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TECHNOLOGY USAGE - EMPLOYEES

In an effort to provide faculty and staff the vast resources accessible through a computerized information resource such as the Internet, the West Feliciana Parish School Board believes it is necessary for all persons to become aware of acceptable uses of technology.  The academic benefit of having access to resources from all over the world must be weighted against objectionable materials found on the Internet.

The School Board may suspend or terminate any privilege to use the Internet at any time solely at the School Board's discretion.  Any policies and/or regulations of the School Board defining use of the Internet serve as guidelines but do not warrant or guarantee access to or use of the Internet.  Consequently, the School Board may, at any time and in its sole discretion, end the privilege of any individual to use the Internet without notice, cause, or reason.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Faculty and staff use of school computers or the School Computer System (SCS) shall be reserved for academic purposes and the conducting of business aspects of the school system.  All personnel using a school computer or a computer network located on school property, or computers accessing the Internet shall be accountable for its use.  This shall include, but not be limited to:  (a) unauthorized use resulting in expenses to the school; (b) equipment damage; (c) use of unauthorized software; (d) privacy and copyrights; (e) tampering; (f) accessing obscene and objectionable materials; (g) sending or soliciting inflammatory, abusive, harassing, vulgar, or obscene messages or language; (h) disregarding established safeguards which align the district’s technology systems to the Children’s Internet Protection Act; (i) using another’s password or sharing passwords with others; and (j) any action that is deemed inappropriate by supervisory personnel.  Email and teacher or class files on the network are analogous to school lockers, that is, these accounts shall be treated as district property subject to control and inspection, rather than private property which cannot be searched without just cause.  Access codes or passwords shall be kept on file by the network systems manager in case an inspection is warranted.  Use of the Internet and/or the SCS is considered a privilege and any inappropriate use may result in a disciplinary action and loss of privileges to use the Internet and the SCS.

UNAUTHORIZED AND ILLEGAL USE

Faculty and staff shall not be under direct supervision but must abide by School Board policy.  Tampering with selection menus, procedures, or icons for the purpose of misleading or confusing other users shall be prohibited.  Any use by any person of the SCS that incurs expenses to the school other than the monthly user fees and rates shall be strictly prohibited.  The computer system shall not be used for commercial, political, or religious purposes.

Use of the network for any illegal activities shall also be prohibited.  Illegal activities include:  (a) tampering with computer hardware or software, (b) unauthorized entry into computers and files, (c) knowledgeable vandalism or destruction of equipment, and (d) deletion of computer files.  Such activities are considered a crime under state and federal law.

The use of personal hardware (such as laptop computers, PDAs, MP3 players, iPods, etc.) and software is prohibited, unless approved by principal/supervisor for educational purposes.  This does NOT include consumables such as CDs, flash/pen/thumb drives, and floppy disks.

SECURITY

Teachers and personnel who have computers in their charge shall be responsible for the security of those computers in terms of both hardware and software.  Computers must be secured such that students acting without the consent or supervision of a teacher or administrator cannot enter the system or the Internet.

PRIVACY AND COPYRIGHTS

All personnel will follow all security and confidentiality regulations regarding student information and records, including all electronic records (SER, SER IEP, SASI, and any other data).

All personnel must adhere to the Copyright Laws of the United States (P.L. 94-553) and the Congressional Guidelines that delineate it regarding software, authorship, and copying information.  The unauthorized copying or transfer of copyrighted materials may result in the loss of network privileges.  Reposting personal communications without the original author’s prior consent shall be prohibited.  To do this is a violation of the author’s privacy.  All persons who willfully violate copyright laws do so without the sanction of the School Board and at their own risk and will assume all liability and responsibility.  However, all messages posted in a public forum such as news groups or list serves may be copied in subsequent communications, so long as proper attribution is given.

The School Board directs that:

1. Unlawful copies of copyrighted materials shall not be produced on School Board-owned equipment or within School Board-owned facilities.
   
   

2. Unlawful copies of copyrighted materials shall not be used on School Board-owned equipment, within School Board-owned facilities, or at School Board sponsored functions.
   
   

3. Information about copyright law and guidelines shall be made available to all employees.

INSTALLING PRANK SOFTWARE

Employees should avoid the knowing or inadvertent spread of computer viruses.  “Computer viruses” are programs that have been developed as pranks, and can destroy valuable programs, and data.  To reduce the risk of spreading a computer virus, employees shall not import files or programs from unknown or disreputable sources.  If an employee obtains software or files from remote sources, proper procedures should be followed to check for viruses before use.  Deliberate attempts to degrade or disrupt the system or the performance of the network or spreading of computer viruses shall be considered criminal activity under state and federal law.  No software shall be loaded except by certified personnel or designee.

OBJECTIONABLE MATERIALS

West Feliciana Parish School Board, in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, shall use its best efforts to prevent access to material reasonably believed to be obscene or child pornography, conducive to the creation of a hostile or dangerous school environment, pervasively vulgar, excessively violent, sexually harassing, or disruptive in the school environment.

It should be understood that no matter how much supervision and monitoring West Feliciana Parish Public Schools provides, there will always be the possibility of a user coming into contact with inappropriate material.

Profanity or obscenity shall not be tolerated on the network.  All users should use language codes of conduct.  Offensive or inflammatory speech should be avoided.  The rights of others must be respected both in the local network and the Internet at large.  Personal attacks are an unacceptable use of the network.  If a user is the victim of a “flame,” a harsh, critical, or abusive statement, the user should bring the incident to the attention of the principal or network systems manager.  It is usually better not to respond.  Furthermore, retrieving and/or viewing pornographic or obscene materials shall not be allowed.

The SCS shall be used for academic and business purposes only.  Conduct that is in conflict with the responsibilities outlined in this document shall be subject to loss of network privileges.

Special restrictions by the school or district may be implemented in order to meet special needs provided that School Board policy is not violated.

USE OF THE INTERNET

The Internet is a vast global computer network that provides access to major universities, governmental agencies, other school systems, municipalities, commercial providers of data banks, and marketing services.  Acceptable use of these resources shall be consistent with the philosophy, goals, and objectives of the West Feliciana Parish School Board.  Any person using computers or other electronic information resources shall be required to use such equipment and resources in a responsible, legal manner and must have a consent form on file.  The School Board retains the right to monitor all computer usage and files for compliance to all regulations and/or procedures.  Accordingly, regulations for participation by anyone on the Internet shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. Appropriate language and manners which demonstrate honesty, ethics, and respect for others shall be required.
   
   

2. Two-way, real-time electronic communication technologies such as Internet-based instant messaging and Internet chat shall not be allowed within the District.  Furthermore, the participation by students in asynchronous electronic forums or bulletin boards shall be prohibited.  The exception to this is pre-approved access to such technologies and/or sites for a specific educational need.
   
   

3. No personal addresses or personal phone numbers shall be permitted on the Internet.  Impersonations are not permitted.
   
   

4. Illegal activities, including copyright or contract violations, shall not be permitted on the Internet.
   
   

5. The Internet shall not be used for commercial, political, illegal, financial, or religious purposes.  Violations shall be reported to an administrator immediately.
   
   

6. Threatening, profane, harassing, or abusive language shall be forbidden.
   
   

7. Use of the network for any illegal activities is prohibited.  Illegal activities include:  (a) tampering with computer hardware or software, (b) unauthorized entry into computers and files, (c) knowledgeable vandalism or destruction of equipment, and (d) deletion of computer files.  Such activity is considered a crime under state and federal law.
   
   

8. No user is permitted to knowingly or inadvertently load or create a computer virus or load any software that destroys files and programs, confuses users, or disrupts the performance of the system.  No third party software shall be installed except by certified personnel or designee.
   
   

9. Resources offered by the Internet and paid for by the School Board may not be willfully wasted.
   
   

10. Invading the privacy of another user, using another’s account, posting personal messages without the author’s consent, and sending or posting anonymous messages shall be forbidden.
    
    

11. Accessing pornographic or obscene materials or using or sending profanity in messages shall be forbidden.
    
    

12. Perusing or otherwise accessing information on manufacturing bombs or other incendiary devices shall be forbidden.
    
    

13. Email, web access, and other electronic communications should not be considered private.  While it is a violation of policy for a user or student to attempt to gain access to information for which they do not have authorization, authorized staff may monitor or examine email, file folders, and communications to maintain system integrity, to ensure users are using the system responsibly, or for any other reasonable purpose.
    
    

14. All web pages or electronic publications created by any organization, staff, student, or other person that are housed on District-funded computer systems shall be subject to treatment as District-sponsored publications.  Therefore, the District reserves the right to exercise editorial control over the content of these web pages or publications.  Only content that supports the administrative, instructional, or other legitimate mission of the school or department shall be allowed on District or school web sites.  Content of all District and school web sites shall conform to pertinent regulations.  Additionally, no web page that represents any school, department, or organization of the West Feliciana Parish School Board may be published on a web server that is outside of the District’s control without written permission of the Supervisor of Technical Services.

WARRANTY OF SERVICE

The West Feliciana Parish School District makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, for the service it is providing.  The West Feliciana Parish School District shall not be responsible for any damages suffered.  This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by the district’s negligence or the user’s errors or omissions.  Use of any information obtained via the Internet is at the user’s risk.  The West Feliciana School District specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of material or information obtained through its services.

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

1. Overview

    

   • In recognition of the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (Al) technologies and their potential to enhance educational experiences, West Feliciana ParishSchool Board is committed to facilitating the responsible and effective use of Al tools within our schools.  This addendum to the district's Acceptable Use Policy outlines guidelines and expectations for the use of Al technologies.  The objective of these guidelines is to ensure that all tools used to support learning, teaching, and administration are aligned with our mission and values.

    

2. Definitions

    

   • Artificial Intelligence (Al):  Computer systems or software that perform tasks requiring human intelligence, including but not limited to learning, decision-making, and language processing.
     
     

   • Machine Learning:  A subset of Al that involves computers learning from data without being explicitly programmed for specific tasks.
     
     

   • Natural Language Processing (NLP):  Al's ability to understand and generate human language.
     
     

   • Generative Al:  Al technologies that can generate new content, including text, images, audio, and video, based on their training data.  These tools can be used for creative and educational purposes but must be used with consideration for accuracy, appropriateness, and originality.

    

3. Access and Permissions

    

   • Access to approved Al tools is granted to students, faculty, and staff for educational and administrative purposes only.

    

4. Ethical Use

    

   • Users must not employ Al tools to conduct or support cheating, plagiarism, or any academic dishonesty.
     
     

   • Generative Al content that is inappropriate, offensive, or harmful is strictly prohibited.
     
     

   • Respect and integrity must be maintained when interacting with Al systems, recognizing their impact on the learning environment.
     
     

   • Users should be aware of the potential for Al bias in tools and consider this when interpreting Al­ generated information or content.  The district encourages critical thinking and scrutiny of Al outputs and training data sets for large language models and other generative Al tools, promoting discussions on how biases can affect the fairness and accuracy of Al-generated content.  Users are encouraged to report instances of perceived bias to the technology department for further investigation.

    

5. Privacy, Security, and Data Protection

    

   • Users must be aware of data privacy concerns with Al tools, especially regarding the handling of personal and sensitive information.
     
     

   • Personally identifiable, confidential, and/or sensitive information should never be shared with an Al tool unless such sharing is explicitly approved by the district.
     
     

   • All Al tools must comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and other relevant privacy laws.
     
     

   • Users are expected to be aware of and comply with the terms and conditions of all Al tools, specifically with respect to age requirements.
     
     

   • The district conducts regular security assessments of technologies to safeguard against vulnerabilities.

    

6. Academic Integrity

    

   • Al tools should supplement the educational process without undermining the integrity of academic work.  Examples of appropriate use include generating ideas for brainstorming sessions, providing tutoring in specific subjects, and automating administrative tasks.
     
     

   • Direct submission of Al-generated work as one's own without proper attribution or reliance on Al for completing assignments without understanding the content is prohibited.
     
     

   • Users must respect copyright laws and intellectual property rights when using Al tools.  This includes not using Al to replicate or modify copyrighted materials without authorization and properly citing all sources of content, including Al-generated content, to avoid plagiarism.

    

7. Monitoring and Enforcement

    

   • The district reserves the right to monitor the use of Al tools to ensure compliance with this policy.
     
     

   • This may include real-time monitoring of network activity and/or maintaining a log of Internet activity for later review.
     
     

   • There is no right to privacy on the district's network or devices.  All users should operate under the assumption that all online activity, including digital communications and interactions with Al tools, will be visible to the district's system administrators.
     
     

   • Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action, including but not limited to suspension of access to technology resources, disciplinary measures as per the student and employee handbooks, and notification of supervisors, parents, or guardians.

Revised:  September, 1999

Revised:  August, 2007

Revised:  July, 2010

Revised:  July 16, 2024

Ref:    20 USC 7131 (Internet Safety)

47 USC 254 (Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA))

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:100.7, 17:280

Board minutes, 10-28-97, 8-7-07, 7-27-10, 7-16-24

West Feliciana Parish School Board