HOWE BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY                         EFBCA-R1

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR INTERNET AND OTHER
COMPUTER NETWORK ACCESS

The purpose of providing Internet and other computer network access in this district is to promote the exchange of information and ideas with the global community. The following represents a guide to the acceptable use of the technology provided by this district. All network use must be consistent with the policies and goals of this school district. Inappropriate use of district technology will result in the loss of technology use, disciplinary action, and/or referral to legal authorities.

All Internet and other computer network users will be expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Be polite. Messages should not be abusive to others.
     
  2. Take pride in communications. Check spelling and grammer.
     
  3. Use appropriate language. Do not swear or use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language, symbols, or pictures.
     
  4. Protect password confidentiality. Passwords are not to be shared with others. Using another user's account or password or allowing such access by another may be permitted only with the approval of the supervising teacher or system adminsitrator.
     
  5. Do not reveal your personal address or telephone number or those of other persons. No student information protected by FERPA should be electronically transmitted or otherwise disseminated through the network.
     
  6. Do not disguise the point of origin or transmission of electronic mail.
     
  7. Do not sent messages that contain false, malicious, or misleading information that may be injurious to a person or a person's property.
     
  8. Illegal activities are strictly prohibited: transferring offensive or harassing messages; offering for sale or use any substance the possession or use of which is prohibited by the school district's staff and student policies; viewing, transmitting, or downloading pornographic materials or materials that encourage others to violate the law; intruding into the network or computers of others; and downloading or transmitting confidential, trade secret information, or copyrighted materials.
     
  9. The district technology is not to be used for playing multi-user or other network intensive games, commercial ventures, Internet relay chat lines, or downloading excessively large files.
     
  10. No charges for services, products, or information are to be incurred without appropriate permission.
     
  11. Do not use the network in such a way that you would disrupt the use of the network by other users.
     
  12. Users shall respect the privacy of others and not read the mail or files of others without their permission. Copyright and licensing laws will not be intentionally violated.
     
  13. Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy hardware, data of another user, Internet, or any other agencies or other networks that may be accessed. This includes, but is not limited to the uploading or creation of computer viruses.
     
  14. Report security problems to the supervising teacher or system administrator.
     
  15. Violators of this policy shall hold the district, including the employees and agents, harmless against any and all causes of action, damages, or other liability resulting from the willful or negligent violation of this policy.

              Adoption Date: April 26, 2004

 Computer Use Policies