PREAMBLE
Kimberly School District provides information technology for educational, research, and administrative applications by its students, faculty, and staff. This policy balances the individual's ability to benefit fully from information technology and the District's need for a secure and reasonably allocated information-technology environment. Services include voice and data, email, software, wireless access, the use of computers, servers, and other technology equipment connected to a campus wide network and the Internet. It is expected that the use of these services is directly related to educational goals and is consistent with the instructional objectives of this District.
NETWORK SERVICES USE AGREEMENT REQUIRED
The use of the District's technology is a privilege and not a right. Permission from parents/guardians is required before students may access network services. All users must sign a Network Services Use Agreement. The District will assign individual user IDs and in some cases temporary passwords for access to various services. These passwords shall meet minimum complexity criteria and refresh criteria. Under no circumstance shall these passwords be shared or divulged to anyone. Workstations and other access layer devices shall not be left unattended while the user's credentials are active.
TERMINATION OF ACCOUNT
District administrators reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to suspend or terminate a user's access to and use of network services upon any breach of the district's Network Services Use Agreement. The user may be subject to additional disciplinary action.
NO WARRANTIES
Network services provided by the District may not always meet student or staff requirements, or be uninterrupted or error-free. It is provided on an “as-is/as available” basis. The District makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, in connection with its provision of access to and use of its computer networks and the internet provided under this policy. The District is not responsible for any information that may be lost, damaged, or unavailable when using the network, or for any information that is retrieved or transmitted via the internet. The District will not be responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting from access to the internet, and any user is fully responsible to the District and shall indemnify and hold the District, its trustees, administrators, teachers, and staff harmless from any and all loss, costs, claims, or damages resulting from such user’s access to its computer network and the internet, including but not limited to any fees or charges incurred through purchases of goods or services by the user. The user or, if the user is a minor, the user’s parent(s)/legal guardian(s) agrees to co-operate with the District in the event of the school’s initiating an investigation of a user’s use of his/her access to its computer network and the internet.
NON INTERFERENCE
Students and staff shall use technology efficiently to minimize interference with others.
INTERNET
The District provides Internet filtering to prevent access to inappropriate or offensive sites. Filtering categories shall reflect statutory requirements and the values of the community. Filtering may also prevent or limit access to content not directly related to the educational goals of the district. District staff also monitors and supervises all Internet access. All access is logged. The district provides students and staff with the understanding and skills needed to use technology in an appropriate manner.
Internet filtering software or other technology-based protection systems may be disabled by a school administrator, as necessary, for purposes of bona fide research or other educational projects being conducted by students age 18 and older.
EMAIL
Students and staff will use district provided email services. Limited personal use shall not interfere with the educational goals or instructional objectives of the district. Information forwarded to non-district accounts shall not contain material that would constitute a breach of confidentiality or contain educational records. All email is archived for a period of at least five years.
Email may be pushed to personal devices of district employees. The employee shall provide password protection for the device and exercise due diligence to protect sensitive district information.
The District reserves the right to access and disclose the contents of any account on its system, without prior notice or permission from the account’s user. Use of an unauthorized non-district electronic mail account for district related business or classroom use is strictly prohibited.
Limits to the amount and age of saved email messages may be imposed to conserve district resources.
SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT
To ensure compliance with applicable law, provide accurate inventory information and promote systems interoperability and compatibility only district approved software will be installed by designated personnel on networks or individual machines. Appropriate licenses must be held for all software. Licenses and installation media, physical or electronic will be retained by the tech department. Peripheral devices (including, but not limited to, printers, scanners, and storage/data devices) must be approved and installed by designated personnel. Donated equipment and software are subject to the same policies. Service and support for personal devices will not be provided by district staff. All purchases of software and equipment connected to or using district provided network services require approval by the Tech Director.
WIRELESS
Wireless access is provided for district approved devices. Other devices including personal student or staff devices may be provided access if resources are available. The access for personal devices will be limited to resources available to the public via the Internet. Students and staff are prohibited from establishing network services of any kind or interfering with district services.
OUTSOURCING OF SERVICES
To provide more efficient service and cost effectiveness it may be desirable to outsource various services. To insure compatibility with existing systems, regulatory compliance, and to avoid duplication or conflicts in service, contracts for such services require the approval of the technical director and the superintendent.
Contracts for outsourced services shall include specific language to assure the vendor will not use data for any purpose other than providing the outsourced service such as data mining for the vendor's own benefit, or re-disclose it to others without appropriate authorization. The contract shall require the vendor to give us notice of any security/data breaches, and, to the extent that user notification is legally required, such notice should preferably be in advance of user notification.
Vendors shall provide tools that allow the district to access data in the event of the need for e discovery.
The contract shall expressly make clear that all data belongs to the district and that the vendor acquires no rights or licenses, including without limitation intellectual property rights or licenses, to use the data for its own purposes.
REPRESENTATION OF DISTRICT
District e-mail addresses will not be linked to personal/social networking accounts and social websites. Posting of any material representing the District on non-district sites is prohibited unless approved by the superintendent.
Policy History:
Adopted on: April 8, 2003
Revision: June 20, 2013