Policies Overview
November 3, 2017 by bejenkins
The policies discussed here will go into effect January 1, 2018.
The district has put together some new policies regarding the use of technology and information by staff. This page will give you a condensed version of the policies and will link the finalized policies document once it is approved by the Board of Education. Staff members will be required to review and sign these procedures documents annually.
The state now requires that we adopt policies governing the use of district-owned technologies and services – especially when pertaining to student data. W.S. 21-2-202(a)(xxxvii)(A-E)
The below bullet points highlight the main policies maintained by Lincoln County School District #2. These policies apply to all district-owned devices, networks, and accounts.
- Access to technology is provided to facilitate the instructional and administrative tasks performed by District employees and volunteers. The level of access provided will coincide with the requirements of each employee’s job functions.
- Personal use is allowable when it does not conflict with the employee’s responsibilities and conforms to other District policies.
- Employees shall not use the system to engage in commercial or other for-profit activities, including private businesses.
- School District employees have no expectation of privacy in: information stored on electronic medium (hardware), electronic communications they send or receive on the District’s computers or network system, or sites and information accessed utilizing District computers or the networking system. The District has the right to monitor or review any communications sent or received, as well as information regarding sites and/or information accessed.
- While using District technology, should an employee encounter any obscene or pornographic materials or observe inappropriate use, he/she shall notify the site administrator or supervisor immediately.
- Employees shall not access, post, submit, publish, or display harmful or inappropriate matter that is threatening, obscene, disruptive, sexually explicit, or that could be construed as harassment or disparagement of others.
- Employees shall not use the system to promote unethical practices or any activity prohibited by law, Board policy, or administrative regulations.
- Employees shall not use the system to engage in commercial or other for-profit personal activities.
- The District maintains a public Internet site. Any information to be posted on the public Web site must be approved through administrators. Principals must approve all postings on school Web pages.
- Employees shall not develop any classroom or work-related web sites, blogs, forums, or similar online communications representing the District or using district equipment or resources without permission.
- Users shall report any security problems or misuse of the services to the Superintendent or designee.
- Passwords must be:
- At least six characters in length
- A mixture of letters and numbers
- Not a word, sequence, or pattern
- Not contained in the user’s username or id
- Unique to each system
- Do not use passwords for district services or accounts that are used for personal accounts elsewhere.
- Password Guidelines
- Don’t reveal a password over the phone to ANYONE
- Don’t reveal your password in an e-mail message
- Don’t talk about a password in front of others
- Don’t hint at the format of a password, like, “my family name”
- Don’t reveal a password on questionnaires or security forms
- Don’t share a password with others
- Employees will not use district-supplied emails for personal third-party accounts.
- The District provided e-mail systems are intended for official and authorized purposes only. E-mail messages are considered by the School District to be company property.
- Electronic information about an individual should be protected to the extent that a hard copy record is protected, and disclosed only when required for authorized purposes.
- E-mail system administrators and others with special system-level access privileges are prohibited from reading electronic messages of others unless authorized by appropriate School District management officials. However, School District officials will have access to e-mail messages whenever there is a legitimate purpose for such access, e.g., technical or administrative problems.