Syracuse City School District Acceptable Use Policy For All Computer Technology

September 24, 1998

Mission of the Syracuse City School District
The mission of the Syracuse City School District is to ensure that all students demonstrate mastery of defined skills and knowledge, appreciation of diversity and development of character which will enable them to become productive, responsible citizens who can succeed in a rapidly changing world; this is accomplished, in partnership with our community, by transforming our educational system to respond to the unique needs of each student through excellence in teaching and learning.

Statement of Principle (for this Acceptable Use Policy Document)
The Syracuse City School District makes computer and internet services available to students, staff and community users in support of the educational objectives of the district. This equipment and these services must be used in a responsible, efficient and legal manner in accordance with the instructional objectives and institutional needs of the district. All other uses are secondary.

The Policy Sub-Committee of the Technology Committee
Co-facilitators
Marty Bartholomew Technology Dept.
Michael Parker Nottingham HS

Members

• Sharon Birnkrant H.W. Smith Elementary. School
• Sue Dischiave Technology Dept.
• Karen Dross Elementary Education
• Peggy Hamilton Hughes Magnet School
• Sam Neri Hughes Magnet School
• Larry Page Central Technical HS
• Bob Rubino Secondary Education
• Mike Riposo Clary Middle School
• Patty Vilello School Library System
• Dale Urban Technology Dept.
• David Zehner Nottingham HS

SCSD Acceptable Use Policy
We encourage students and staff to use the computers and technology available in the Syracuse City School District. With this comes responsibility. Violations of the following guidelines will result in a loss of access as well as other disciplinary and/or legal action commensurate with student/employee guidelines. This Acceptable Use Policy addresses the proper use of Technology in all locations within the Syracuse City School District. It is directly related to the instructional goals and/or institutional needs of the district. Any situation not addressed within this policy must be viewed within these goals and needs. Use of Software On District Operated Computers Users of Syracuse City School District equipment will adhere to all copyright laws. A user MAY: make an archive or back-up of a copyrighted program. The school must keep this copy in storage and may only use it if the original has been damaged. write the publishers of copyrighted programs in order to obtain permission to use the software in a manner that would, without this permission, be a violation of the copyright law. A user MAY NOT, without the express permission of the software publisher or copyright owner. make multiple copies of copyrighted software (or a locally produced adaptation or modification), even for use within a school, school district or at home. make additional copies of software from an archive or back-up copy. make copies of copyrighted software (or a locally produced adaptation or modification) to be sold, leased, loaned, transmitted or even given away to users. load a copyrighted program into several computers or a network from the same diskette and use them simultaneously in violation of any licensing agreement.. adapt a copyrighted program from one language to another for which it is not commercially available or add features to a program to better meet local needs. make multiple copies of the printed documentation that accompanies copyrighted software.

Database Downloading:
Downloading involves the transmission of data from a remote or host computer to the user's on-site premises storage device for later searching, manipulation or storage. A user MAY download to the printer bibliographic citations or full text of a database service such as CompuServe, NYSERNet, etc., as the terms of the school's contract with the vendor specify. It is assumed that the user will require no more than 20-30 citations, will be using a legitimate password/subscription for invoice purposes and has local approval to order, receive and provide payment for a full-text document or citations. use downloaded material for individual research or teaching. A user MAY NOT (without express written consent of the database vendor) keep archival copies of downloaded works download a substantial taking (complete database or most of the records). *Note that this criterion also includes a qualitative aspect. For example, if several records were retrieved from a large database but these records were qualitatively superior to the others, the use could also be considered a substantial taking. make commercially available the downloaded material.

Computer and network use/security:
The Syracuse City School District maintains this computer network in support of its instructional goals and Institutional needs. Maintenance of this computer network is intended to foster these instructional goals and Institutional needs, and accordingly, permitted activities only include those activities which promote these goals and needs (Acceptable School Activities). The district will not tolerate any action that will compromise its integrity. Staff and students are expected to: Keep accounts and passwords secure. Notify the appropriate authority of any known or suspected security breach and not share this information with other users. In addition to the prohibited activities detailed in Sections I(B) and II(B) of this policy, the following types of activities are not Acceptable School Activities: Using Syracuse City School District's computers, networks or Internet services for illegal purposes, in violation of Syracuse City School District's policies or in violation of city, state or federal laws. Transmitting any materials that violate state or federal law. Unauthorized access or attempted access to computers, networks, data, systems or Internet services. Attempts to breach security for any reason. Unauthorized monitoring of data on any network, system or computer. Interference of services on any computer, network or services to any user. This includes, but is not limited to, the distribution of viruses or other programs, including public domain software, that disrupt or otherwise damage computer software, data files or hardware. Using the School district network to access other networks without authorization. Violating the Acceptable Use Policies of other networks that are accessible from the Syracuse City School's network. Attempting to log on as another user of any capacity. Harming, modifying or destroying data of other users or networks. Intentional access to Unacceptable Material. Unacceptable Material means any material which is not substantially related to Acceptable School Activities, or material which contains an offensive message, an offensive picture, obscene or harassing language or any material which transgresses the norms of acceptable conduct in the school environment. Altering or tampering with any computer software such as application software, operating system software or network software. Physically harming or damaging equipment. Using the Syracuse City School's technology for commercial purposes or for personal gain.

The Use of Internet Services on District operated Computers:
The Syracuse City School District provides Internet/E-mail resources as a service to students, staff and members of the community in support of the educational objectives of the Syracuse City School District. These services must be used in a responsible, efficient and legal manner and in accordance with the educational objectives of the District. To use these services, individuals must acknowledge their understanding of these guidelines by Clicking on the I accept these guidelines choice on the SCSD/School AUP page. The use of any district computer to access internet services implies this acceptance. It must be understood that it is technologically possible and within SCSD rights to log internet use. The tracking of sites viewed, times of viewing and local address of the computer used are all possible and will be employed where appropriate. The use of the Internet and electronic mail service for non-classroom, non-school district activities is a privilege, not a right. Any activities which do not qualify as Acceptable School Activities will result in the revoking of those privileges and possibly other user disciplinary action.

World Wide Web use
The teacher will serve as a guide for students who use the World Wide Web in schools for instructional purposes. In elementary and middle schools teachers will prepare lists of World Wide Web sites for students to visit and the teacher will design learning activities using those sites in support of District objectives. When appropriate, teachers and staff members will perform searches for students in support of the educational objectives of District curricula. In high schools teachers will be active coaches, working closely with students as they search and use World Wide Web resources in their course work.

Using Bibliographic tools on the World Wide Web
All staff and students must be aware of the District's acceptable use policy and must be able to apply the policy to their own use of District equipment and Internet computer services including World Wide Web services. Teachers, students and other staff members will not intentionally utilize Internet connection to access Unacceptable Material.

Publishing web pages
SCSD schools (staff and students) will be permitted to publish web pages only for Acceptable School Activities, with the purpose and intent of supporting instruction, research and the educational objectives of the SCSD. Staff or student web pages may appear on the District web pages, pages on a school Internet web server or across a school LAN on an intranet. The District has the right to limit the size of any web site based on available space on its servers. Students will be able to author web pages within the instructional objectives of their course work. Student web pages will be reviewed for their content by the student's teacher and by the Principal (or designee). There will be only one web server in a school building. The Principal (or designee) acting in conjunction with the Site Based Technology Committee/Team, will be responsible for editorial content, accuracy and timeliness of school web pages. There will be a clear and direct connection between District instructional objectives and the content of school web pages.

E-mail Accounts
All students and staff may obtain an e-mail address on a district supported server for purposes of meeting the instructional objectives and institutional needs of the district.
E-mail users are expected to abide by these generally accepted rules of the network: Be polite. Use appropriate language. Do not get abusive or use vulgarities in your messages to others. If a student receives e-mail that causes discomfort, for any reason, it should be discussed with an appropriate staff member and/or a parent. Likewise, if an adult receives inappropriate e-mail, it should be reported to the RE&T Department. Do not reveal your personal e-mail password to other students or colleagues and definitely do not give your name, address or phone number to unknown network users. Never agree to meet any unknown user. Only the person to whom the account was originally assigned should use it. All user identification information (finger information) must be complete and have the users full first and last names and location. Home phone numbers should NOT be included and district numbers are optional. Users should routinely delete unused or unnecessary correspondence and attachments Do not use the network in such a way that you would disrupt the use of the network by others.

Users should be aware that: E-mail is not guaranteed to be private. People who operate the system have access to e-mail. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities may be reported to the authorities. Unused or dormant accounts will be purged.

Through this Acceptable Use Policy it is the intent of the Board of Education of the Syracuse City School District to:

Enhance the educational experiences of our students and to improve their capabilities to do research and to communicate through this electronic medium.

Promote a kid-safe internet environment

Provide an efficient and secure network for the safe transfer of information among our schools,disseminate accurate information to all users as to the legal realities concerning the installation and use of all software.

Attachment A
The purpose of this attachment is to clarify situations, that may arise in the instructional/work setting, that may involve copyright law.

A staff member should be skeptical of those who say, Go ahead and copy; nobody will ever know. The staff member will know. Illegal copying of software is theft of the software authors' and publishers' legitimate right to produce income from their efforts.

The cost of necessary multiple copies of software should be included in the budget for educational projects. Buying enough will relieve the temptation to make unauthorized copies. Staff members may discover that the school system already has several copies of the software needed; these could be gathered together for a project.

Staff members may inquire about special licenses available from software companies that allow the user to make and use multiple copies at reduced cost. It is necessary to follow the guidelines set up by the license agreement so that software publishers will be encouraged to continue to provide these licenses to schools.

Staff should be responsible for ensuring that no copies are made of software that is provided by the software publisher for preview or approval. Copying of such materials has discouraged many software companies from allowing preview or purchase on approval.

Members of computer clubs that are allowed to use school facilities should agree to adhere to the Copyright Law during meetings. An advisor or sponsor who allows these clubs to violate the law may share legal liability with the club.

Educators are role models and should discourage students from making and using copies of copyrighted software. Staff should not use illegal copies of software under any circumstances.

Staff should use reasonable care in protecting the copyrighted software owned by the school district from being copied by students. Part of the responsibility of owning software is to keep others from copying it illegally.

Staff members should not ask another staff member who is more knowledgeable about computer software to make a copy of copyrighted software. Friendship is not a good reason for breaking the law. Making copies of copyrighted software for someone else is as illegal as making them for oneself