Technology

Appropriate Internet Use Policy

The Internet is a valuable resource for research and communication with endless potential for educational use. However, along with this great capacity for educational use also creates a problem for misuse. The purposes of the following guidelines are to insure that all staff & students are aware of appropriate and expected Internet usage at Foxborough Regional Charter School.

Foxborough Regional Charter School’s Internet connection is intended for educational purposes only. Access to the Internet is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use not only reflects on the school, but may lead to penalties, including revocation of privileges, disciplinary action, and if warranted, legal action.

Foxborough Regional Charter School is not liable for the actions of anyone connecting to the Internet. All users shall assume full liability, legal, financial or otherwise, for their actions.

Foxborough Regional Charter School takes no responsibility for any information or materials transferred through the Internet.

Foxborough Regional Charter School makes no guarantee, implied or otherwise, regarding the reliability of the data connection. Foxborough Regional Charter School is not liable for any loss or corruption of data resulting while using the Internet.

Unacceptable uses of the Internet:

• Use at school for non-school or educational related activities.
• Use in violation of federal, state, or local laws, including sending or receiving copyrighted matter without permission.
• Sending patently harassing, intimidation, abusive or offensive material to or about others, in messages public or private.
• Sending chain letters, broadcasting inappropriate messages to lists or individuals, and any other kind of use that would congest the Internet or otherwise interfere with the work of others.
• Sending or receiving pornographic material or files dangerous to the integrity of the network.
• Vandalizing, described as any deliberate attempt to change files not belonging to you, or harm or destroy the work, systems or data of another user, including uploading or creation of computer viruses.
• Engaging in the illegal distribution of software (pirating).
• Knowingly using another person’s password or misinterpreting your identity, or giving one’s password to others.
• Circumventing security measures on school or remote computers or networks.

Appropriate Technology Use Policy

As organizations and schools continue to expand their use of technology, employees and students increasingly make use of many electronic forms of communication and information exchanges. Employees and students may have access to one or more forms of technology, electronic media and services, such as computers, email, telephones, voicemail, fax machines, online services, and the Internet (World Wide Web). This policy is designed to help employees and students understand expectations for the use of these resources, and to use these resources wisely.

Technology, electronic media and services are business tools for Foxborough Regional Charter School (the School) and educational tools for the students who attend the School. This means employees and students are expected to use these resources for business-related and educational purposes, e.g. to communicate with students/parents/staff/faculty/vendors, to research relevant topics and obtain useful business and educational information, etc. It is important that you conduct yourself honestly and appropriately while using these resources, and respect the copyrights, software licensing rules, property rights, privacy and prerogatives of others, just as you would in any other business dealings. All existing School policies apply to your conduct while using these resources, especially those that deal with privacy, misuse of School resources, sexual harassment and confidentiality. Employees and students are expected to exhibit the same high level of ethical and business standards when using new technology as they do with more traditional workplace & educational communication resources.

Technology, electronic media and services provided by the School are the School’s property and are intended to be used for business or educational purposes. Use of the School’s technology, electronic media and services for personal purposes is discouraged.

The use of technology, electronic media and services is a privilege extended by the School, which may be withdrawn at any time. Any employee’s or student’s use of the School’s electronic media and services may be suspended immediately upon the discovery of a possible violation of these policies. Many organizations have software and systems in place that can monitor and record Internet, email, telephone and other usage of telephonic and electronic resources. The School does have systems capable of recording and monitoring each World Wide Web site visit, chat, newsgroup or e-mail message, and each file transfer into and out of our internal networks, and, if so, the School has the right to do so at any time. No employee or student should have any expectation of privacy as to his or her use of any School property.

The School reserves the right to inspect any and all files stored in private areas of the School’s network and monitor use of all School property in order to assure compliance with this policy.

Note that even though files, data or messages may appear to be deleted, procedures to guard against data loss may preserve material for extended periods of time. In addition, in the unlikely event of certain types of legal proceedings, these types of communications may be subject to discovery. Furthermore, electronic communications, including emails, mentioning students by name or otherwise identifying them may be considered student records to which parents and eligible students are entitled to access as a matter of state and federal law. Employees are, therefore, reminded to conduct themselves in a professional manner when using these systems.

With the rapidly changing nature of technology and electronic media, this policy cannot set forth rules to cover every possible situation. Instead, it sets forth general principles to be applied to all employees and students in their use of technology, electronic media and services.

The following policies relate to the responsible use of technology, electronic media and services at the School:

1. These resources are school property and are to be used solely for business or educational purposes.
2. Fraudulent, harassing, threatening, discriminatory, derogatory, off-color, obscene messages or materials, or those containing sexual innuendo or off-color jokes, are not to be transmitted, printed, requested or stored. Chain letters, solicitation and other forms of mass mailings are not permitted.
3. Messages may not be transmitted, printed, requested or stored which are illegal, against School policy or contrary to school interest.
4. Employees and students may not download entertainment software, games, images, music or videos unless there is an explicit business-related use or educational need for the material. If software is downloaded it needs to be first approved by the school’s Technology Team and then scanned with a virus detection program before use.
5. Personal long-distance phone calls are prohibited. Employees who have personal or confidential matters to communicate should not use school equipment to do so.
6. Employees and students are responsible for protecting their own passwords. Accessing other employees’ or other students’ voicemail and email is prohibited. In addition, providing information to non-authorized individuals on how to access or use School equipment is prohibited.
7. Do not use or distribute copyrighted software or information without proper authorization from the copyright holder.
8. Do not disclose any confidential or proprietary information.
9. Do not install unauthorized or non-business or non-educational related programs on your computer.
10. Be aware that by merely visiting a website, your address will be left behind, indicating at that site that you and the School have visited it.
11. Do not use your school email address when conducting personal or confidential matters. Be aware that your email address is captured in these instances, resulting in the School being subjected to massive amounts of spam email that impacts the School’s ability to conduct its normal business.

School resources have been purchased and provided to conduct the School’s business and serve it’s students, family and customers. Unauthorized or inappropriate use of any School resources may result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment (for employees) or suspension/expulsion (for students).

Employees should keep local personal calls on School telephones to a minimum. Inappropriate use of the School phones may result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment.

The School’s electronic communications systems (including but not limited to email, voice mail, Internet access, Intranet access, Extranet access, data circuits, computer disks, USB Flash/Thumb drives and computers) are the property of the School and intended for business or educational use. Employees may engage in occasional, limited personal use similar to their use of school telephones. Excessive or inappropriate use will result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment. Employees and students are prohibited from using any other employee’s or student’s password and must not disclose their password to any person inside or outside of the School. Employees and students are expected to exercise good judgment in their use of the communication systems and may not compose, send or forward any type of communication which another person reasonably may consider unprofessional or offensive including but not limited to text, jokes, pictures or cartoons that are sexually, racially or ethnically demeaning, inflammatory or explicit. The School can and will monitor electronic communications for compliance with this policy and for other business reasons at any time in the discretion of the Board of Trustees or School Administration. Employees and students may not download copyrighted information from the Internet and may not send confidential information through the Internet without obtaining advance management or teacher approval.

School, student, parent, family, and employee information must be held in the strictest confidence. Communicating such information, directly or indirectly, is prohibited except as permitted by written approval or as necessary to conduct business.

A violation of the provisions of this policy may result in corrective action up to, and including, termination of employment (for employees) or suspension/expulsion (for students).