined in this Acceptable Use Agreement for Technology.  The signatures at the end of this document are legally binding and indicate the parties have read the terms and conditions carefully and understand their significance.  Violation of any of these guidelines will result in termination of accounts and future denial of access.  Students in the School District of Edgefield County as well as District Personnel will have access to the Internet and the other forms of technology available only if this Acceptable Use Agreement for Technology is signed by the Student's parent/guardian or District Personnel and is on file at the school.  Physical damage to any Technology releated equipment (to include software) resulting from willful neglect or negligence may result in the District taking action to recoup the funds necessary to replace and/ or repair said equipment (or software).  Such action would only be undertaken after board approval.

Students from Middle School through High School will be issued individual usernames and passwords in order to log in at school the individual is attending. The generic account named Student will no longer be available for widespread use.  By giving student individual accounts, we hope to eliminate many of the problems inherent in using generic account names.  This also means each student is responsible for ensuring his or her account information is protected.  Students are not to give out their passwords to other students, doing so is in direct violation of this agreement and will be handled just like any other violation.

As necessary, students will be taught how to use the PCs available in each district facility. Each school/facility is responsible for ensuring the students using the PCs understand exactly what each student is doing when using a district PC.  If it is found that a significant number of students need assistance that cannot be provided by the school/facility, then the school/facility and the technology department will work together to ensure such assistance is made available.  The technology department does not and cannot be the initiator in such cases; it is up to school personnel to identify such issues and contact the technology department in order to begin the process of planning and implementing such training.

As technology advances, this document will be updated to meet the needs of the providers and the users.

Specific Internet Use Rules:

Students may use the Internet for school assignments and will not upload or download any files, pictures, text, music, or sound not directly related to educational goals or teacher-assigned projects.

Users will verify permission to use any pictures, files, text, music, or sound taken from Internet sites related to educational goals with a hard copy.  Bibliographical information must be cited.  Any use of copyrighted sites where permission cannot be obtained (you MUST have attempted to obtain said permission) will be in violation of the District Acceptable Use Agreement (unless said copyrighted information is used for a one-time educational project, and then promptly discarded after the project's completion).

Only approved list servs or chat rooms with educational value may be accessed by students with direct supervision.  A staff member requiring the assignment must also be a member of the list serv or chat room.

Students and Users understand that data stored or transmitted on desktop computers and laptops will be monitored.

Students and Users will not transmit any material in violation of any federal or state laws or regulations to include but not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, material protected by trade secret, sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination.

Students and Users will not knowingly access pornographic, weapon/bomb-making, or other inappropriate sites on the Internet.  Students and users understand there is no guarantee of "privacy" when using any school technology such as e-mail, internet searching, etc.

Students and Users may not violate the statutes pertaining to students' rights to privacy; neither students nor users may give out home addresses, telephone numbers, pictures, credit card numbers, or any other information deemed personal.

Students and Users may not make use of software or websites that bypass the District proxy server and/or internet filters.  Violators will be identified and dealt with on a case by case basis.  Punishment for such infractions will result in a loss of computer use privileges but may also include civil and/or criminal charges depending on the nature of the violation.

Specific E-mail Use Rules:

Students are prohibited from accessing personal e-mail accounts. Students will be issued a student e-mail account only for approved classes and assignments.

Students and Users understand that data stored or transmitted on desktop computers and laptops can be monitored.

Students and Users will not transmit any material in violation of any federal or state laws or regulations to include, but not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, material protected by trade secret, sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination.

Users may not violate the statutes pertaining to students’ rights to privacy; users may not give out home addresses, telephone numbers, pictures, or credit card numbers.

Students and Users will not use profanity, obscenity, or other language that may be offensive to other students or users.

Students and Users will report receipt of any inappropriate e-mails or abuse of school technology to the building principal or supervisor.

Students and Users will adhere to e-mail etiquette and understand that all e-mails reflect the views of the school district as each e-mail carries the district’s email address.

Users understand that there is no guarantee of “privacy” when using any school technology such as e-mail, Internet searching, etc.

Specific Network Use Rules:

Students (where applicable) and Users will accept the responsibility of safeguarding their passwords.

Students and Users are prohibited from accessing or modifying any network files or programs without appropriate authorization.

Students and Users will not vandalize the data files belonging to the School District of Edgefield County or to anyone else.

Students and Users will not alter any network files or jam the network, such as with, but not limited to chain letters, spam mail, viruses, etc.

All licensing guidelines will be adhered to when loading network software.

Repair charges will be assessed to anyone who intentionally damages the network or any network hardware or software.

Specific Hardware Use Rules:

Students and Users understand that data stored or transmitted on desktop computers and laptops can be monitored.

Students and Users may not change/rearrange icons, screensavers, setups, and settings. Students and Users will adhere to all copyright laws when using a scanner.

Students and Users will not vandalize the physical property belonging to the School District of Edgefield County or to anyone else.

Students and Users will limit the use of video and digital cameras to only those uses that support the mission of the district.

Repair charges will be assessed to anyone for damage or intentional misuse of any district equipment to include, but not limited to, computers, scanners, LCD projectors, and digital cameras.

Vandalism of hardware includes, but is not limited to, removal of the mouse ball and/or mouse, deliberate erasing of files and/or data, placing foreign objects such as paperclips in disk/CD drives, and removing or altering keyboard key(s) is prohibited.

Specific Software Use Rules:

Removable media (floppy disks, Compact Discs, USB Flash Drives (Thumb drives) not owned by the school/district must be scanned for viruses before they are put in use in school/district owned equipment.

Students and Users may not copy commercial software and/or violate copyright laws.

Only legally purchased software with proper licensing documentation on file may be loaded on school computers.

Off-Campus Conduct

Students, parents/legal guardians, teachers and staff members should be aware that the district may take disciplinary actions for conduct initiated and/or created off-campus involving the inappropriate use of the Internet or web-based resources if such conduct poses a threat or substantially interferes with or disrupts the work and discipline of the schools, including discipline for student harassment and bullying.