1.   Student Safety and Privacy

The following guidelines and/or procedures are in place to insure the safety and privacy of individual students:

a.      Student web page accounts are password protected – meaning only the web master, person assigned to creating and editing the web pages, has the ability to post a web page to the district’s Internet site.

b.     Student web pages are edited and checked by the web master before being posted to the district’s web site.

c.      No personal information is allowed on the student’s web page – i.e. address, phone number, last name, or the last names of any other person (family member, friend, etc.)

d.     Only the student’s first name or first name and last initial will be used.  No full mane of students is allowed.

e.      Only information and material allowed by the district’s use policy will be allowed to be posted on the Internet. 

f.       A release form for the parent/legal guardian to sign giving permission for information to be posted to an individual student web page within the school district’s web site on the Internet must be completed for each student.

2.   Frequency and Updates

a.      Pages that contain time-sensitive information, such as: calendars, school events, staff information, must be updated monthly to insure current, accurate information.

b.     It is the responsibility of each teacher to keep their website current.  This includes updating information as well as checking that all internal and external links are working correctly.

c.      Scrolling marques should be updated once or twice each week.

d.     School History and Principal’s Pages need to be updated every few months or yearly if sufficient.

School Web pages are public documents welcoming the outside world to the school and linking students and staff to outside sources of information.  It is important to have guidelines for the construction of school web pages to ensure that information on the web pages supports the educational aims of the school district.

a.      Staff names and pictures are permitted unless that person requests, in writing, to the Webmaster, that they not be published.

b.     Web pages must be checked monthly to see that links work.

c.      Students’ first name, or first name and last initial will be used.  The use of a student’s full name is not allowed.

d.     The main page of each web site must include a link back to the school’s home web page, and a link back to the previous page.

e.      Web page content should be proofread and edited before submitting to the Webmaster.

f.       Web page material must comply with all federal and state laws, contracts, software licenses and district policies, regulations, and procedures, including those related to personal conduct.  Web resources, including bandwidth, may not be used for commercial gain or personal profit and Web publishers must observe copyright and intellectual property laws and policy, including for photographs, music files, and audio/video clips.

g.      Personal pages should include a disclaimer:

“The information on this page represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the school district.  The author is responsible for the information.”

h.      Links to plug-in download sites required for Web page function are allowed.

i.       Links to non-district web sites should be related to the subject matter of the referring page.  Include a disclaimer if linking to a commercial site.  This does not apply to search engines.  Any links to pages that violate the law are a violation of this policy.  The main page should include a disclaimer stating “the school district is not responsible for contents on external sites or servers.”

j.       The top of each web page should identify the author or “department” represented by the site.

k.      All Web pages must have a title (which appears on the Web browser’s title bar).

l.       Each main web site or departmental page should contain contact information for persons needing to contact someone about web site content or to ask questions about the site.

m.    Web pages should contain a date on which the information was last updated.

n.      Web pages must be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and use features that make Web pages accessible to disabled users.

o.     Use descriptive and meaningful links only.  Avoid “click here” statements and making an entire sentence link.  Write out complete e-mail addresses.

p.     Use internal links for long pages.

q.     Use web safe colors – Web Safe Colors–216 Color Palette:  Macs and PCs handle colors differently. They both use a 256 color palette, but the palettes don't include exactly the same colors. To help reduce the problem, a 216 color palette has been made. While using the 216 color palette won't solve all your color woes, it can be very useful for backgrounds, font colors, and text-based.

r.      Do not link to pages that do not yet exist.

s.      Do not use “under construction” notices.  If a page is not ready to be live, don’t make it live.

t.       Avoid using white text or links (white is difficult to print).

u.      No “adult content” is allowed on web pages – this includes banner ads for adult web sites.

v.     No illegal content – credit card numbers, etc.

w.    No advertisements for commercial or political gain.

x.      No content is allowed which may violate federal or state laws.

y.      No links should be provided that allow for direct contact with students.  All contacts must be made directly to the teacher or Webmaster.

4.   Definition of Responsibilities for Administration, Staff, Faculty, and Students

a.      Web page designers should create distinctive looks for each “department,” but be advised that an overabundance of fancy backgrounds, graphics, flashing icons, etc., will slow down the retrieval time for the person accessing “departmental” web pages.

b.     Faculty members will have editing access to individual web pages linked to departmental web pages and should edit them in a timely manner.

c.      Pages that contain time-sensitive information, such as: calendars, school events, staff information, must be updated monthly to insure current, accurate information.

d.     Web pages must be checked monthly to see that links work.

e.      No copyrighted material may be published.  If in doubt, don’t use it.

f.       Staff names and pictures are permitted unless that person requests, in writing, to the Webmaster, that they not be published.

g.      Student pictures are permitted unless their parents request, in writing, to the Webmaster, that they not be used.

h.      Students’ first name, or first name and last initial will be used.  The use of a student’s full name is not allowed.

i.       The main page of each web site must include a link back to the school’s home web page, and a link back to the previous page.

j.       The Webmaster will edit all web content before they are posted to the web server.

k.      Contact the Webmaster for assistance with web page creation and posting.

l.       Users must comply with all federal and state laws, contracts, software licenses and district policies, regulations, and procedures, including those related to personal conduct.  Web resources, including bandwidth, may not be used for commercial gain or personal profit and Web publishers must observe copyright and intellectual property laws and policy, including for photographs, music files, and audio/video clips.

m.    Each school is responsible for acquiring a release form from the parent/legal guardian for district publications, video, Internet consent, and release agreement prior to posting any student’s name, picture, art, written work, voice, verbal statements, or portraits (video or still) on the school’s web pages.  This form must be signed and filed at the building’s campus by the Webmaster.

n.      Web pages should promote communications: increases in parental involvement, develop students’ technology skills, improve school-home communication, provide an outlet for student creativity (writing and publishing), school-community support (let those without children know what is happening).

o.     Web pages should promote the many aspects of the school: academic programs, people, the building, extra-curricular activities, and the mission of the school.

p.     Announce the Web site – use press releases, send notices home, and bulletins posted on the local television Community Service Bulletin Board.

q.     Evaluate your Web site at least once yearly using a scoring rubric.  This will help to keep the page in its best possible format and style.

5.   Approval and Verification Process for Internet Information

a.      The owner of a web page is accountable for the content and maintenance of their sites and must comply with all of the school district’s regulations and standards.

b.     On-line images of students should not be used without the express written permission of the administration and the students’ parents.  No last names should be published in relationship to any published pictures.

c.      To publish students work, the school district must acquire permission not only of the student, but of the parents to guarantee the protection of each individual’s rights.

d.     This school has an Internet use committee to review any problems concerning work published on the web pages.  They will also review all web pages for appropriateness.

e.      Web pages created by students, faculty, and staff will not be used for the buying or selling of items. 

f.       Links added to web pages must be educationally sound and related to the content of the page.