Little Elm Independent School District's
Acceptable Use Guidelines for Technology
The Little Elm Independent School system strongly believes in the educational value of electronic services and recognizes their potential to support its curriculum and student learning by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication. LEISD will make every effort to protect students and teachers from any misuses or abuses as a result of their experience with an information service. Your signature and your child's will indicate acknowledgment and understanding of the following standards. These standards have been crossreferenced with the LEISD Student Code of Conduct to provide information to students and parents regarding possible violations and consequences. Please refer to the LEISD Student Code of Conduct for additional information for violation as a user of this service. Your child will be expected to abide by the following generally accepted rules of network etiquette.
Network Guidelines
1. Personal Safety
a. I will not post personal contact information about myself or other people. Personal contact information includes my address or telephone number. (safety violation)
b. I will not agree to meet with someone I have met online without my parent's approval. (safety violation)
c. I will promptly disclose to my teacher or other school employee any message I receive that is inappropriate or makes me feel uncomfortable. (safety violation)
2. Illegal Activities
a. I will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to my school's file server or Little Elm ISD's District Network or to any other computer system that goes beyond my authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another person's account, or access another person's files. These actions are illegal, even if only for the purposes of "browsing". (theft)
b. I will not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means. These actions are illegal. (vandalism)
c. I will not use my school's file server or Little Elm ISD's District Network to engage in any other illegal act, such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, or threatening the safety of a person. (drug and safety violation)
d. I will not read, move, rename, edit, or in any way alter the files that have been created or organized by others. (vandalism)
e. I will not alter hardware or software setups on my school's computers or the file server. (vandalism)
3. Security
a. I am responsible for my individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use my account. Under no conditions will I provide my password to another person. (safety violation)
b. I will immediately notify a teacher or the system administrator if I have identified a possible security problem. I will not go looking for these security problems, because this may be construed as an illegal attempt to gain access. (safety violation, theft)
c. I will avoid the inadvertent spread of computer viruses by following the district's virus protection procedures. (vandalism)
4. Inappropriate Language
a. Restrictions against inappropriate language applies to public messages, private messages, and material created for assignments or to be posted on web pages. (derogatory statements, disruption of education)
b. I will not use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language. (derogatory statement, sexual harassment)
c. I will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks. (derogatory statements, disruption of education)
d. I will not harass another person. Harassment in persistently acting in a manner that distresses or annoys another person. If I am told by a person to stop sending them messages, I will stop. (disrespecting others' rights, disruption of education)
e. I will not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization. (derogatory statements, disruption of education)
5. Respect for Privacy
a. I will not repost a message that was sent to me privately without permission of the person who sent me the message. (disrespecting others' rights)
b. I will not post private information about another person. (disrespecting others' rights)
6. Respecting Resource permits
a. I will use the technology at my school only for educational and career development activities. (disruption of education)
b. I will not download large files unless absolutely necessary. (disruption of education)
c. I will not post chain letters or engage in "spamming". Spamming is sending an annoying or unnecessary message to a large number of people. (disruption of education)
7. Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
a. I will not plagiarize works that I find on the Internet or on the computers at my school. Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others and presenting them as if they were my own. (theft)
b. I will respect the rights of copyright owners. Copyright infringement occurs when I inappropriately reproduce a work that is protected by a copyright. If a work contains language that specifies appropriate use of that work, I will follow the expressed requirements. If I am unsure whether or not I can use a work, I will request permission from the copy right owner. If I am confused by copyright law, I will ask a teacher to answer my questions. (theft)
8. Inappropriate Access to Material
a. I will not use my school's file server to access material that is profane or obscene (pornography), that advocates illegal acts, or that advocates violence or discrimination toward other people. (disruption of education, safety violation)
b. If I mistakenly access inappropriate information, I will immediately tell my teacher or an administrator. This will protect me against a claim that I have intentionally violated this policy. (failing to comply with directives)
c. My parents will instruct me if there is additional material that they think would be inappropriate for me to access. The district fully expects that I will follow my parent's instructions in this matter. (respect for others violation)
Student's Rights
1. Search and Seizure
a. I should expect only limited privacy in the contents of my personal files on my school's file server. The situation is similar to the rights I have in the privacy of my locker.
b. Routine maintenance and monitoring of each school's file server may lead to discovery that I have violated these network guidelines, the district's Student Code of Conduct, or the law.
c. An individual search will be conducted if there is reasonable suspicion that I have violated the network guidelines, the district's Student Code of Conduct, or the law. The investigation will he reasonable and related to the suspected violation.
d. My parents have the right at anytime to see the contents of my files.
2. Due Process
a. The district will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation related to any illegal activities conducted through a school's or the district's file servers.
b. In the event there is a claim that I have violated the network guidelines or the district's Student Code of Conduct in my use of the school's or district's file servers, I will be provided with notice and opportunity to be heard in the manner set forth in the district's Student Code of Conduct.
c. If the violation also involves a violation of other provisions of the district's Student Code of Conduct, it will he handled in a manner described in that code of conduct. Additional restrictions may be placed on the use of my account.
3. Limitation of Liability
The district makes no guarantee that the functions or the services provided by or through the district system will be error-free or without defect The district will not he responsible for any damage I may suffer, including but not limited to, loss of data or interruptions of service. The district is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through or stored on the system. The district will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system.
4. Personal Responsibility
I understand that I am responsible for the district's technological hardware that I use. When I am using the file server at my school, it may feel like I can more easily break a rule and not get caught. This is not really true because whenever I do something on a network, I leave little "electronic footprints," so the odds of getting caught are really about the same as they are in the real world.
The fact that I can do something or think I can do something without being caught does not make it right to do so. Even if I don't get caught, there is always one person who will know whether I have done wrong - and that person is me. My use of the technology available to me at school can be a mirror that will show what kind of person I am.
Agreement
I ___________________(student's name) have read and understand the guidelines and the rights explained above. I will abide by them in letter and spirit, and understand that violating them will result in disciplinary action.
I understand that property rights to any software that I may create or develop at an LEISD campus or by utilizing LEISD equipment will belong solely to Little Elm Independent School District.
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Student's Signature Parent's Signature Date