Acceptable Use Policy :: Wayne Highlands School District

The Board supports use of the Internet and other computer networks in the district's instructional and operational programs in order to facilitate learning, teaching and daily operations through interpersonal communications and access to information, research and collaboration.

The district provides students, staff and other authorized individuals with access to the district’s computers, electronic communication systems and network, which includes Internet access, whether wired or wireless, or by any other means.

For instructional purposes, the use of network facilities shall be consistent with the curriculum adopted by the school district as well as the varied instructional needs, learning styles, abilities and developmental levels of students.

Definitions

The term child pornography is defined under both federal and state law.

Child pornography - under federal law, is any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where:[1]

The production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
Such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
Such visual depiction has been created, adapted or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Child pornography - under state law, is any book, magazine, pamphlet, slide, photograph, film, videotape, computer depiction or other material depicting a child under the age of eighteen (18) years engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such act.[2]

Computer - for purposes of this policy, district computers include any electronic device owned or leased by the district that has the capability to create, play or edit text, audio and video data; transmit or receive messages, text, data or images; operate software or online applications; or provide a wired or wireless connection to the Internet.

The term harmful to minors is defined under both federal and state law.

Harmful to minors - under federal law, is any picture, image, graphic image file or other visual depiction that:[3][4]

Taken as a whole, with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex or excretion;
Depicts, describes or represents in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or lewd exhibition of the genitals; and
Taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value as to minors.

Harmful to minors - under state law, is any depiction or representation in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse, when it:[5]

Predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful or morbid interest of minors;
Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational or scientific value for minors.

Obscene - any material or performance, if:[5]

The average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the subject matter taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest;
The subject matter depicts or describes in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct described in the law to be obscene; and
The subject matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational or scientific value.

Technology protection measure - a specific technology that blocks or filters Internet access to visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography or harmful to minors.[4]

Authority

The availability of access to electronic information does not imply endorsement by the district of the content, nor does the district guarantee the accuracy of information received. The district shall not be responsible for any information that may be lost, damaged or unavailable when using the network or for any information that is retrieved via the Internet.

The district shall not be responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting from access to the Internet or other network resources.

The Board declares that district Internet, computer and network use is a privilege, not a right. The district’s computer and network resources are the property of the district. Users shall have no expectation of privacy in anything they create, store, send, delete, access, receive or display on or over the district’s Internet, computers or network resources, including personal files. The district reserves the right to monitor, track and log network access and use on district computers and network resources; monitor file server space and file storage utilization by district users; or deny access to prevent unauthorized, inappropriate or illegal activity and may revoke access privileges and/or administer appropriate disciplinary action. The district shall cooperate to the extent legally required with the Internet Service Provider (ISP), local, state and federal officials in any investigation concerning or related to the misuse of the district’s Internet, computers and network resources.[6][7][8]

The Board requires all users to fully comply with this policy and to immediately report any violations or suspicious activities to the Superintendent or Director of Technology.

The Board establishes the following list of subject areas as inappropriate matter, in addition to those stated in law and defined in this policy, which shall not be accessed by minors:[4]

Hate speech.[9][10]
Lewd, vulgar or profane.
Threatening.[11][12]
Harassing or discriminatory.[9][10][13]
Bullying.[14]
(Consisting of/Relating to) Weapons.[15]
Terroristic.[16]
Proxy Avoidance.
Crypto Mining.
Adult/Mature Content.
Nudity and Risque.
Lingerie and Swimsuit.
Malicious Websites.
Phishing.
Spam URLs.
Pornography.[2]

The district reserves the right to restrict access to any Internet sites or network functions it deems inappropriate through established Board policy, or the use of software and/or online server blocking/filtering. Specifically, the district operates and enforces a technology protection measure(s) that blocks or filters access to inappropriate matter by minors on its computers and network resources used and accessible to adults and students. The technology protection measure shall be enforced during use of computers and network resources with Internet access.[3][4][17]

Upon request by students or staff, the Superintendent or Director of Technology shall expedite a review and may authorize the adjustment of technology protection measures to enable access to material that is blocked or filtered but is not prohibited by this policy.[17]

Upon request by students, faculty, staff, and building administrators may request through the Superintendent or Director of Technology; authorize the temporary adjustment of technology protection measures to enable access for bona fide research or for other lawful purposes. If a request for temporary adjustment of technology protection measures is denied, the requesting student or staff member may appeal the denial to the Superintendent or Director of Technology for expedited review.[3][18]

Delegation of Responsibility

The district shall make every effort to ensure that this resource is used responsibly by students and staff.

The district shall inform staff, students, parents/guardians and other users about this policy through employee and student handbooks, posting on the district website and by other appropriate methods. A copy of this policy shall be provided to parents/guardians, upon written request.[17]

Users of district networks or district-owned equipment shall, prior to being given access or being issued equipment, sign user agreements acknowledging awareness of the provisions of this policy and awareness that the district uses monitoring systems to monitor and detect inappropriate use.

The Office of Information Technology shall use tracking systems to track and recover lost or stolen equipment.

Student user agreements shall also be signed by a parent/guardian.

Administrators, teachers and staff have a professional responsibility to work together to help students develop the intellectual skills necessary to discern among information sources, to identify information appropriate to their age and developmental levels and to evaluate and use the information to meet their educational goals.

Students, staff and other authorized individuals have the responsibility to respect and protect the rights of every other user in the district and on the Internet.

Building principals shall make initial determinations of whether inappropriate use has occurred, and may consult with the Superintendent or Director of Technology and the school solicitor when necessary.

The Superintendent or Director of Technology shall be responsible for recommending technology and developing procedures used to determine whether the district’s computers and network resources are being used for purposes prohibited by law or for accessing sexually explicit materials. The procedures shall include but not be limited to:[3][4][19]

Utilizing a Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) compliant technology protection measure that blocks or filters Internet access for minors and adults to certain visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, harmful to minors with respect to use by minors, or determined inappropriate for use by minors by the Board.
Maintaining and securing a usage log.
Monitoring online activities of minors on district computers and network resources.

The Superintendent or Director of Technology shall develop and implement administrative regulations that ensure students are educated on network etiquette and other appropriate online behavior, including:[4]

Interaction with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms.
Cyberbullying awareness and response.[14][20]

Guidelines

District computers and network accounts shall be used only by the authorized user of the computer or account for its approved purpose. Network users shall respect the privacy of other users on the system.

Safety

It is the district’s goal to protect users of the network from harassment and unwanted or unsolicited electronic communications. Any network user who receives threatening or unwelcome electronic communications or inadvertently visits or accesses an inappropriate site shall report such immediately to a teacher, building administrator, Superintendent, Director of Technology or other appropriate school staff. Network users shall not reveal personal information to other users on the network or Internet, including chat rooms, email, social networking websites, etc.

Internet safety measures shall effectively address the following:[4][19]

Control of access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide Web.
Safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, social networking websites and other forms of direct electronic communications.
Prevention of unauthorized online access by minors, including hacking and other unlawful activities.
Unauthorized disclosure, use and dissemination of personal information regarding minors.[21][22][23]
Restriction of minors’ access to materials harmful to them or which have been designated as inappropriate matter in Board policy.

This policy has been developed to:

Ensure security, reliability and integrity of the system.
Avoid situations that may cause the district to incur civil liability.
Maintain the image and reputation of the Wayne Highlands School District as a responsible Internet user/provider.
Encourage responsible use of the Internet resources and discourage practices that degrade the usability of Internet services.
Preserve the privacy and security of individual users subject to authorized employer review and legal processes.

The electronic information available to students and staff does not imply endorsement by the district of the content, nor does the district guarantee the accuracy of information received. The district shall not be responsible for any information that may be lost, damaged or unavailable when using the network or for any information that is retrieved via the Internet.

The district shall not be responsible for any unauthorized charges or fees resulting from access to the Internet.

Prohibitions

Users are expected to act in a responsible, ethical and legal manner in accordance with Board policy, accepted rules of network etiquette and federal and state law and regulations. Specifically, the following are prohibited uses of district computers and/or network resources:

Facilitating illegal activity.
Commercial or for-profit purposes.
Non-work or non-school related work.
Product advertisement or political lobbying.
Bullying/Cyberbullying.[14][20]
Hate mail, discriminatory remarks, harassment and offensive or inflammatory communication.[9][10][14][24]
Unauthorized or illegal installation, distribution, reproduction, or use of copyrighted materials.[25]
Accessing, sending, receiving, transferring, viewing, sharing or downloading obscene, pornographic, lewd or otherwise illegal materials, images or photographs.[26]
Access by students and minors to material that is harmful to minors or is determined inappropriate for minors in accordance with Board policy.
Vulgar or inappropriate language or profanity.
Transmission of material that a reasonable person would know likely to be offensive or objectionable to recipients.
Intentional obtaining or modifying of files, passwords, and data belonging to other users.
Impersonation of another user, anonymity, and pseudonyms.
Fraudulent copying, communications, or modification of materials in violation of copyright laws.[25]
Loading or accessing unauthorized games, programs, files, or other electronic media.
Disruption of the work of other users.
Destruction, modification, abuse or unauthorized access to network hardware, software, systems and files.
Quoting of personal communications in a public forum without the original author's prior consent.
Accessing the Internet, district computers or other network resources without authorization.
Disabling, adjusting or bypassing the Internet blocking/filtering technology protection measure(s) without authorization.
Accessing, sending, receiving, transferring, viewing, sharing, deleting or downloading confidential information without authorization.

Security

System security is protected through the use of passwords and/or encryption and district security procedures. Failure to adequately protect or update passwords could result in unauthorized access to personal or district files. To protect the integrity of the system, the following guidelines shall be followed:[23][27][28]

Employees and students and other authorized users shall not reveal their passwords to another individual.
Users are not to access another person's account or use a computer that has been logged in under another student's or employee's name.
Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computers or network systems may be denied access to the district’s computers and network resources.
Any attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any host or network is prohibited.
Communications may not be encrypted so as to avoid security review.
Users who violate systems or network security shall incur criminal or civil liability, as well as possible suspension or discharge. The Wayne Highlands School District will cooperate fully with any investigation of security and or network violations.
Only office personnel shall have access to the office computers.

The illegal use of copyrighted materials by students and staff is prohibited. Any data uploaded to or downloaded from the network or Internet shall be subject to fair use guidelines and applicable laws and regulations.[25][29]

All uses of the email system must be consistent with the mission of the Wayne Highlands School District. All staff are to check their email account daily, and appropriate responses are expected within a reasonable period of time (1-2 business day). Guidelines for email use include, but are not limited to, the following:

Harassment, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages is prohibited.
Reposting of personal communications without the author's consent is prohibited.
Employees may not send email to any person who does not wish to receive it. If a recipient asks to stop receiving email, the employee must not send that person any further email.
Employees are prohibited from sending unsolicited bulk mail messages (e.g., junk mail, spam, etc.).
Forging of header information in any deceitful manner is prohibited.
No chat rooms are permitted.
Personal email is prohibited on company paid time.

Google Workspace for Education Accounts

Wayne Highlands School District has a Google Workspace for Education account. Users designated as under 18 years of age won’t be able to access third-party apps if the school entity has not confirmed the access settings. Wayne Highlands School District will seek guidance from Google’s Administrative Help for more information.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Communications and research currently responding to AI technology such as ChatGPT or other Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in a variety of ways as part of curricular and student and staff conduct decisions is supported for learning. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academic assignments, as part of the curriculum and designing academic assignments may include its use and instruction on critical analysis of its products. However Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems may not be used and is prohibited for academic assignments to cheat, complete an assignment or for use in plagiarism. The district reserves the right to respond accordingly to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in real time based on research and discussion.

District Website

The district may establish and maintain a website and shall develop and modify its web pages to present information about the district under the direction of the Superintendent or Director of Technology. All authorized users publishing content on the district website shall receive appropriate training and comply with this and other applicable district policies.

Users shall not copy or download information from the district website and disseminate such information on unauthorized web pages without authorization from the building principal or Director of Technology.

Accessibility -

District staff who maintain social media, district websites and web pages shall post content which is accessible to individuals with disabilities, to the same extent that it is available to other users, based on the needs of the individuals and limitations of the platform. This shall include, but is not limited to:[9][10][13][30][31][32]

Including alternate text descriptions or captions for images.
Including captions for video content.
Avoiding text that is posted as an image or conveyed using only color cues without proper alternate text descriptions or captions for images.
Creating links and attachments in formats that are accessible to screen readers and other assistive technology, and may be accessed through keyboard or speech navigation.
Formatting text so that it is accessible to screen readers and other assistive technology, and may be accessed through keyboard or speech navigation.
All district websites and social media shall contain clear contact information that may be used by members of the public to request accommodations or assistance.

Consequences For Inappropriate Use

Users of district computers and network resources shall be responsible for damages to the equipment, systems, platforms and software resulting from deliberate or willful acts.[17]

Illegal use of district computers or mobile device and the network resources; intentional deletion or damage to files of data belonging to others; copyright violations; and theft of services will be reported to the appropriate legal authorities for possible prosecution.

General rules and Board policies for behavior and communications apply when using the district computers, mobile devices, network resources and Internet, in addition to the stipulations of this policy. Loss of access and other disciplinary actions shall be consequences for inappropriate use.

Vandalism shall result in loss of access privileges, disciplinary action and/or referral to legal authorities. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user, the district, the Internet or other networks; this includes but is not limited to uploading or creating computer viruses.

Failure to comply with this policy or inappropriate use of the Internet, district network or computers shall result in usage restrictions, loss of access privileges, disciplinary action and/or referral to legal authorities.[6][7][8]

Video Surveillance and Photo Usage

The safety of our faculty, staff, and students are very important to the school district. The school district does monitor and record digital video of its buses, campus and buildings interiors every minute of every hour of every day through the use of video surveillance on its network.

The district reserves the right to use video surveillance in cooperation with law enforcement, or other types of investigations. We also reserve the right, unless requested not to, by faculty, staff or student to publish photos of person or persons on our website, yearbook and other types of digital means with the concept of security and safety in mind at all times.

Education

We believe as the Wayne Highlands School District in educating our students on this policy, as well as Internet Safety. By teaching students responsible behavior, asking them to sign an agreement, and providing written descriptions of the consequences for wrongful action, students develop a sense of responsibility and ownership for their online experience.

The building administrator or Director of Technology is responsible for providing education to our faculty, staff, and students in the following:

Educate parents about their children's use of the Internet.
Educate about the risks peculiar to computer communication.
Educate about rules for efficient, ethical, legal computer/network use.
Educate about Safe and appropriate computer social behavior.
Educate about the Use of available and unavailable services.

Specifically, the mandatory Internet safety education must include lessons on cyberbullying awareness and response as well as teaching appropriate online behaviors for students on social networking sites and in chat rooms.

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires, incorporating the new law enacted by Congress that imposes new requirements on any school or library that receives funding for Internet access or internal connections from the E-Rate: Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries program.

The Board declares that computer and network use is a privilege, not a right. The district’s computer and network resources are the property of the district.

The policy will follow the School Code 24 P.S. Sec. 1303.1 A; Child Internet Protection Act 24 P.S. Sec. 4601 et seq.; State CIPA – Child Internet Protection Act – 24 P.S. Sec. 4601 et seq.; U.S. Copyright Law; 17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq.; Sexual Exploitation and Other Abuse of Children 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2256; Enhancing Education Through Technology Act 20 U.S.C. Sec. 6777; Internet Safety Children’s Internet Protection Act 47 U.S.C. Sec. 254; and Children’s Internet Protection Act Regulations 47 CFR Sec. 54.520.

For more information and to review the up to date policy, please refer to our school district’s website at https://www.whsdk12.com. If you are unable to view the website, please contact our Office of Information Technology for a copy of the printed policy.

Acceptable Use Policy

OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY