Technology Acceptable Use Policy

White Oak School Technology Acceptable Use Policy for Students & Parents

Parents and guardians: Please read this Technology Acceptable Use Policy and discuss the listed responsibilities with your child.

White Oak School encourages the use of information technology to assist students with academic success, preparation for the workplace, and lifelong learning. White Oak School provides access to a wide range of information technology to support learning and communicating with others. This technology will be used to increase communication, enhance engagement, and assist students in acquiring new skills. Technology devices, digital resources, and network infrastructure will also be utilized to provide relevant school information to the White Oak community. Access to such technology at White Oak School is considered a privilege and not a right, and as such requires responsibility on the part of each student.

Students must agree to the guidelines below in order to use the White Oak School network and technology.

• Use White Oak internet resources for educational purposes only.
• Respect the integrity of the school network and not jeopardize it.
• Keep your password private and do not share it with anyone.
• Do not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of school systems including other student accounts, programs, or files.
• Do not post personal contact information of yourself or other people. Examples include your name, address, telephone, school address, etc.
• Do not use your access privileges to find material that is profane or obscene, that advocates violence or discrimination towards other people, or that advocates illegal acts.
• If you mistakenly access inappropriate information, immediately tell your teacher to protect you against claims of intentional violation of policy.
• Do not send or display inappropriate, offensive, threatening, anonymous, obscene, or abusive messages, pictures, movies, web-links, or sounds or send any type of information which could be considered harassment.
• Immediately report inappropriate messages or content to a teacher.
• Treat all equipment with the utmost respect and not willfully cause damage to school property.
• Refrain from uses that would be considered a violation of any other school conduct code including but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, hazing or harassment, theft, falsification of records, possession of banned substances, etc.
• Obey all local, state, and federal laws regulating the use of technology.
• Follow all school rules while using personal devices on school grounds and understand that the rules outlined above regarding use of school computer resources apply to use of my personal devices on school property.
• Do not take photos or record video of any student, teacher or administrator unless you have that individual’s express permission to do so.
• Immediately comply with a directive to turn your device off or to put your device away.

Technology Monitoring

At any time White Oak School reserves the right to monitor, inspect, review and store any and all usage of technology devices, digital resources, and network infrastructure, along with information technology as well as any information sent or received in connection with this usage. Students should not have any expectation of privacy regarding such materials.  White Oak School employs an off-site company to monitor use.

Content Filtering

White Oak School’s IT support service deploys software designed to block access to certain sites and filter content as required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. §254 (CIPA). White Oak School is aware that not all inappropriate information can be filtered and the school will make an effort to correct any known gaps in the filtering of information without unduly inhibiting the educational use of age appropriate content by students. Users will inform teachers or administrators of any inadvertent access to inappropriate material, in order that there is appropriate modification of the filtering profile.

Consequences for Violation of Technology Policies

Penalties for any violation of White Oak School computer policy may include limiting, suspending, or prohibiting access to computers, the network, or the internet. The length of time for loss of privileges will be determined by administrators and/or other staff members. Restitution may be required for repair or replacement of hardware and/or software damaged by inappropriate student use.

White Oak School will cooperate with copyright protection agencies investigating copyright infringement by users of the computer systems and network of the school. White Oak School will not be liable for the actions of anyone connecting to the internet through the school network infrastructure. All users shall assume full liability, legal, financial, or otherwise for their actions while connected to the internet.

Parents:

Please read and discuss the Technology Acceptable Use Policy with your child, and give permission for their use of technology resources at White Oak School. Please understand that computer access is conditional upon adherence to the agreement. Although students are supervised using computers, and their use is electronically monitored, be aware of the possibility that your child may gain access to material that school officials and the school may consider inappropriate or not of educational value.

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