Click to read the official board policies regarding Electronic Communication and Data Managment. Make sure to read all four areas: Legal, Local, Regulation, and Exhibit. You may use your Internet browser's "back" button to return to this page when done.

The following is a (guideline only) summary of acceptable uses. The above links to the board policy documents contain the official language and policies concerning this topic.

The Plano Independent School District provides technology resources to its students and staff for educational and administrative purposes. The goal in providing these resources is to promote educational excellence in the Plano schools by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication with the support and supervision of parents, teachers and support staff. The use of these technology resources is a privilege, not a right.

With access to computers and people all over the world comes the potential availability of material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting. Plano ISD firmly believes that the value of information, interaction, and research capabilities available outweighs the possibility that users may obtain material that is not consistent with the educational goals of the district.

Proper behavior, as it relates to the use of computers, is no different than proper behavior in all other aspects of Plano ISD activities. All users are expected to use the computers and computer networks in a responsible, ethical, and polite manner. This document is intended to clarify those expectations as they apply to computer and network usage and is consistent with District Policy CQ (Local).

Definition of District Technology Resources
The District's computer systems and networks are any configuration of hardware and software. The systems and networks include all of the computer hardware, operating system software, application software, stored text, and data files. This includes electronic mail, local databases, externally accessed databases (such as the Internet), CD-ROM, optical media, clip art, digital images, digitized information, communications technologies, and new technologies as they become available. The District reserves the right to monitor all technology resource activity.

Acceptable Use
The District's technology resources will be used only for learning, teaching and administrative purposes consistent with the District's mission and goals. Commercial use of the District's system is strictly prohibited.

The District will make training available to all users in the proper use of the system and will make copies of acceptable use guidelines available to all users. All training in the use of the District's system will emphasize the ethical use of this resource.

Software or external data may not be placed on any computer, whether stand-alone or networked to the District's system, without permission from the Superintendent or designee.

Other issues applicable to acceptable use are:

1. Copyright: All users are expected to follow existing copyright laws, copies of which may be found in each campus library.
2. Supervision and permission: Student use of the computers and computer network is only allowed when supervised or granted permission by a staff member.
3. Attempting to log on or logging on to a computer or email system by using another's password is prohibited: Assisting others in violating this rule by sharing information or passwords is unacceptable.
4. Improper use of any computer or the network is prohibited. This includes the following:

• Submitting, publishing or displaying any defamatory, inaccurate, racially offensive, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, or threatening materials or messages either public or private
• Using the network for financial gain, political or commercial activity
• Attempting to or harming equipment, materials or data
• Attempting to or sending anonymous messages of any kind
• Using the network to access inappropriate material
• Knowingly placing a computer virus on a computer or the network
• Using the network to provide addresses or other personal information that others may use inappropriately
• Accessing of information resources, files and documents of another user without authorization

1. Students will have access to the District's resources for class assignments and research with their teacher's permission and/or supervision.
2. Teachers with accounts will be required to maintain password confidentiality by not sharing the password with students or others.
3. With the approval of the immediate supervisor, district employees will be granted access to the District's system.
4. Any system user identified as a security risk or having violated District Acceptable Use Guidelines may be denied access to the District's system. Other consequences may also be assigned.

1. Be responsible for disseminating and enforcing the District Acceptable Use Guidelines for the District's system at the campus level.
2. Ensure that employees supervising students who use the District's systems provide information emphasizing the appropriate and ethical use of this resource.

1. The individual in whose name a system account is issued will be responsible at all times for its proper use.
2. The system may not be used for illegal purposes, in support of illegal activities, or for any other activity prohibited by district guidelines.
3. System users may not use another person's system account without written permission from the campus coordinator or principal, as appropriate.
4. System users are asked to purge electronic mail or outdated files on a regular basis.
5. System users are responsible for making sure they do not violate any copyright laws. Copies of District Policies EFE and EFE (Local) are available at all sites.

Vandalism as defined above will result in the cancellation of system use privileges, possible prosecution, and will require restitution for costs associated with system restoration, hardware, or software costs.

Forgery Prohibited
Forgery or attempted forgery of electronic messages is prohibited. Attempts to read, delete, copy, or modify the electronic mail of other system users or deliberate interference with the ability of other system users to send/receive electronic mail is prohibited.

Information Content/Third Party Supplied Information
System users and parents of students with access to the District's system should be aware that use of the system may provide access to other electronic communications systems outside the District's networks that may contain inaccurate and/or objectionable material.

A student bringing prohibited materials into the school's electronic environment will be subject to a suspension and/or a revocation of privileges on the District's system and will be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct. An employee knowingly bringing prohibited materials into the school's electronic environment will be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with District policies. This could result in loss of credit for students or termination of employment for employees.

Network Etiquette
System users are expected to observe the following network etiquette (also known as netiquette):

1. Use appropriate language: swearing, vulgarity, ethnic or racial slurs, and any other inflammatory language are prohibited.
2. Pretending to be someone else when sending/receiving messages is prohibited.
3. Submitting, publishing or displaying any defamatory, inaccurate, racially offensive, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, or threatening materials or messages either public or private..
4. Revealing such personal information as addresses or phone numbers of users or others is prohibited.
5. Using the network in such a way that would disrupt the use of the network by other users is prohibited.
6. Be polite. For example, messages typed in capital letters are the computer equivalent of shouting and are considered rude.

Termination of an employee's account or of a student's access will be effective on the date the principal or campus coordinator receives notice of user withdrawal or of revocation of system privileges, or on a future date if so specified in the notice.

Consequences of Improper Use
Improper or unethical use may result in disciplinary actions consistent with the existing Student Discipline Policy and, if appropriate, the Texas Penal Code, Computer Crimes, Chapter 33, or other state and federal laws. This may also require restitution for costs associated with system restoration, hardware, or software costs.

Disclaimer
The District's system is provided on an "as is, as available" basis. The District does not make any warranties, whether expressed or implied, including, without limitation, those of fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any services provided by the system and any information or software contained therein. The District uses a variety of vendor-supplied hardware and software. Therefore, the District does 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. Neither does the District warrant that the system will be uninterrupted or error-free, nor that defects will be corrected.

Opinions, advice, services, and all other information expressed by system users, information providers, service providers, or other third party individuals in the system are those of the providers and not necessarily the District.

The District will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation concerning or relating to misuse of the District's computer systems and networks.
 

• Electronic Mail (email) via the GroupWise Network Application
• User Security Responsibilities
• Maintenance of Local Hard Drives
• Software and Hardware Procurement

Email has become one of the most used communications tools in both offices and classrooms.  As it becomes a part of all classrooms by early this spring as well as most office areas, the following points are important to keep in mind:

• The software and hardware that provides us email capabilities has been publicly funded.  For that reason, it should not be considered a private, personal form of communication.  Although we do not have staff who actively monitor email communications, the contents of any communication of this type would be governed by the Open Records Act.  We would have to abide and cooperate with any legal request for access to email contents by the proper authorities.

• Since email access is provided as a normal operating tool for any employee who requires it to perform their job, individual staff email addresses must be shared with interested parents and community members who request to communicate with staff in this fashion.  We have no plans to produce and publish a district-wide list of email addresses, but each campus and department should post a list of email addresses for their staff through their Internet pages.  Please contact your cluster technology coordinator for assistance in creating Internet pages that allow connections to staff via email.

• Staff should be expected to return email communications to parents or other public members who have a legitimate business request within 24 hours whenever possible.  Requests from outside agencies for information do not fit into this same category and can be handled with a different timeline or in a manner consistent with previous experience in working with similar requests.  Staff should not participate in email surveys without district authorization.

• Incoming email that is misaddressed will remain “undeliverable”.  We do not have the staff available to personally inspect all messages of this type and forward them to the proper person.  Please be certain that you give out your correct email address.  All Internet pages containing lists of staff addresses should also contain a disclaimer that makes everyone aware that if email is not responded to in a 24- hour timeframe, it may have been misaddressed and should be resent.

• Requests for personal information on students or staff members should not be honored via email.  It is critical for a personal contact to be made with any individual requesting personal information.  This relates particularly to any requests for student grades, discipline, attendance or related information.  In addition, security information such as username or password should not be sent via email for any reason.

• During student contact time in the classroom, your email notifier should be turned off to prevent interruptions.  Staff members should set aside time at least once a day to check and respond to email messages.  Email does not have to be answered immediately; simply allow enough time so that the 24-hour turnaround time can be met in most instances.

• Since email access is provided for school business related use, please do not forward messages that have no educational or professional value.  An example would be any number of messages that show a cute text pattern or follow a “chain letter” concept.  These messages should be deleted and the sender notified that messages of that nature are not appropriate to receive on your district email account.

• Please use the “groups” function of our email system appropriately.  Do not send messages to an entire staff when only a small group of people actually needs to receive the message.

• Attachments to email messages should include only data files.  At no time should program files (typically labeled “.exe”) be attached due to software licensing requirements.  In addition, there exists the real possibility that any program files received as attachments over the Internet may include viruses or other very destructive capabilities once they’re “launched” or started.  If you receive an attachment like this, please delete the email message immediately without saving or looking at the attachment.

• Subscriptions to Internet listservs should be limited to professional digests due to the amount of email traffic generated by general subscriptions.  Please use your personal Internet account to receive listserv subscriptions of a general nature, if one is available.

• Students will not be issued individual email accounts.  For any projects that involve email communications, use either your district account as a facilitator to the activity, or, work with your cluster technology coordinator to activate a special project account for a limited time.

• Please notify your cluster technology coordinator or your campus technology assistant if you receive unsolicited email, particularly if it is of a “hate mail” nature.  We will attempt to track down the source of that email and prevent you from receiving any additional unsolicited mail.

User Security Responsibilities

• Your username and password should be protected from unauthorized use at all times.  Do not post any of this information where it can be viewed by others.

• Do not share your password via email at any time.  If a technology representative needs that information, they must request it in person.

• You should use your screen saver to secure your computer whenever it is not in use, and it should be password protected. (Refer to a network training manual for steps on how to do this.) Please activate the screen saver whenever you leave the computer to protect it against unauthorized use. If you are logged into the network, leaving a computer with the screensaver not password protected enables anyone to potentially access your gradebook, email and other personal or information-sensitive files.
  

Maintenance of Local Hard Drives

• On occasion, we need to reformat hard drives.  Reformatting completely erases all contents of the hard drive.  All district software such as Microsoft Office and Grade2, which is consistent throughout the district, will be reinstalled.  All other approved software, purchased by the building, will need to be reinstalled by the Campus Technology Assistant.  We will not reinstall unapproved copies of software nor will we be able to retrieve any personal data files.  With this in mind, please keep any installation disks of specific school-purchased software (from those items pre-approved in the technology catalog) in an identified location at your campus should the need for reinstallation arise. Please be personally responsible for making backups of any data files that you store on your local hard drive.

• All computer and video hardware should be shut down each evening. This includes CPUs, monitors and VCRs. The exception to this would be laser printers. They can be left on since they include automatic power-saving features.

Software and Hardware Purchases

• The identified process for purchasing software is included in the technology catalog and can be found on the Internet at (http://tech.pisd.edu/techcat/login.cfm). No software packages can be purchased at the campus or department level without following that process.

• It is important to keep in mind that no software should, or will, be installed without documentation that shows the software purchase has gone through the process referenced above and that proper licensing has been purchased.

Similarly, all hardware purchases should be for those items listed in the technology catalog since we have maintenance agreements on those items. For items not listed in the technology catalog, please work with your cluster technology coordinator for appropriate purchases.