The availability of Internet access in River Valley schools provides an opportunity for students and staff to contribute to the District's presence on the World Wide Web. The District's Web sites provide information to the world about school curriculum, instruction, school-authorized activities, and other general information relating to our District's mission. District library/media specialists and the District Technology Coordinator provide Internet access for the creation of Web pages. Creators of the Web pages need to familiarize themselves with and adhere to the following policies and responsibilities. Failure to follow these policies or responsibilities may result in the loss of authoring privileges or other more stringent disciplinary measures.
I. Content and Web Approval
Building and district administrators, library/media specialists, and the district Technology Coordinator are responsible for Web page approval.
II. Subject Matter
All subject matter on Web pages should relate to curriculum, instruction, school-authorized activities, general information that is appropriate and of interest to others, or it should relate to the District or the schools within the District. Therefore, neither staff nor students may publish personal home pages as part of the District Web sites or home pages for other individuals or organizations not directly affiliated with the District. Staff or student work may be published only as it relates to a class project, course, or other school-related activity.
III. Quality
All Web page work must be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Documents may not contain objectionable material or point (link) directly to objectionable material. Objectionable material is defined as material that does not meet the standards for instructional resources specific in District policies. Regarding the question of quality or propriety of Web page material, appearance, or content, the judgement of the Technology Coordinator, library/media specialist, and building or district administrators will prevail.
IV. Ownership and Retention
All Web pages on the district's server(s) are property of the District. Web pages will be deleted when a student graduates or moves unless prior arrangements have been made with the library/media specialist or the Technology Coordinator.
V. Students Safeguards
A. Decisions on publishing student pictures (video or still) and audio clips are based on the supervising teacher's ability to obtain parental consent in writing for all children under age 18. Additionally, students age 18 or older must sign a consent form for their pictures to be included on a district web page (Policy #744-Exhibit). Consent indicates permission for the student's name and picture to be included on a district web page.
B. Although first and last names may be included with or without consent, documents may not include a student's phone number, address, e-mail address or any other contact information, names of other family members, or names of friends.
C. Published e-mail addresses are restricted to staff members or to general group e-mail address where arriving e-mail is forwarded to a staff member.
D. Web page documents may not include any information that indicates the physical location of a student at a given time other than attendance at a particular school or participation in activities.
VI. School Board Policies
All documents on River Valley School District's server must conform to Board policies and regulations as well as established school guidelines. Copies of Board policies are available in all school offices. Persons developing or maintaining Web documents are responsible for complying with these and other policies. Some of the relevant issues and related Board policies include the following:
A. Electronic transmission of materials is a form of copying. As specified in District policy, no unlawful copies of copyrighted materials may be knowingly produced or transmitted via the District's equipment, including its Web server(s).
B. Documents created for the Web and linked to District Web pages will meet the criteria for use as an instructional resource.
C. Any links to District Web pages that are not specifically curriculum-related will meet the criteria established in the District Acceptable Use of Networked Computers policy (Board Policy #743). Any other non-curricular materials should be limited to information about other youth activities, agencies, or organizations which are known to be non-sectarian, exclusively devoted to community interests or child welfare, are non-profit, and non-discriminatory. Web page links may not include entities whose primary purpose is commercial or political advertising.
D. All communications via the District Web pages will comply with the District Acceptable Use of Networked Computers policy and the District Code of Classroom Conduct policy (Board Policy #443). Offensive behavior that is expressly prohibited by this policy includes religious, racial, and sexual harassment and/or violence.
E. Any student information communicated via the District Web pages will comply with District policies in data privacy and public use of school records (Board Policy #347-Rule).
F. Any deliberate tampering with or misuse of District network services or equipment will be considered vandalism and will be handled in accordance with the District Code of Classroom Conduct and other related policies.
VII. Technical Standards & Consistency
Each Web page added to the district Web site(s) must contain certain elements, which will provide general consistency for District Web pages.
A. At the bottom of the Web page, there must be an indication of the date of the last update to that page and the name or initials of the person(s) responsible for the page or update. It shall be that person's responsibility to keep the Web page current.
B. At the bottom of the Web page, there must be a link that returns the user to the appropriate points in the District Web pages. A template will be provided for all users.
C. The District will develop additional consistency standards as the need arises.
D. No computers other than the assigned building Web servers shall be configured as Web/FTP servers.
E. The authorized teacher who is publishing the final Web page(s) for herself or himself or for a student will edit and test the page(s) for accuracy of links and check for conformance with standards outlined in this policy.
F. Web pages may not contain links to other Web pages not yet completed. If additional pages are anticipated, but not yet developed, the text that will provide such a link should be included; however, the actual link to said page may not be made until the final page is actually in place on the District server(s).
G. All Web pages must be given names, which clearly identify them.
H. Final decision regarding access to active Web pages for editing content or organization will rest with the building principal with input from the library/media specialist and/or the Technology Coordinator.
VIII. Other
A. Material on Web pages reflects an individual's thoughts, interest, and activities. Such Web pages do not, in any way, represent individual schools or River Valley School District, nor are they endorsed or sanctioned by the individual school or the District. Concern about the content of any page(s) created by students or staff should be directed to the building principal of that school or to that school's library/media specialist.
B. Given the rapid change in technology, some of the technical standards outlined in this policy may require change throughout the year. The District Technology Coordinator will make such changes with approval of the Superintendent. This policy will be updated on an annual basis, or more frequently if required.
Cross Reference: Policy #347-Rule - Guidelines for Maintenance and Confidentiality of Student Records
Policy #443 - Code of Classroom Conduct
Policy #743 - Acceptable Use of Networked Computers
Policy #744-Exhibit – Consent Form – Publication of Student Pictures on District Web Site
Approved: May 4, 2000
12/21/2004 pw