Common use of Network Resources Clause in Contracts

Network Resources. The use of the network is a privilege, not a right, and may be revoked if abused. Faculty/staff are personally responsible for his/her actions when utilizing the school’s computer resources. PRIVACY – Network storage areas are the property of the school district. The Network Administrator may review any storage area of the school network or email to maintain system integrity and to insure that faculty/staff are using the system responsibly. No one can claim a right to privacy or unrestricted speech in the use of the District’s systems. PERSONAL USE - Limited personal use is permitted as long as this does not increase the cost to the District or interfere with the operations of the network or with the performance of the employee’s duties. Use of the district’s computer (i.e. laptop), at home, can become a potential risk for viruses and spyware being introduced into the school network. Please use extreme caution when using district resources at home. COPYING/DOWNLOADING – Faculty/Staff ARE permitted to install UPDATES pertaining to the operating system, web browsers, Adobe, and other necessary updates only after checking with district/campus technology personnel. Faculty/Staff are NOT permitted to download or install any software, shareware, or freeware onto the school’s computers (webshots, gator, yahoo messenger, kazaa, weatherbug, limewire, spybot, toolbars, screen savers, etc.) Faculty/Staff are NOT permitted to intrude into others’ files. INAPPROPRIATE MATERIALS OR LANGUAGE – Faculty/Staff are NOT permitted to transmit, retrieve or store materials that are discriminatory, harassing, obscene, pornographic, or inappropriate. Despite our best efforts and beyond the limits of filtering technology, you may run across areas of adult content and some material you might find objectionable for the educational setting. We ask that you report these websites to the technology department to include in the filtering process. Faculty or staff should not seek to access sites that are inappropriate for the public school environment. The use of district online systems for personal gain, political lobbying or any other purpose which is illegal or against district policy or contrary to the district’s best interest is NOT permitted. ELECTRONIC MAIL – While electronic mail can be a valuable tool, it is impossible to guarantee that it will be private. Do not send messages that are abusive, threatening, harassing, obscene, sexually oriented, discriminatory, damaging, illegal, false, or contain profanity. Do not send chain letters, virus warnings, urban legends or other unsubstantiated scares. Use the forward button with care (copy/paste is preferred). Do not use the system for commercial purposes, financial gain, political lobbying or any illegal purposes. Faculty/Staff can be permitted to send messages pertaining to SCHOOL SPONSORED events, only after checking with appropriate district/campus technology personnel or your direct supervisor. Do not open attachments without first checking the validity of the attachment with the sender. If the sender is unknown, don’t open the attachment. SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES – The ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Independent School District understands the importance of teachers, students and parents engaging, collaborating, learning, and sharing in digital environments. To this aim, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ISD has developed the following regulations to provide direction for instructional employees, students and the school district community when participating in online social media activities. Whether or not an employee chooses to participate in a blog, wiki, online social network or any other form of online publishing or discussion is his or her own decision. Free speech protects educators who want to participate in social media, but courts have ruled that schools can discipline teachers if their speech, including online postings, disrupts school operations. The ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Independent School District social media regulations encourage employees to participate in social computing and strive to create an atmosphere of trust and individual accountability, keeping in mind Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, Social Networks, Digital Images, Video Copyright and Fair Us Profiles and Identity