Terms and Conditions For North Andover Public Schools Network Acceptable Use
1. Acceptable Use:
All NAPS Network use must be consistent with the educational objectives of the district.
| a. | NAPS Network accounts shall be used only by the authorized owner of each account. |
| b. | Password entrance to the NAPS Network shall be maintained by the district. |
| c. | Students may have e-mail access only under teacher supervision or using a classroom account. (Please see the North Andover Public Schools Staff E-Mail Application Form in Appendix B.) |
| d. | Use of the NAPS Network must conform to all state and federal laws, and Internet Service Provider (ISP) policies. |
| e. | Users will be responsible for the appropriateness and content of public and private material transmitted or published on the NAPS Network. |
| f. | Downloading material is permitted only with permission from teacher or Technology staff. |
2. Unacceptable Use:
All NAPS Network users must understand and adhere to the following guidelines.
| a. | Attempts to gain unauthorized access to accounts on the NAPS Network are not permitted. |
| b. | Passwords must not be shared with any other user. |
| c. | Attempts to gain access to restricted sites are prohibited. (The web filter used by the district shall be regularly updated to provide constant filtering of access capabilities.) |
| d. | Transmission of any material in violation of any law is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to the following: copyrighted material, threatening and obscene material, or material prohibited by trade secrets. (Please see The North Andover Software Policy in Appendix A.) |
| e. | Users shall not communicate personal addresses, telephone numbers, or financial information over the NAPS Network. No personal information or pictures of our students, younger than 18 years of age, shall be transmitted over the NAPS Network. |
| f. | Users must not try to gain unlawful access to other computers, networks, or information systems for the purpose of “hacking” and/or deliberately uploading/downloading “viruses” or other harmful forms of programming or vandalism. |
| g. | Modification of system or software settings on any computers included on the NAPS Network, without specific permission from Technology staff, is prohibited. |
| h. | Users shall not use the NAPS Network for objectionable purposes including, but not limited to the following: interaction with strangers, improvisation, harassment, financial gain or political lobbying. |
| i. | Downloading objectionable materials/software is strictly prohibited. |
| j. | Works found, created or saved on the NAPS Network must not be plagiarized, i.e. taking the ideas/writings of others and presenting them as one’s own. (Please see the North Andover Software Policy in Appendix A.) |
| k. | On-line chats of a non-educational nature (including instant messaging) are prohibited. |
| l. | NAPS students and staff will not use school resources to post, manage or update personal web pages |
3. Security:
The district will take measures to provide both network and personal security for its users.
| a. | All users will sign-on to the NAPS Network with a unique user name and password. |
| b. | NAPS Network accounts are to be used only by authorized users for authorized purposes. |
| c. | A filter shall be used by the district to restrict web site access. |
| d. | Users shall not gain or seek information, obtain copies of or modify files or passwords to gain unauthorized access to district files. |
| e. | Users, including students, are required to notify their teacher or school representatives whenever encountering information or messages that are dangerous, inappropriate, or make the user uncomfortable. |
| f. | When using electronic mail, chat rooms, or and other forms of electronic communications, users must not transmit names, photos, or other personal information to strangers. |
| g. | The school district has the right to monitor e-mail. (Please see the North Andover Public Schools Staff E-Mail Application Form in Appendix B.) This will be done with supervisory monitoring. |
| h. | The North Andover Public Schools will monitor Internet usage through several means, including the following: classroom teacher supervision, presence of other district staff or periodic technological means. |
4. Netiquette:
All users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of Internet etiquette (netiquette).
| a. | Appropriate language is expected at all times. |
| b. | Engaging in illegal and unethical activities is prohibited. |
| c. | Users must be considerate of others when conducting permissible downloading of material during “peak user time” in the district. |
| d. | Respect the privacy of others. |
| e. | NAPS Network access may not be used to make or distribute jokes, stories, or other material which is based upon slurs or stereotypes relating to race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. |
5. Filtering:
The North Andover School district will use Internet filters, as well as provide supervision of student NAPS Network use, as measures to restrict and monitor network activity on all its computers.
| a. | Filtering will attempt to block web sites and materials that are obscene, pornographic, harmful to minors and inappropriate for the school community. |
| b. | In the event that a user encounters a web site or link that is inappropriate, this should be reported to the teacher/principal. |
| c. | Although there is no guarantee that all inappropriate web sites will always be inaccessible to users, the district will do its best to provide filtering. |
6. Liability:
The North Andover School District makes no warranty of any kind, neither expressed nor implied, for the NAPS Network access provided. The district will not be responsible for any damages one may suffer, including, but not limited to: loss of data or interruption of service. The district will not be responsible for the accuracy or quality of information obtained. The district will not be responsible for financial obligations or harm resulting from personal contacts arising through the use of the NAPS Network. All users shall assume full liability: legal, financial, or otherwise, for their actions.
7. Privacy:
NAPS Network access is provided as a tool for education. The district reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review and store any and all usage of the NAPS Network at any time and without prior notice. All such information is and will remain the property of the school district and no user shall have any expectation of privacy regarding such material.
8. Failure to Follow Policy:
The NAPS Network Acceptable Use Policy applies to all users of the network facilities within our school district. Students who fail to follow the policy shall be subject to disciplinary action that may result in the loss of NAPS Network privileges. All violations of the NAPS Network Acceptable Use Policy shall be referred to the building principal. Sanctions will be consistent with existing student disciplinary codes.
Please note: you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view or print the following policies or forms. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it free of charge by clicking on the Adobe icon:
- Acceptable Use Policy - Middle School & High School with signature form.
- Acceptable Use Policy - Elementary Schools, abridged
- Appendix A - Software Policy: A Guide to the Ethical and Legal Use of Software and Intellectual Rights
- Appendix B - Staff E-mail application form
Page Last Modified Sun 08-17-2008 00:03