NAVASOTA
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
NAVASOTA ISD NETWORK
AND INTERNET -
SPECIFIC TERMS AND
CONDITIONS FOR USERS
(Secondary
Students and Staff)
PLEASE
READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY BEFORE SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT.
THIS
IS A LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT.
1. OVERVIEW:
The
Navasota Independent School District (Navasota ISD) is now making Internet
access available to the staff and students of the District. It is a privilege to have such sophisticated
information networking capabilities available, and the District believes the
vast, diverse, and unique resources available on the Internet will assist us in
carrying out our mission of providing a quality education for our
students. Our goal in providing this
service is to promote educational excellence in the Navasota ISD by
facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication.
The
Internet is an electronic highway connecting millions of computers and
thousands of networks around the world.
It provides access to electronic mail (e-mail), news groups, libraries,
government agencies, businesses, data bases, and software.
With
access to computers and people from across the world comes the availability of
material that may not be considered to be of educational value or appropriate
in the context of the school setting. On
a global network, it is impossible to control all materials, and an industrious
user may discover controversial information.
Navasota ISD firmly believes that the valuable information and
interaction available on the Internet far outweighs the possibility that users
may procure materials that is not consistent with the educational goals of the
District.
Internet
access is coordinated through a complex association of government agencies and
regional and state networks. In
addition, the smooth operation of the network relies on the proper conduct of
the end-users who must adhere to strict guidelines. These guidelines are provided so that you are
fully informed and so you may freely accept the responsibilities you are about
to acquire. In general, the guidelines
require efficient, ethical, and legal utilization of the network resources. If
a NISD user violates any of these provision, his or her account will be
terminated and future access could possibly be denied. The signature(s) at the end of this document
is (are) legally binding and indicates the party (parties) who signed has
(have) read the terms and conditions carefully and understand(s) their
significance.
II. INTERNET - SPECIFIC TERMS AND
CONDITIONS
A. Acceptable Use - Navasota ISD=s
network is a component of the Region VI Education Service Center
(CommNet). As such we must work in
accordance with their policies as well as our own. The purpose of CommNet is to support research
and education in and among academic institutions in the United States by
providing access to unique resources and the opportunity for collaborative
work. The use of your account must be in
support of education and research and be consistent with the educational objectives
of the Navasota Independent School District.
The use of any other organization=s
network or computing resources must comply with the rules appropriate for the
network. Transmission of any material in
violation of any federal or state regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to
copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, or material protected by
trade secret. Use for commercial
activities by for-profit institutions is generally not acceptable. Use for product advertisement or political
lobbying is also prohibited.
B. Privileges - The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right,
and inappropriate use will result in cancellation of those privileges. The system administrators, Navasota ISD
employees responsible for the operation of the network, will deem what is
inappropriate use and their decision is final.
Also, the system administrators may close an account at any time as
required or as they deem appropriate and without notice. The administration of Navasota ISD may direct
the system administrators to deny, revoke, or suspend specific user accounts
for, including but not limited to, violation of network computing regulations
and guidelines, or as a result of other disciplinary action against the user.
C. NISD Network Computing Regulations
and Guidelines - Navasota ISD is
responsible for securing its network and computing systems in a reasonable and
economically feasible degree against unauthorized access and/or abuse, while
also making them accessible for authorized and legitimate users. This responsibility includes informing users
of expected standards of conduct and the punitive measures
for
not adhering to them. Any violation of
the regulations and guidelines will result in disciplinary action in the form
of temporary revocation of user privileges.
Permanent revocations can result from disciplinary actions taken by NISD
administrators.
SECTION 1 - GENERAL COMPUTING
Once a user receives an account or formal permission
to access the network, he/she
is solely responsible for all actions taken while
using that account. Therefore:
I. Applying
for an account or access permission under false pretenses
is a punishable disciplinary offense.
II. Sharing
an account or password with any other person is prohibited.
You are fully responsible for any actions which occur
in relation to
your account or
password.
III. Revealing
your personal address or phone numbers, or the address or
phone numbers of students, staff, or colleagues, is
prohibited.
IV. Deletion,
examination, copying, or modification of files and/or data
belonging to other users without their prior consent
is prohibited.
V. Continued
use of network by monopolizing system resources
that interferes with
other users, after receipt of a request to
cease activity is prohibited.
VI. Use
of facilities and/or services for commercial purposes is prohibited.
VII. Any
unauthorized, deliberate action which damages or disrupts a
computing system, alters its normal performance, or
causes it to
malfunction is a violation regardless of system location
or time duration.
SECTION 2 - ELECTRONIC MAIL
Whenever you send electronic mail, your name and user
ID are included in each mail message.
You are responsible for all electronic mail (e-mail) originating from
your user ID. By accepting an account, the
applicant authorizes NISD system administrators to have access to the applicant=s e-mail and to make that e-mail available to
district, local, state and federal officials in conjunction with any official
investigation. Therefore:
I. Forgery,
or attempted forgery, of electronic mail messages is prohibited.
II. Attempts
to read, delete, copy, or modify the electronic mail of other users
are prohibited.
III. Attempts
at sending harassing, obscene and/or other threatening electronic
mail to another user is prohibited.
IV. Attempts
at sending unsolicited Ajunk mail,@ Afor-profit@
messages, or chain
letters is prohibited.
V. Never
assume that online users are who they say they are.
VI. Never
respond to messages that are threatening or obscene. Alert a
teacher, librarian, or administrator if such a message
is encountered.
VII. Never
arrange a face-to-face meeting with an Internet user without your
parental permission.
SECTION 3 - NETWORK SECURITY
As a user of the network, you may be allowed access to
other networks and/or the
computer system connected to those networks. Therefore:
I. Use
of systems and/or networks in attempts to gain unauthorized
access to remote systems is prohibited.
II. Use
of systems and/or networks to connect to other systems, in evasion
of the physical
limitations of the remote system, is prohibited.
III. Description
of system or user passwords is prohibited.
IV. The
copying of system files is prohibited.
V. The
copying of copyrighted materials, without the express written
permission of
the owner or the proper license, is prohibited.
VI. Intentional
attempts to Acrash@ network systems or programs are
punishable disciplinary offenses.
VII. Any
attempts to secure a higher level of privilege on network systems
are punishable disciplinary offenses.
VIII. The
willful introduction of computer Aviruses@ or other disruptive and/or
destructive
programs into the NISD network or into external networks is prohibited
SECTION 4 -
DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLISHING OF NAVASOTA WEB
PAGES
The Navasota Independent School District
(NISD) hereby reserves the right to implement the following guidelines for the
development and publishing of NISD Web pages:
Careful thought should be given to the
purpose of a school=s
Website. Websites should be primarily
academic in nature. They can also serve
to support our educational programs by informing our community about events and
activities and reflect the unique personality of each school.
These criteria must be considered when
posting material to the Navasota ISD Web Site:
The appropriateness of the pages in relation to the
objectives of the district/campus/class
The representation as it appears for the Navasota
Independent School District
The demand on the District and Campus Webmasters to
approve and upload Web pages.
I. Roles of the developers of the
Navasota Web Pages:
Definition: Campus Webmaster-- Designated faculty or
staff person responsible for material and content published on the campus
Website.
A. Campus
Webmaster will be responsible for ensuring that campus Web pages have no
copyright violations, for gathering all Copyright Permission Letters and
turning them in to the District Web Administrator before publishing.
B. Campus
Webmaster will be responsible to proofread (before publishing) all campus Web
pages including the links used in the Web pages.
C. All
Web pages must be in compliance with federal copyright laws. Permission of originator is needed to publish
information, graphs or photographs on your site. [See sample copyright
permission letter form attached] Making
a link to another site does not require permission, although as a courtesy, you
should inform the linked site and suggest reciprocal link if appropriate.
D. Student
and parent must sign permission form granting permission for work to be
published on the NISD Web pages. (See
form Internet - Specific Terms and
Conditions) This form must be turned in to and filed by the principal=s secretary.
E. Navasota pages designed by employees to communicate
school business to parents (such as homework assignments, fundraisers, etc.)
should be posted to the Navasota ISD Website on the NISD server rather than on
a personal page.
F. Teacher
Web pages: Teachers will be responsible
for compliance with District rules in maintaining their optional class Web
pages. Any links from a school or class
Web page to sites outside the District=s
computer system must receive approval from the Campus or District Webmaster
before posting.
G. Student
Web pages: With the approval of the
District Webmaster, students may establish individual Web pages linked to a
campus or District Web site; however, all material and links presented on a
student=s Web page must be related to the student=s educational activities. Student Web pages must include the following
notice: AThis is
a student Web page. Opinions expressed
on this page shall not at attributed to the District.@ Any links from
a student=s Web page to sites outside the District=s computer system must receive approval from the
District Webmaster.
H. Extra-Curricular
Organization Web Pages: With the
approval of the District Webmaster, extracurricular organizations may establish
Web pages linked to a campus or District Web site; however, all material
presented on the Web page must relate specifically to organization activities
and include only student-produced material.
The sponsor of the organization will be responsible for compliance with
District rules for maintaining the Web page.
Web pages of extracurricular organizations must include the following
notice: AThis is
a student extracurricular organization Web page. Opinions expressed on this page shall not be
attributed to the District.@ Any links from
the Web page of an extracurricular organization to sites outside the District=s computer system
must receive approval from the District Webmaster.
I. Personal
Web Pages: District employees, Trustees,
and members of the public will not be permitted to publish personal Web pages
using District resources.
J. Navasota
pages created by employees belong to the district even after their job
terminates.
K. The
district Web administrator may shut down Navasota pages that use excessive
system resources or network bandwidth.
II. Role of
the District Web Administrator of the Navasota ISD pages:
A. The District Webmaster will be responsible for
maintenance of the district=s site. Maintenance includes (but is not limited to
timely updating of information, periodic checks of external links, posting
approved pages to the District server and design site to accommodate new pages.
B. The District Webmaster is ultimately responsible for
making sure site conforms to all requirements of district guidelines and will
be responsible for all content and subject matter posted on the campus=s/district=s Website.
C. All pages for publishing should be reviewed by
District Webmaster to insure correct content and/or quality of published
material. This includes all links from
the page directing viewers to an external site.
Content concerns include the following:
· Appropriate information for a school site
· Appropriate links to outside sources
· Personal pages are not permitted
Subject matter
concerns:
· Content appropriate material
· Student work posted with permission by
student and parent
· Student work does not reveal family or
personal details that may be construed as invasion of privacy for student or
family members
Accuracy concerns
· Correct spelling
· Correct grammar and punctuation
· Correct dates, times and locations
D. Personal student identification on school Web
pages should follow these guidelines:
· A student=s complete first and last name may not be
published without parental permission.
If written permission is not on file, first initial and last name OR
first name along with initial of the last name should be used. (See form
Internet - Specific Terms and Conditions)
· Written parental permission must be
obtained and kept on file before publishing any student picture. This applies to both individual and group
pictures. (See form Internet - Specific Terms and Conditions)
· No
part of a student=s
name may accompany an identifying picture.
SECTION
5- PROHIBITED MATERIAL AND ACTIONS
TThe following materials and/or actions are
prohibited. This includes but is not limited
to:
I. Material that is obscene, lewd, lascivious,
filthy, indecent, or patently offensive as measured by contemporary community
standards.
III. Material
that would encourage illegal acts, violence, terrorism, or hate.
III. Actions that annoy, abuse, threaten, or
harass another person.
IIV. Political lobbying.
D. Disclaimer And Limitation of
Liability - Access to the Internet is
provided on an Aas is, as available@
basis. The Navasota ISD, its Board of
Trustees, agents, and staff members make no representation or warranties,
whether expressed or implied, of any kind with respect to Region VI Education
Service Center (CommNet), the services provided by the NISD network, or any
information or software accessed or received by the applicant or contacts made
by the applicant, and disclaims any implied warranties, including any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The system administrators and Navasota ISD
do not warrant that the functions or services performed by, or that the information
or software contained on the system will meet the user=s requirements or that the operation of the system
will be uninterrupted or error-free or that defects in the system will be
corrected. Navasota ISD will not be
responsible to you or liable to you for any claims, losses, or damages you may
suffer as a result of these Terms and Conditions or your access to the CommNet
or the NISD Network, including without limitation, any losses, claims, or
damages arising form Navasota ISD=s
negligence or your own errors or omissions.
YOU AGREE THAT THIS LIMITATION IS INTENDED TO AND DOES RELEASE NAVASOTA
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, ITS BOARD OF TRUSTEES, AGENTS, AND STAFF MEMBERS
FROM ANY CLAIMS, DAMAGES, OR LOSSES THAT YOU MAY SUFFER THAT MAY ARISE OUT OF
THE USE OF THIS SYSTEM. Use of any
information obtained via your connection with the NISD Network is at your own
risk. Navasota ISD specifically denies
any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through
this service. Furthermore, Navasota ISD
assumes no responsibility or liability for any phone charges including, but not
limited to, long distance charges, per minute (unit) surcharges and or
equipment or line costs incurred by the user while accessing the NISD Network. Any disputes or problems regarding phone
service are strictly between the user and his/her local phone company and/or
long distance service provider.
E. Security - Security on any computer system is a high priority,
especially when the system involves many users.
If you identify a security problem on the Internet or the NISD Network,
you must notify your teacher, librarian, or system administrator. Do not demonstrate the problem to other
users. Do not use another individual=s account. A
Navasota ISD staff member shall not let anyone else use his/her account and
password. Attempts to log in to the
system using any other account, password, or privileges than one=s own will result in cancellation of user
privileges. Users shall immediately
notify a system administrator if their password is lost or stolen, or if they
have reason to believe that someone has obtained unauthorized access to their
account. Any user identified as a
security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may
be denied access to the NISD Network.
F. Vandalism - Vandalism will result in cancellation of user
privileges. Vandalism, as addressed in
the NISD Network regulations and guidelines, is defined as any malicious
attempt to access without permission of, or harm or destroy data of, another
user, Internet, or any of the above listed agencies or other networks that are
connected to the Internet or the NISD Network.
This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of
computer viruses.
G. Netiquette and Good Practices - ANetiquette@ is the
Internet equivalent of good behavior or Aetiquette.@ Accepting the
responsibility of using the network requires that you treat other users with
respect and practices Anetiquette.@ Backing up data is good computing practice
and is strongly recommended.
H. Updating Your User Information - The system administrators may occasionally require
new registration and account information from you to continue service. You must notify the system administrators of
any changes in your account information.
Application of Terms and
Conditions - All terms and conditions
in this document are applicable to the applicant=s use of
CommNet and the NISD Network. These terms
and conditions reflect the entire agreement of the parties. These terms and conditions shall be governed
and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, and the
United States of America.
Headings are
for convenience of reference only and shall not be used in the interpretation
of this document. Any dispute
regarding these
terms and conditions will be resolved by the NISD administration whose
decisions will be final and binding.
APPLICATION FOR ACCOUNT AND/OR NETWORK ACCESS
(District Personnel and Guests)
Requesting an Account - Requesting an account and/or network access does not
guarantee that an account will be given.
On acceptance, staff and guests will be given an account name and
password or other user identification.
Termination of Account - A staff member or guest=s access
to, and use of, the NISD Network system will be removed by the Network
Administrator upon termination of
employment or relationship with the district.
These accounts will be removed along with files without notice given.
***************************************************************************************
Full Name (please
print)_____________________________________________________________
Home
Address_____________________________________________________________________
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Home Phone____________________ Work Phone _________________________
District Location (Campus) __________