Norton Unified School District 211 Student Acceptable Use Policy
Norton Unified School District 211(USD211) recognizes that access to technology in school gives students and teachers greater opportunities to learn, engage, communicate, and develop skills that will prepare them for work, life, and citizenship. To prepare students as caring and
contributing members of a global society, we are committed to helping them develop and utilize technology and communication skills.
To that end, we provide access to technologies for student and staff use. This Student Acceptable Use Policy outlines the guidelines and behaviors that students are expected to follow when using school technologies or when using personally-owned devices on the
school campus.
accordance with our policies and federal regulations, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
security online, but will not be held accountable for any harm or damages that result from misuse of school technologies.
Users of the network or other technologies are expected to alert IT staff immediately of any concern for safety or security.
USD211 may provide internet access, desktop computers, mobile computers or devices, videoconferencing capabilities, online collaboration capabilities, message boards, email and more.
As new technologies emerge, USD211 will attempt to provide access to them when deemed
educational and serve to enhance the USD211 curriculum. The policies outlined in this document are intended to cover all available technologies, not just those specifically listed.
All parents and students are issued an GoEdustar account. It is the expectation that parents and students use GoEdustar to check grades, conduct, and attendance information. The Academy utilizes GoEdustar as the official grading and attendance tracking program. All assignments will be posted to GoEdustar. Keep your login and password private; use by anyone other than you creates a security risk for both your own files and the network. If you forget your password or cannot get into your network account, seek help from the school counselors.
All technologies provided by USD211 are intended for educational purposes at all times. All users are expected to use good judgment and to follow the specifics of this document as well as the spirit of it: be safe, appropriate, careful and kind; do not try to get around technological protection measures; use good common sense; and ask if you do not know.
USD211 provides its students with access to the Internet, including websites, resources, content, and online tools. That access will be restricted in compliance with FERPA regulations and school policies. Web browsing may be monitored and web activity records may be retained indefinitely.
Internet access to visual depictions that are obscene, violent, pornographic or are of a harmful nature to minors are filtered or blocked. Students shall not intentionally access or attempt to access these sites. Users are expected to respect that the web filter is a safety precaution and should not try to circumvent it when browsing the internet. If a site is blocked and a user believes it shouldn’t be, the user should follow protocol to alert an IT staff member or submit the site for review to our Director of Technology via email.
Always log out of the network so that your file, password, and network access is protected from abuse by others.
Students are ultimately responsible for backing up their data. USD211-provided storage space should not be considered secure or permanent. USD211 is not responsible for any data loss.
USD211 will provide current 7—12 students with email accounts. These accounts should be used for the purpose of school-related communication. Users should not send personal information, attempt to open files or follow links from unknown or untrusted origin, and should use appropriate language and only communicate with other people as allowed by the school policy or the teacher. Availability and use may be restricted based on school policies.
Users are expected to communicate with the same appropriate, safe, mindful, courteous conduct online as offline. Email usage may be monitored and archived.
Social / Tools & Apps / Collaborative Content
Recognizing that collaboration is essential to education, USD211 will provide students with access to web sites or tools that allow communication, collaboration, sharing and messaging among users.
Users are expected to communicate with the same appropriate, safe, mindful, courteous conduct online as offline. Posts, chats, sharing, and messaging may be monitored. Users should be careful not to share personally-identifying information online.
USD211 will provide students with Chromebooks. Chromebooks are expected to be used in accordance with the policies set forth in this document. The Chromebook cameras are enabled and there is no expectation of privacy when in use. Students should use common sense when using and caring for their Chromebooks.
Students are responsible to bring a fully charged Chromebook to school each day. Students may bring battery chargers to school. Chromebooks must not be left unattended. Found Chromebooks should be delivered to the main office.
Students must contact IT staff for repairs and not attempt to do so on their own.
When student Chromebook repairs are needed, a loaner Chromebook may be provided to the student if necessary, on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the IT staff.
USD211 is not responsible for supporting home networks and internet connectivity.
Parents/guardians will assume any financial responsibility for damages not covered by warranty. Repairs to a student issued Chromebook made necessary by inappropriate handling or treatment will be billed to the student based upon the severity of the situation. Repair costs vary and will range up to the full replacement cost of the unit as determined by the Director of Technology.
In the case of a lost or stolen Chromebook, the following procedures must be followed:
USD211 may provide users with additional devices to promote learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Users should abide by the same acceptable use policies when using school devices off the school network as on the school network.
Users are expected to treat these devices with extreme care and caution; these are expensive devices that the school is entrusting to your care. Users should report any loss, damage, or malfunction to IT staff immediately. Users may be financially responsible for any damage resulting from negligence or misuse. Use of any school-issued devices, including use of the school network, may be monitored.
Students may not use personally-owned devices (including laptops, tablets) if approved by the teacher, unless such use interferes with the delivery of instruction by a teacher or staff or creates a disturbance in the educational environment. Any misuse of personally-owned devices may result in disciplinary action. Therefore, proper netiquette and adherence to the acceptable use policy should always be used.
Users are expected to take reasonable safeguards against the transmission of security threats over the school network. This includes not opening or distributing infected files or programs and not opening files or programs of unknown or untrusted origin. If you believe a computer or mobile device you are using might be infected with a virus, please alert IT. Do not attempt to remove the virus yourself or download any programs to help remove the virus.
Users should not download or attempt to download or run .exe programs over the school network or onto school resources without express permission from IT staff. You may be able to download other file types, such as images or videos. For the security of our network, download such files only from reputable sites, and only for educational purposes.
If you see a message, comment, image, or anything else online that makes you concerned for your personal safety, bring it to the attention of an adult (teacher or staff if you are at school; parent if you are using a device at home) immediately.
associated risks, and should carefully safeguard the personal information of themselves and others.
Cyberbullying will not be tolerated. Harassing, dissing, flaming, denigrating, impersonating, outing, tricking, excluding, and cyberstalking are all examples of cyberbullying. Do not be mean. Do not send emails or post comments with the intent of scaring, hurting, or intimidating someone else.
Engaging in these behaviors, or any online activities intended to harm (physically or emotionally) another person, will result in severe disciplinary action and loss of privileges. In some cases, cyberbullying can be a crime. Remember that your activities are monitored and retained.
I will:
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Users should use their own good judgment when using school technologies.
I will not:
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Users should use their own good judgment when using school technologies. Good judgment is defined as anything that benefits a student's
education. Final judgment as to technology use appropriateness as deemed by USD211 administration.
USD211 will not be responsible for damage or harm to persons, files, data, or hardware. While USD211 employs filtering and other safety and security safeguards, and attempts to ensure their proper function, it makes no guarantees as to their effectiveness. USD211 will not be responsible, financially or otherwise, for unauthorized transactions conducted over the school network.
Violations of this policy may have disciplinary repercussions, including:
User Agreement (to be signed by all adult users and student users above grade 4)
I have read, understand, and will abide by the above Acceptable Use Policy when using computer and other electronic resources owned, leased, or operated by Norton Unified School District 211. I further understand that any violation of the regulations above is unethical and may constitute a criminal offense. Should I commit any violation, my access privileges may be revoked, school disciplinary action may be taken, and/or appropriate legal action may be initiated.
__________________________
User Name (please print)
___________________________ _____________
User Signature Date
Parent Agreement (to be signed by parents of all student users under the age of eighteen)
As a parent or guardian of [please print name of student] __________________________, I have read the Acceptable Use Policy. I understand that this access is designed for educational purposes. Norton Community Schools USD 211 has taken reasonable steps to control access to the Internet, but cannot guarantee that all controversial information will be inaccessible to student users. I agree that I will not hold Norton Community Schools USD 211 responsible for materials acquired on the network. Further, I accept full responsibility for supervision if and when my child's use is not in a school setting. I hereby give permission for my child to use network resources, including the Internet, that are available through Norton Community Schools USD211].
_______________________
Parent Name (please print)
_______________________________________ ______________
Parent Signature Date
Student AUP BOE Approved 7/24