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4526-R Computer Network Acceptable Use Regulation

  • 4000: Instruction
4526-R Computer Network Acceptable Use Regulation

The following rules and regulations govern the use of the District's computer network system and access to the Internet.

I.          Administration

  • The Superintendent of Schools shall designate computer network coordinator (i.e. Coordinator of Information Technology) to oversee the District's computer network.
  • The computer network coordinator shall have the right to, but not the duty to monitor and to examine all network activities, as appropriate, to ensure proper use of the system. Unauthorized attempts to retrieve confidential District information shall result in disciplinary measures.
  • The computer network coordinator in consultation with Assistant Superintendent for Finance and District Operations shall be responsible for disseminating and interpreting District policy and regulations governing use of the District's network at the building level with all network users. A summary of the Computer Network Acceptable Use Policy and Regulation shall be provided to all students and staff. A complete copy of the policy and regulation will be available on the Brentwood School District’s Web site: www.bufsd.org.
  • The computer network coordinator, or their designee (i.e. technicians), shall provide employee training for proper use of the network and will ensure that staff supervising students using the District's network provide similar training to their students, including providing a summary copy of the Computer Network Acceptable Use Regulation.
  • All staff must complete an annual training regarding student data privacy.  The Data Protection Officer appointed by the Board of Education may leverage existing online training platforms to conduct the training.  If training is not completed for any given year, the district reserves the right to suspend the account until the training is completed.
  • The Data Protection Officer will review staff requests to use free or paid “cloud-based” educational software/applications to ensure that personally identifiable information is protected in accordance with District’s policies and State and Federal Statutes prior to student use.
  • The Superintendent will review all requests to build an online identity on a third-party platform for the purpose of representing the district, school or a district administered and sanctioned program.  Administrative ownership and controls of such identities will belong to the district.
  • The computer network coordinator shall ensure that the network is protected from viruses and other malware through the use of end point protection
  • The Data Protection Officer shall ensure that district issued accounts are set up to only access necessary information.
  • Staff shall sign an attestation form stating that they are aware of and shall abide by the District’s policy and regulations concerning the use of the computer network. These forms will be kept on file in each building.
  • When logging on to the District’s network, all users receive a computer screen image with a summary copy of the Computer Acceptable Use Policy. In order to continue, students must click “OK”, acknowledging that they have read and accepted the Computer Acceptable Use Policy. Copies of the Computer Acceptable Use Policy and Regulation shall be available for viewing by parents/guardians in each school building and on the District’s Web site.

II.        Internet Access

  • Students shall be provided access during class time, in a controlled environment (school library or computer lab).
  • Students shall be provided with individual accounts allowing them to store schoolwork electronically on the District’s network.
  • Students shall be allowed to browse the Internet for research and educational purposes.
  • Students shall not browse the internet in an unsupervised setting.
  • Students shall not participate in chat rooms or social network applications in an unsupervised setting.
  • Students may construct their own Web pages in an academic setting, with appropriate approval by and supervision from staff, using District computer resources.
  • Students shall not subscribe to mailing lists.

III.       Acceptable Use and Conduct

  • Access to the District's computer network is provided solely for educational purposes and research consistent with the District's mission and goals.
  • Use of the District’s computer network is a privilege, not a right.   Inappropriate use will result in the suspension or revocation of that privilege or further disciplinary action.
  • Each individual in whose name an access account is issued is responsible at all times for its proper use.  Account passwords should never be shared unless it is necessary for troubleshooting.
  • All network users will be issued a login name and password. As dictated by security standards, passwords will be subject to periodic changes.  
  • Only those staff users with permission from the District Coordinator of Information Technology may access the District's system from off‑site (e.g., from home). Please note that this DOES NOT include accessing District portals for email or the District Intranet via standard web browser technology
  • All network users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette.  This includes being polite and using only appropriate language. Abusive language, vulgarities, swear words and sexual language or images are all inappropriate. Students and staff should be aware that posting inappropriate materials on the Internet that may foreseeably cause substantial disruptions to the school setting will result in disciplinary measures.
  • E-mail and other use of the District’s computer network are not private. The District has the right, to monitor all aspects of its technology, including but not limited to sites visited by users on the Internet and reviewing e-mail.
  • Network users identifying a security problem on the District's network shall notify the appropriate teacher, administrator or computer network coordinator.  Under no circumstance shall the user demonstrate the problem to anyone other than to the Coordinator of Information Technology or their designee.
  • Any network user identified as a security risk or having a history of violations of District computer acceptable use guidelines will be denied access to the District's network.
  • In order to be compliant with such Federal programs such as eRate, the District will utilize commercial filtering software in order to attempt to limit materials that can be viewed by users through the District’s Internet connection and computer network. Further, even though the District employs such
  • Users navigate the Internet and District computer network, and use information obtained at their own risk. Each user is responsible for verifying the integrity and authenticity of the information. The District makes no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, and assumes no responsibility as to the quality, accuracy, availability, nature or reliability of any of the technology-related services or information it provides. The District also assumes no responsibility for:
    1. Any damages suffered by any user, including, but not limited to, loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, miss-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or any other errors or omissions or any unauthorized financial obligations resulting from the use or access to the District computer network or the Internet.
    2. The content of any advice or information received by any user from any source outside the District, or any costs or charges incurred as a result of seeing or accepting such advice or information.
    3. Any costs, liability or damages caused by the way a user chooses to use his/her District computer network access; and
    4. Any consequences of service interruptions or changes, even if these disruptions arise from circumstances under the control of the District.
    5. 5.    While the District regularly performs backups of various systems and critical files, the District is not responsible for saving, securing, preserving or backing up any files or information stored on any external storage media device (e.g. USB flash drive, memory card or any other mobile storage device) as well as files stored on any non-networked location (e.g. desktop, temporary folders etc.…)

IV.       Unacceptable Uses and Prohibited Activities

The District strongly discourages any posting or sharing of malicious or derogatory information about any members of the District community (either students, staff or the public) through the use of District resources. This applies to all District-sponsored activities or applications as well as the Internet and other social networking services or discussion forums such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat and any of the Google Apps. Such speech or conduct may result in disciplinary action, revocation of access privileges and/or legal action in accordance with District policy.

In addition to the foregoing, prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

  1. Posting personal contact information about themselves or other people. Personal contact information includes addresses, telephone numbers, school address, work address, etc.
  2. Users shall promptly disclose to their teacher or other school employee any message they receive that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable.
  3. Using the District computer network for commercial purposes, defined as offering or providing goods or services or purchasing goods or services for personal use. District acquisition policies shall be followed for District purchases of goods or services through the District system.
  4. Infringing on any copyrights or other intellectual property rights. Copyright infringement occurs when an individual inappropriately reproduces a work that is protected by a copyright. If a work contains copyright language that specifies acceptable 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, he/she should contact the Coordinator of Information Technology who shall research the issue
  5. Use personal acquired subscription or streaming services.
  6. Using the District computer network in an offensive manner. Examples include, but are not limited to, using the network for transmitting or making available to others:
    1. Obscene, offensive or sexually explicit material,
    2. Messages that are racist, sexist, abusive or harassing to others,
    3. Messages or materials inconsistent with or in violation of the District’s Code of Conduct
  7. Engaging in cyber bullying (the use of technology to harass, intimidate and bully) that endangers the health and safety and emotional well-being of any person within the District or can reasonably be expected to substantially disrupt the educational process.
  8. Vandalizing or causing harm to the operation of computers, communications and other related equipment or causing disruptions to its use. Examples include, but are not limited to:
    1. creating and/or placing any type of computer virus or malware on any component of the Districts computer network;
    2. intentionally disrupting network traffic or crashing any part of the Districts network
    3. degrading or disrupting equipment or system performance
    4. disconnecting and reconnecting any equipment without proper authorization and supervision
  9. Using the network to gain access and impersonate another user and distribute information posing as that user and/or using the network to vandalize another user’s data.
  10. Gaining or seeking to gain unauthorized access to any files, resources or any part of the District’s computer network. This can also include, but is not limited to, any new or emerging technologies such as portals, phone systems, and building based control systems such as HVAC or boilers.  
  11. Attempting to read, delete, copy or modify the electronic mail (e-mail) of other system users and deliberately interfere with the ability of other system users to send and/or receive e-mail.
  12. Installing personal software on the District computing resources (i.e. desktops, laptops or any tablet) and/or network. All such actions relating to software installations are the function of the Information Technology department. Any such requests should be forwarded to the Coordinator of Information Technology or their assigned designee.
  13. Using or attempting to access the District’s computer resources as well as the Districts network while a user’s access privileges have been suspended and/or revoked.
  14. Using the District’s computer network and associated resources in any manner that is inconsistent with directions from teachers and/or the Coordinator of Information Technology or their staff.
  15. Using the District’s computer network or its related resources for any personal use.
  16. Using the District computer network for political lobbying in support of or opposition to individual candidates or political parties. District employees and students may use the system to communicate with their elected representatives.
  17. Using the District network resources for any other purpose other than educational, professional or career development activities.
  18. Making any changes to any portion of the District’s computer network or its components. Sole responsibility for these types of activities are the responsibility of the Coordinator of Information Technology or their designee. Any attempt including hacking or circumventing protective software is strictly prohibited and will result in loss of privileges as well as disciplinary measures.
  19. Making deliberate attempts to disrupt or change the computer system performance or destroy or modify data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means. These actions are illegal.
  20. Posting chain letters or engage in any activity that is defined as “spamming”. Spamming is defined as sending any annoying or unnecessary message to a large group of users.
  21. Using the District system to engage in any other illegal act, such as arranging for a drug sale or purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of a person, etc.
  22. Sharing his/her password with another person.  Users are responsible for the use of their individual accounts and shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use their accounts. The sole exception to this rule applies when a password is needed for a teacher to assist a student or the Information Technology department personnel is called to assist a teacher or administrator in correcting a computer problem.
  23. Leaving your computer logged on in an unsecured manner so that anyone can use your account.
  24. Burdening the District’s resources with excessive files and accumulation of documents and emails. Users therefore are expected to check their network resources and email accounts regularly for deletion of any older, unnecessary files. The Coordinator of Information Technology can request that users periodically go through their network resources to purge any files in order to free up space and increase performance of the network resources
  25. Users shall immediately notify the system administrator if they have identified a possible security problem.
  26. Inadvertently spread computer viruses by circumventing the District virus-protection procedures, if they download software or files.
  27. Attempting to abridge or circumvent the District content-filtering system. This filtering system is in place to help prevent access to minors to inappropriate material on the Internet and to restrict minors access to materials that may be harmful as well as to secure funding for technology initiatives.
  28. Using the District’s system to access, retrieve, transmit or make available to others, any material that is profane or obscene (pornography) as judged by any applicable local laws; material that is harmful to minors; material that advocates illegal acts; material that advocates violence or discrimination towards other people (e.g. hate literature); as well as any other inappropriate material. In the case of receiving such material, all users are to notify the Coordinator of Information Technology of any material received that falls within these guidelines so that appropriate measures can be taken to reduce the introduction of such unsolicited materials. For students, a special exception may be made for hate literature if the purpose of such access is to conduct research as part of an approved course curriculum. In such instances both the teacher and the parent/guardian must approve of such access. All other District staff may access such materials only if it is in the context of conducting academic research
  29. Intentionally disrupt network traffic or crash the network and connected systems.
  30. Using or posting obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, inflammatory or threatening language. Users shall understand that posting inappropriate materials on the Internet that can reasonably be expected to substantially disrupt the educational setting will result in disciplinary measures. Cyber-bullying and threats that present a concern for school safety are strictly prohibited and violate the District’s Code of Conduct.  These restrictions apply to all public messages and material posted on web pages which are done on District resources.
  31. Engaging in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks.
  32. Harassing another person. Harassment is persistently acting in a manner that distresses or annoys another person. If the user is told by a person to stop sending those messages, he/she must stop.
  33. Knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization.
  34. Posting private information about another person.
  35. Disclosing, using or disseminating personal identification regarding students contrary to the accepted uses outlined in Policy 8635 and its accompanying regulation. The District does not offer electronic mail (e-mail) or chat room access to students. The District filtering system software excludes Web-based chat rooms.
  36. Attaching a device to the network for the purpose of bypassing the district’s security and filtering measures.  The IT Coordinator and his or her designees reserve the right to confiscate such devices.
  37. Attached a device to the network for the purpose of extending a third-party cellular provider’s signal.  Doing so will constitute a theft of the district’s electricity and internet services.

V.        No Privacy Guarantee

There is NO PRIVACY GUARANTEE for any email, home directories or any use of the District computer network or its data-storage resources. The District reserves the right to access and view any material stored via District equipment or any material used in conjunction with the District computer network Students and staff using the District’s computer network should not expect, nor does the District guarantee, privacy for any use of the District’s computer network. The District reserves the right to access and view any material stored on District equipment or any material used in conjunction with the District’s computer network. Unauthorized attempts to retrieve confidential District information shall result in disciplinary measures.

VI.       Sanctions

 All users of the District’s computer network and equipment are required to comply with the District’s policy and regulations governing the District’s computer network. Failure to comply with the policy or regulation may result in disciplinary action as well as suspension and/or revocation of computer access privileges.

In addition, illegal activities are strictly prohibited. Any information pertaining to or implicating illegal activity will be reported to the proper authorities.  Transmission of any material in violation of any federal, state and/or local law or regulation is prohibited.  This includes, but is not limited to materials protected by copyright, threatening or obscene material or material protected by trade secret.  Users must respect all intellectual and property rights and laws.

Students and their parents/guardians and staff should be aware that disciplinary action may be taken against them when their off-campus speech may reasonably cause a substantial disruption to the educational environment or interferes with another student’s or staff member’s rights. Criminal action may be taken against students when their speech constitutes a true threat.

VII.     District Responsibilities

The District makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, for the access being provided. Further, the District assumes no responsibility for the quality, availability, accuracy, nature or reliability of the service and/or information provided.  Users of the District’s computer network and the Internet use information at their own risk.  Each user is responsible for verifying the integrity and authenticity of the information that is used and provided. 

The District shall not be responsible for any damages suffered by any user, including, but not limited to, loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, wrong deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or the errors or omissions of any user.  The District also shall not be responsible for unauthorized financial obligations resulting from the use of or access to the District’s computer network or the Internet.

Further, even though the District may use technical or manual means to regulate access and information, these methods do not provide a foolproof means of enforcing the provisions of the District policy and regulation.

Ref:
Public Law No. 106-554
47 USC §254
20 USC §6801

Cross-reference:
Internet Safety Policy #4526.1
Internet Safety Policy Regulation #4526.1-R
Computer Network Acceptable Use Policy #4526
Student/Staff Attestation Form #4526-F

Approved by the Board of Education: 02/13/07
Revision approved by the Board of Education: 08/21/08
Revision approved by the Board of Education: 01/19/17
Approved by the Board of Education: 06/18/20
Revision approved by the Board of Education: 01/19/23

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