Highline School District views the use of electronic resources as central to the delivery of education, and as such maintains the expectation that all students will use electronic resources and tools as an essential part of their learning proficiencies. It is the policy of school district to maintain an environment that promotes ethical and responsible conduct in all electronic resource activities by staff and students (end users). These procedures are written to implement Highline School District Policy 2022 Electronic Information System (K-20 Network) to promote appropriate and responsible technology use in support of the mission and goals of the Highline School District and its schools. It shall be a violation of this policy for any employee, student, or other individual to engage in any activity that does not conform to the established purposes and general rules for the use of electronic resources.

These procedures are delivered electronically to all end users and subject to revision and/or adaptation more easily based on our changing use of technology and end user sophistication.  End users will be prompted upon login to accept and agree that s/he will abide by these procedures and Board Policy 2022 (Electronic Information System (K-20 Network)).  If, during the login process, an end user declines or disagrees with these procedures the system will disallow the end user’s account and/or end user’s device from accessing components of or complete access to Highline School District resources.  End users will be prompted systematically when updates to the Electronic Information System (AUP) - Procedures 2022P related to Policy 2022 are revised.  It is in the school district’s best interest to provide access to end users that meet compliance without compromising on the educational value and efficiencies that accompany access.  End users will have an electronic method to request site evaluation, bypass and appeal any decisions related to the execution of these procedures.  Access to this process will be available via the school district’s website.  This is the district’s Acceptable Use Policy & Procedures.

Parents have the option to Opt Out or Decline access to all technology resources by using the Electronic Resources Use Permission Form 2022F.  This form will be available via the school district’s website.

User Accountabilities
Use of the electronic resources provided by the Highline School District is an expectation and a privilege. Where they are available, these resources are offered to staff, students, and other patrons. In order to maintain this privilege, end users agree to learn and comply with all of the provisions of these procedures.

All use of the electronic resources must be in support of educational and research objectives consistent with the mission and objectives of the Highline School District.

All use of the electronic resources must be in compliance with district policies, local, state and federal laws; thus allowing the school district to meet requirements (i.e., FCC CIPA compliance).

CIPA UPDATE/Internet Safety Instruction
All students will have access to information to be educated about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response.

• Age appropriate materials will be made available for use across grade levels.
• Access to training materials for online safety and implementation will be made available for administration, staff and families.

Suitable Consumption

• Creation of files, projects, videos, web pages, podcasts, and other activities using electronic resources, in support of education and research and consistent with the mission of the District.
• Participation in electronic communication and collaboration activities such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, email, and other activities using electronic resources, in support of education and research and consistent with the mission of the District.
• With parent permission, posting of student-created original educational material, curriculum-related materials, and student work. Sources outside the classroom or school must be appropriately cited and all copyright laws must be followed.
• End user consumption of resources for incidental personal use must be in accordance with all District policies and guidelines.
• Connection of any personal electronic device is subject to all guidelines in this document.
• Proper codes of conduct in electronic communication must be used. Providing personal information is inappropriate; when using electronic communications, extreme caution must always be taken in revealing any information of a personal nature.
• All electronic resource accounts are to be used only by the authorized owner of the account for the authorized purpose.
• All communications and information accessible via electronic resources should be assumed to be public records and, barring a privilege, they will be disclosed.
• As a representative of your school and community, exemplary behavior while using electronic resources should be practiced.

Undesirable Usage

• Providing unauthorized personal information such as an address or phone number.
• Contributing to the actions of or related to the action of sexting or delivery of pornography.
• Contributing to cyberbullying, hate mail, chain letters, harassment, discriminatory remarks, and other antisocial behaviors.
• Using profanity, obscenity, racist terms, or other language that may be offensive to another user.
• Failure to use secure and strong passwords to protect inappropriate access to district resources.
• Any use of the electronic resources for individual profit or gain; for product advertisement; for political action or political activities; or for excessive personal use.
• Playing games, accessing blocked social networking sites, and streaming or downloading audio and video files, protected by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Movie Licensing USA, unless specifically authorized by a teacher for instructional purposes.
• Intentionally seeking information on, obtaining copies of, or modifying files, other data, or passwords belonging to other users, or misrepresenting other users on the electronic resources.
• Using an electronic resources account authorized for another person.
• Making use of the electronic resources in a manner that serves to disrupt the use of the network by others.
• Destroying, modifying, or abusing hardware and/or software.
• Unauthorized downloading or installation of any software, including shareware and freeware, for use on Highline School District electronic resources.
• Downloading, copying, otherwise duplicating, and/or distributing copyrighted materials without the specific written permission of the copyright owner. Exceptions are made when duplication and/or distribution of materials for educational purposes is permitted when such duplication and/or distribution would fall within the Fair Use Doctrine of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17, USC).
• Sending inappropriate electronic communication to other end users via mail lists, groups, or on sites to which the end user does not belong.  Example includes sending to an “ALL” email list or lists for a school or student group in which the sender does not belong and does not have authorization from the administrator to communicate with said recipients, as well as the posting of other people’s individual information on one’s personal site or another’s site without permission.
• Using electronic resources to access or process pornographic material, inappropriate files, or files dangerous to the integrity of the network.
• Malicious use of the electronic resources to develop programs that harass other users or infiltrate a computer or computing system and/or damage the software components of a computer or computing system.
• Any attempts to defeat or bypass the District’s Internet filter by using or trying to use proxies, anonymizers, https, special ports, modification to District browser settings or any other techniques, designed to avoid being blocked from inappropriate content or to conceal Internet activity.
• Using any electronic resources for unlawful purposes.

Staff Accountabilities
Staff members who supervise students, control electronic equipment, or otherwise have occasion to observe student use of said equipment shall make reasonable efforts to monitor the use of this equipment to assure that it conforms to electronic resources procedures as well as with the mission and goals of the Highline School District.

Staff must be visible to students in lab and classroom environments where equipment is being used to access the network or Internet for supervisory purposes and to assist students with appropriate use guidelines.

Staff should make reasonable efforts to become familiar with the electronic resources and their use so that effective monitoring, instruction, and assistance may be provided. Staff should report any misuse to their supervisor.  

Highline School District Rights and Accountabilities
The Highline School District recognizes its obligation to protect the well-being of students in its charge. To this end, the district retains the following rights:

• To log electronic resource use and to monitor fileserver space utilization by users, and assume no responsibility or liability for files deleted due to violation of fileserver space allotments.
• To monitor the use of electronic resource activities. This may include real-time monitoring of network activity and/or maintaining a log of Internet activity for later review.
• To provide internal and external controls as appropriate, including the right to determine who will have access to Highline School District-owned equipment.
• To exclude those who do not abide by the Highline School District's Electronic Information System (K-20 Network) and Electronic Information System (Networks – Procedures) resources policy or other policies governing the use of school facilities, equipment, and materials.
• To restrict electronic resource destinations through software or other means.
• To provide guidelines and make reasonable efforts to train staff and students in acceptable use and policies governing electronic resource communications.
• To monitor and maintain mailing list subscriptions and to delete files from the personal mail directories to avoid excessive use of fileserver hard-disk space.
• To use filtering software to block or filter access to visual depictions that are obscene and all child pornography in accordance with CIPA. Other objectionable material may be filtered. The determination of what constitutes “objectionable” material is a local decision determined by the District's educational goals.

Disclaimer
The Highline School District cannot be held accountable for the information that is retrieved via electronic resources.

Pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (18 USC 2510 et seq.), notice is hereby given that there are no facilities provided by this system for sending or receiving private or confidential electronic communications. Network administrators have access to all email and may monitor messages. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

The District reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review, and store without prior notice any and all usage of: the network; user files and disk space utilization; user applications and bandwidth utilization; user document files, folders, and electronic communications; email; Internet access; and any and all information transmitted or received in connection with network and/or email use.

All such information files shall be and remain the property of the District, and no student or staff user shall have any expectation of privacy regarding such materials. The District reserves the right to disclose any electronic message to law enforcement officials or third parties as appropriate. All documents are subject to the public records disclosure laws of the State of Washington.

Tape and/or other digital backups are made of email for the purpose of public disclosure requests and disaster recovery. Barring power outage or intermittent technical issues backups are made of staff and student files on District servers or through agreement with assigned vendors for recovery of accidental loss of deleted files. Recovery is not guaranteed.

Filtering software is not 100% effective. While filters make it more difficult for objectionable material to be received or accessed, filters are not a solution in themselves. Every user must take responsibility for his or her use of the network and Internet and avoid objectionable sites. It is the responsibility of staff to engage students in appropriate use of technology and to have discussions with students on what is appropriate when situations arise.

From time to time, the Highline School District will make determinations on whether specific uses of electronic resources are consistent with the Electronic Resources policy.

The Highline School District will not be responsible for any damages users may suffer, including loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by our own negligence or user errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained is at the user’s own risk.

The Highline School District makes no warranties (expressed or implied) with respect to:

• The content of any advice or information received by a user or any costs or charges incurred as a result of seeking or accepting any information;
• Any costs, liability, or damages caused by the way the user chooses to use his or her access to the electronic resources.
• The Highline School District reserves the right to change its policies and rules at any time without notification.

Personal Device Warning
By connecting a mobile device to the Highline School District email system, you acknowledge and agreed that the Highline School District Department of Technology reserves the right to enforce any security measures deemed necessary to mitigate data leakage and protect students. This includes but is not limited to:

• Remotely delete the contents of your mobile device. This may include district and personal contacts, pictures, etc.
• Enforce the use of a password / pin to access the mobile device.
• To remotely delete the contents of your cell phone in the event a password is incorrectly entered more than 10 times.
• Restrict the use of applications deemed a security risk.

In addition, you must understand that documents or records – including electronic communications of a public agency are public records under Washington state law. Using any personal device or computer for school district business can result in a requirement that you submit your personal device for examination or search if a public records request is received concerning information that may be stored on your personal device. The mobile devices that are subject to this policy are those that directly connect to Microsoft Exchange via the ActiveSync Protocol and Research in Motion’s Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES). Examples of ActiveSync compatible devices include, but are not limited to: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android based mobile phone, Tablet device, etc.  Examples of BES compatible devices include, but are not limited to Blackberry phones or tablet device.

Ownership of Work
All work completed by employees as part of their employment will be considered property of the district. The District will own any and all rights to such work including any and all derivative works, unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.

All work completed by students as part of the regular instructional program is owned by the student as soon as it is created, unless such work is created while the student is acting as an employee of the school system or unless such work has been paid for under a written agreement with the school system. If under an agreement with the district, the work will be considered the property of the District. Staff members must obtain a student’s permission prior to distributing his/her work to parties outside the school.

Student Data is Confidential
District staff must maintain the confidentiality of student data in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  Any connection to the school district network from an offsite location shall use HTTPS security sites and the school district’s SSL VPN (Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network).  This applies to information of sensitive or non-sensitive nature.

Sanctions for Violations
Any activity that violates the content of this policy should be reported to the school administrator. Disciplinary action, if any, for the students, staff, and other users shall be consistent with the District’s standard policies and procedures. Violations of this policy can constitute cause for revocation of access privileges, suspension of access to Highline School District electronic resources, other employee or school disciplinary action, and/or other appropriate legal or criminal action including restitution, if appropriate. End users shall be subject to the sanctions of WAC 180-40, et seq., as appropriate.

The following definitions are not intended to be all inclusive; rather, these definitions are to add context to sections and concepts of this procedures document.

Definitions

• AUP- Acceptable Use Policy 
• Device, tool, equipment -Windows, Apple, Linux, and/or Android desktops, laptops, tablets or phones 
• Resources - Computers, Internet, File Shares, Websites, and Collaboration tools
• Accountabilities - Use related actions that the end user is accountable to when using District resources
• Consumption - The act of consuming information for personal or educational use
• Code of Conduct - The appropriate use of resources, interaction with others in an online environment and sharing of information
• Copyright - The exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc.: works granted such right by law on or after January 1, 1978, are protected for the lifetime of the author or creator and for a period of 50 years after his or her death.
• Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) - Requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for the receipt of certain federal funding.
• Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) - Applies to individually identifiable information about a child that is collected online, such as full name, home address, email address, telephone number or any other information that would allow someone to identify or contact the child. The Act and Rule also cover other types of information -- for example, hobbies, interests and information collected through cookies or other types of tracking mechanisms -- when they are tied to individually identifiable information. 
• Family Educational Rights Protection Act (FERPA)- This document states that student information is only given out on a need to know not a want to know basis. Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
  • School officials with legitimate educational interest;
  • Other schools to which a student is transferring;
  • Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
  • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
  • Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
  • Accrediting organizations;
  • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
  • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
  • State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.
•  Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Movie Licensing USA® - 
  • RIAA works to protect the intellectual property and First Amendment rights of artists and music labels; conduct consumer, industry and technical research; and monitor and review state and federal laws, regulations and policies.
  • Movie Licensing USA® provides Public Performance Site Licensing to K-12 schools and public libraries on behalf of the major Hollywood motion picture studios. In addition to providing peace of mind, this license ensures that entertainment movies are used legally in these public venues.
• Fair Use Doctrine of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17, USC)
  • Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
• The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
• The nature of the copyrighted work
• The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
• The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
• Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (18 USC 2510 et seq.)- Covers transfers made in whole or in part through for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception.

Highline School District 401
Approved by the Superintendent: September 1996
Approved by the Superintendent: 10.96, 3.98, 11.00, 6.02, 5.12