Employee Technology Security / Internet Access Agreement

Please read the following carefully before signing this document. This is a legally binding document.

Computers and computing resources are important tools for furthering the Etowah County School District’s educational mission. The Board’s goal in providing these resources to teachers and students is to promote educational excellence by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication. Using these resources is a privilege, not a right. Appropriate Use regulations are provided herein to insure you are aware of the responsibilities you are about to acquire.

In general, computer users are responsible for the following:

• reporting policy violations promptly
• cooperating with system administrators when policy violations are suspected or confirmed
• behaving courteously, ethically, and legally

Students, teachers, and other employees will have access to the following:

·         electronic mail communication with people all over the world

·         information and news from research institutions

·         public domain software and software of all types

·         discussion groups on a variety of topics, including blogs and wikis

·         access to many University Library Catalogs, the Library of Congress, and the AlabamaVirtual Library

Security

Appropriate security precautions must be taken when using school resources to post online content. Publishing students' personal information, including telephone numbers, addresses, schedules, IM screen names, or other information that could be used to identify or locate students is prohibited.  Before posting student pictures on your ECBOE website, ensure that their parents granted permission for you to do so.

Users may not authorize anyone, including family members, to use their account(s) or log in information for any reason. Users are responsible for all activity on accounts assigned to them and must take all reasonable precautions, including password maintenance and file protection measures, to prevent use of their accounts by unauthorized persons.

In addition to the responsibilities associated with the use of online technologies, employees of the Etowah County School System must also understand the importance of keeping network resources secure. Network and wireless passwords must only be shared with authorized staff (never students or non-employees) unless granted permission by the district technology department. Employee passwords should be changed every six weeks and kept secure. Allowing student use of an employee’s password could allow student access to secure network resources, which could be in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that protects the privacy of students.

Content

Any communications that would be improper or illegal on any other medium in a school environment are equally so on a computer network. Transmitting, viewing, or publishing content deemed by school administrators to be obscene, offensive, threatening, abusive, harassing, unethical, illegal, or disruptive to the learning environment is prohibited. Sending unwanted material to others is considered inappropriate.

Supervision

Software and Licensing

Copyright Infringement

The Etowah County School District’s computing facilities may not be used to steal content owned or copyrighted by others. Fair use laws regarding copyright apply; in general, a single copy made for personal uses falls within fair use laws, while multiple copies do not. Please refer to ECBOE website for more details about fair use:http://www.ecboe.org/fairuse

Using Shared Resources

Users of ECBOE technologies, Internet connections, and e-mail have no right to expect privacy with respect to such usage. The Etowah County Board of Education has the right, but not the duty, to monitor all communications and downloads that pass through its facilities, at its sole discretion, to ensure proper system performance, management and maintenance functions, policy compliance, and system security.  The Etowah County School District owns all data stored on school-owned equipment, including but not limited to the data network, computers, mobile data storage devices, and all connected peripherals. It is inadvisable to use school-owned computers for conducting sensitive or confidential personal business or storing such data.  When monitoring reveals possible Acceptable Use Policy violations, system personnel may provide this data to school and/or district administrators.

Any attempt to deliberately degrade or disrupt system performance or to interfere with the work of others is a breach of this policy. Limits may be set on certain computing resources such as disk storage space, printing access, bandwidth priority for specific applications, computer login time, etc. Users may not attempt to bypass these limitations.

Damage to computers, computer systems, or computer networks (including changing workstation and printer configurations when not authorized, unauthorized streaming, and use  of proxies, etc.) is expressly prohibited.

Personal Devices

The Board reserves the right to place conditions on, restrict, or prohibit the use of personally-owned technology resources on its property. Unauthorized use of cell phones during instructional time or in a supervisory role is prohibited.

Social  Media

ECBOE recognizes the value of social media, both for personal and professional use.  However, there are some guidelines that should be addressed when educators use social media. Recommendations have been posted online to better protect (and inform) ECBOE employees from charges of inappropriate use. Please review them at http://www.ecboe.org/socialmediaguidelines.

ETOWAH COUNTY SCHOOLS

Employee Technology Security / Internet Access Agreement

http://www.ecboe.org/aup

Signature Page

I have read, understand, and will abide by the ECBOE Employee Technology Security/Internet Access Agreement. I understand that our Internet connectivity and technology are vital to the instructional process and will only be used for instructional and professional purposes during the school day. I further understand that any violation of the regulations is unethical and may constitute a criminal offense. Should I commit any violation, my access privileges may be revoked, school system disciplinary action and/or appropriate legal action may be taken, up to and including employment termination.

I further agree to promote the enforcement of the regulations in supervising student Internet use and facilitating digital citizenship, as well as maintaining network security.

Employee's Name (please print) _______________________________________

Employee's Signature_________________________ Date _____________________