The District will deploy a wide-area network that will allow staff and students to communicate with each other and throughout the world. Additionally, this network will provide the staff and students with access to a multitude of administrative and instructional resources from both local and remote repositories of electronically stored information.

The District wide-area network will be used by staff and student to communicate with others in a manner that is consistent with the District goals. Student communications using networked resources will be considered publications and be governed by Board Policy 740.300 regarding Student Publications.

Staff and students will be allowed access to Internet resources with the understanding that some material that can be accessed on the Internet is inaccurate; additionally, some resources contain material that is deemed contrary to prevailing community standards and is inappropriate for classroom use, and that access of such resources will not be permitted.

The District will provide a computer interface to Internet services that students should use in accessing instructional and reference material on the Internet. This interface will be designed so that objectionable materials are not easily available; however, the Internet is designed in such a manner that all materials contained within it are accessible using various search and retrieval tools. Students and parents must be informed that inappropriate materials could be encountered during students' research required to achieve valid instructional objectives, and that if such inappropriate material is inadvertently encountered , it shall be disengaged from immediately. Students and teachers must be instructed in the necessary procedures of evaluation in information and resources as part of their ongoing education for life in modern society.

The following practices using District wide-area networks shall be prohibited:

a. any use for political or commercial purposes;

b. the use of electronic mail in any manner that is contrary to District policy;

c. the use of profanity or inappropriate language in electronic mail;

d. any use that disrupts the educational and administrative goals of the District;

e. any use of a District account by anyone but the authorized owner of the account;

f. any reproduction of copyrighted material without explicit permission;

g. access of material that has been deemed inappropriate for school use.

Privacy - Network storage areas may be treated like school lockers. Network administrators may review communications to maintain integrity system-wide and insure that students are using the system responsible.

Storage capacity - Users are expected to remain within allocated disk space and delete E-mail or other material which takes up excessive storage space.

Illegal copying - Students should never download or install any commercial software, shareware, or freeware onto network drives or disks, unless they have written per- mission from the Network Administrator; nor should students copy other people's work of intrude into other people's files.

Inappropriate materials or language - No profane, abusive, or impolite language should be used to communicate nor should materials be accessed which are not in line with the rules of school behavior. Should students encounter such material by accident, they should report it to their teacher immediately.

(3-7-96)