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