Published using Google Docs
4119 Personnel Personally Owned Device
Updated automatically every 5 minutes

FARMINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS                                                         4119 Personnel  

Personal Technology

Policy Statement 

It is the policy of the Farmington Board of Education to permit access by employees using  privately-owned electronic devices to the District’s computers, District issued personal data  devices (including Smartphones, Blackberries, PDAs, other mobile or handheld devices) and  instructional technologies; communications and data management systems; informational  technologies and the Internet; and a variety of other technology resources (collectively the  “District technology resources”) in order to promote educational excellence.  

While the District intends to permit such broad access, the District’s technology resources have  not been established as a public access service or as a public forum. Additionally, it is the  expectation of the Board of Education that employees who access these resources while using  personal electronic devices will act at all times in responsible and ethical ways that are fully in  accord with the computer use policy, and all other applicable policies and with all local, state,  and federal laws.  

The District’s technology resources shall only be used to access educational information and to  promote learning activities both at home and at school. The District considers access to its  technology resources to be a privilege and not a right. Staff members are expected to make  responsible and ethical decisions at all times when using the District’s technology resources.  Failure to do so will result in the consequences up to and including dismissal and/or appropriate  criminal or civil action.  

Definitions 

District Technology Resources: 

For the purposes of this policy, “District Technology Resources” refers to District’s computers,  District issued personal data devices (including Smartphones, Blackberries, PDAs, Smartphones,  other mobile or handheld devices) and instructional technologies; communications and data  management systems; informational technologies and the Internet; and a variety of other  technology resources in order to promote educational excellence.  

Employee:

For the purposes of this policy, the term “employee” shall be deemed to include contractors,  volunteers, Board of Education members, third parties and other non-student members of the  school community.

Personal Technology: 

For the purposes of this policy, “personal technology” refers to privately owned wireless and/or  portable electronic hand-held equipment that can be used for word processing, wireless Internet  access, image capture and recording, sound recording, information transmitting and/or receiving,  storing, etc. These devices may include, but are not limited to smartphones, iPhones, I-Pads,

Blackberries, PDAs, mobile devices, network access devices, laptops or other electronic devices  accessing the computer systems

Personal Technology Security 

Responsibility for keeping personal technology secure rests with the individual owner. If  personal technology is stolen, lost, or damaged, it will be handled through the administrative  office similar to how other stolen or damaged personal artifacts are handled. Staff should be  aware that the District is not liable for any personal technology that is stolen, lost, or damaged.  

District Technology Resources/Damages 

Virtual or physical vandalism shall not be tolerated. Any intentional act by a user of the District’s technology resources that damages, or interferes with the performance of District  hardware, software, operating systems, or communication and data management systems will be  considered vandalism and will be subject to discipline and/or appropriate criminal or civil action.  

Protocols for Using Personal Technology 

Employees must abide by all specific protocols outlined in this policy and all other technology  policies and applicable regulations. Employees will be given specific information for log-on and  access procedures using school accounts. No user may deviate from these log-on/access  procedures. Employees are advised that the District’s network administrators have the capability  to identify users and to monitor all personal technology while they are logged on to the network.  Users must understand that the District has reserved the right to conduct monitoring of District  technology resources and can do so despite the assignment to individual users of passwords for  system security. Any password systems implemented by the District are designed solely to  provide system security from unauthorized users, not to provide privacy to the individual system  user. The system's security aspects, message delete function and personal passwords can be  bypassed for monitoring purposes. Therefore, users should not have any expectation of personal  privacy in the use of the computer system or personal technology that access the computer  system. Use of the computer system represents an employee’s acknowledgement that the  employee has read and understands this policy and any applicable regulations in their entirety,  including the provisions regarding monitoring and review of computer activity. This provision  applies to any and all uses of the District’s technology resources and District or personal  electronic devices that access same.  

Disciplinary Action 

Misuse of the District’s technology resources and/or the use of personal technology to access or  utilize the District’s technology resources in an inappropriate manner will not be tolerated and  will result in disciplinary action.

Such misuse may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.  As no two situations are identical, the Board reserves the right to determine the appropriate  discipline for any particular set of circumstances.

Legal References:

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-48d

Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 53a-182; 53a-183; 53a-250

Electronic Communication Privacy Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2510 through 2520

Policy adopted: October 2013