Responsible Use Agreement

STATEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE

St. Clare Schoolʼs network has been established for a limited educational purpose. The term educational purpose is used in the context of instruction-related activities, including but not limited to classroom-based projects and student works, and high quality, academically-enriching research.  St. Clare School supports teachers and students being engaged in an online environment that allows them to discuss, collaborate, communicate, create, and share in a safe, ethical, and responsible manner.

With that educational purpose in mind, we want to emphasize that St. Clare Schoolʼs network has not been established as a public access service or a public forum. The school has the right to place reasonable restrictions on the material you access or post through the system.

You are expected to follow the rules set forth in this agreement, the student disciplinary code, and the law in your use of St. Clareʼs  network. Teachers and/or other staff members will provide instruction and guidance to students regarding the appropriate use of and access to the Schoolʼs  network.

 

ACCESS TO ONLINE MATERIALS

The material you access through St. Clare Schoolʼs network should be for class assignments or for research on subjects similar to what you might study in a class or in the school library. You are not to post non-academic messages to others within the network.

Use of St. Clare Schoolʼs network for entertainment purposes is not allowed.

If you mistakenly access inappropriate information, you should immediately report this access to a teacher or an administrator. This will protect you against a claim that you have intentionally violated this agreement.

St. Clare School has taken reasonable steps to restrict access to materials it considers harmful and to materials that do not support or conform to accepted educational objectives. These steps include the school installing a filter to protect against access to inappropriate material in accordance with the Childrenʼs Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000.

You will not use St. Clare Schoolʼs network to access the following: material that is obscene; child pornography; material that depicts, or describes in an offensive way, violence, nudity, sex, death, or bodily functions; material that has been designated as for adults only; material that promotes or advocates illegal activities; material that promotes the use of alcohol or tobacco, school cheating, or weapons; or material that advocates participation in hate groups or other potentially dangerous groups.

If you feel that the filtering software is blocking your access to an appropriate site, report this to your school technology office, teacher, or an administrator.

You will not seek to bypass the filtering software by using a proxy site or some other technology.

The use of St. Clare Schoolʼs network is a revocable privilege for all users.

 

COMMUNICATION SAFETY EXPECTATIONS

“Personal contact information” includes your full name, together with other information that might allow an individual to locate you, including your family name, your home address or location, your work address or location, or your phone number.

You will not distribute personal contact information about yourself without teacher approval.  Tell a teacher or administrator if anyone asks for your personal contact information.

You will not disclose names, personal contact information, or any other private or personal information about other students.

You will not take, distribute or post photos, video or audio of yourself, classmates or staff without teacher approval.

You will promptly disclose to your teacher or other school staff any message you receive that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable. You should not delete such messages until instructed to do so by a staff member.

 

UNLAWFUL, UNETHICAL, UNAUTHORIZED, AND INAPPROPRIATE USES AND ACTIVITIES

Unlawful Activities

You will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to St. Clare Schoolʼs network, or to any other computer system, or go beyond your authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another personʼs account or to access another personʼs files.

You will not make deliberate attempts to disrupt St. Clare Schoolʼs network or any other computer system or destroy data by spreading viruses or by any other means.

You will not vandalize St. Clareʼs technology equipment by disassembling or disconnecting any technology components or peripherals.

You will not engage in any conduct that modifies, harms, or destroys any devices, computer or network hardware, such as mice, keyboards, and components that reboot computers.

You will not use St. Clareʼs Internet system to engage in any other unlawful activities such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, or threatening the safety of any person (including public officials).

 

Inappropriate Language and Unauthorized/Unethical Activities

Restrictions against inappropriate language apply to all speech communicated through the Schoolʼs network, including public messages, private messages, and material posted on the internet.

You will not access or transmit obscene, profane, lewd, sexually oriented, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language.

You will not access or transmit information that is hate motivated, fraudulent, abusive, or racially offensive.

You will not knowingly or recklessly post false or hurtful information that could cause damage or a disruption to a classmate, teacher, your school or any other organization or person.

You will not use a camera to capture video, photos or audio of students or staff anywhere on campus unless directed by a teacher.  You will not post video, photos or audio of students or staff on the internet (e.g., YouTube) unless directed by a teacher.

You will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks, or harass or bully another person.

You will not access or transmit information that relates to or encourages the illegal use of controlled substances or other criminal conduct.

You will promptly disclose to your teacher or school administrator any message you receive from any other student that is in violation of the restrictions on inappropriate language and unauthorized activities.

 

Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

You will not plagiarize works that you find on the Internet. Plagiarism is taking the ideas, graphics, or writings of others and presenting them as if they were yours without adequate and accurate citation.

You will respect the rights of copyright owners in your use of materials found on, disseminated through, or posted to the Internet. Copyright infringement occurs when you reproduce a work that is protected by a copyright without explicit permission from the copyright holder or outside the limitations of copyright law.

You will not use any peer-to-peer file sharing programs, such as “BitTorrent” or “Limewire,” to download or share copyrighted movies, music, or games.

 

MDM, SYSTEM SECURITY AND RESOURCE LIMITS

MDM (Mobile Device Management)

Access to the St. Clare Network is a privilege and not a right.  Therefore all student devices used on the St. Clare Network must be placed in “Supervised Mode” by the Technology Administrator and enrolled into the school’s MDM.  The MDM along with any profiles must be maintained at all times.

You are responsible for your individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use your account. Under no conditions should you provide your password to another person. Change your password frequently. Protect your files and accounts by logging out and regularly backing up your personal files.

Immediately notify a teacher or an administrator if you have identified a possible security problem. However, you should not attempt to find security problems, because this may be construed as an unlawful attempt to gain access. 

You will not engage in any conduct or activities that could disrupt the use of the system for others unless directed by a teacher, including installing programs or files, deleting programs or files, modifying settings, changing passwords, or reconfiguring the system.

 

Resource Limits

You will use the system only for educational exploration and  high quality research.

You will not download large files unless absolutely necessary. If necessary, you will download the file at a time when the system is not being heavily used and immediately remove the file from the system computer.

You will not misuse school, or personal distribution lists or communication channels for sending irrelevant messages.

 

RIGHTS AND PRIVACY LIMITS

Free Speech  

Your right to free speech and access to information applies to your use of the Internet. St. Clare  may restrict access to materials for valid educational reasons. St. Clare may also restrict your speech for valid educational reasons.

Privacy Limits

The St. Clare computer system, equipment, and the associated user accounts are the property of St. Clare. Regardless of device ownership, students do not have any right of privacy as to their usage or any information or files maintained in or on St. Clare’s network or equipment and should understand that there is no expectation that any communication or materials they send, access, view, or receive will be private. All student use of the Internet will be supervised and monitored. St. Clare’s monitoring of Internet usage can reveal all activities you engage in using St. Clare’s network. For purposes of inspecting or investigating a student’s use of St. Clare’s network or the student’s files or documents maintained on the network, St. Clare may override any applicable passwords, codes, etc. Student accounts are purged at graduation.

Routine maintenance and monitoring of St. Clare’s network may lead to discovery that you have violated this agreement, the student disciplinary code, or the law.

Parents have the right to request to see the contents of your digital files at any time.

 

LIMITATION OF SCHOOL LIABILITY

The school will not guarantee that the functions or services provided through St. Clareʼs network will be without error. The school will not be responsible for any damage you may suffer, including but not limited to loss of data, interruptions of service, or exposure to inappropriate material or people. The school will not be responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through the system. The school will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system. Your parents can be held financially responsible for any harm that may result from your intentional misuse of the system.

 

CONSEQUENCES FOR VIOLATIONS

 

Inappropriate, unauthorized, unethical, and unlawful use of St. Clareʼs network can result in termination of the studentʼs user privileges, liability for damages, disciplinary action, and/or legal action in accordance with the law and school policy. 

Depending on the circumstances, criminal charges against a violator may be filed by the District Attorney. Consequences are applied to student misconduct on-campus, and at school-sponsored activities.

Consequences are applied to student misconduct off-campus when it is determined that such misconduct creates an adverse environment or causes substantial disruption at school or interferes with the rights of students to feel safe. Consequences are applied to student misconduct that involves the use of the following technologies, such as cell/camera phones, Bluetooth devices, iPods/iPhones/iPads, computers/Notebooks, or other devices. These personal technologies that are used inappropriately in and out of classrooms may be confiscated and held until picked up by a parent or guardian.

The schoolʼs officials will comply with applicable law and will cooperate with local, state, or federal officials (FBI, DEA, ATF) in an investigation related to any unlawful activities conducted through St. Clareʼs network.

 

If a student violates any part of the guidelines set forth above, he/she will be subject to the following, or similar, consequences:

1st offense – Verbal/written warning; parent/guardian will be notified; violation will be recorded in student’s discipline record; device will be held in Principal’s office and returned at the end of the school day or turned over to parent/guardian (depending on severity of violation).

2nd offense – Parent/guardian will be notified; parent/guardian and student will meet with Principal; violation will be recorded in student’s discipline record; device will be held in Principal’s office and turned over to parent/guardian at the end of the school day.

3rd offense – Parent/guardian will be notified; parent/guardian and student will meet with Principal; violation will be recorded in student’s discipline record; device will be held in Principal’s office and turned over to parent/guardian at the end of the school day. The student may lose the use of the device for a period of time determined by St. Clare. Other disciplinary measures may follow in accordance with the behavioral guidelines set forth in the Student/ Parent Handbook or in accordance with the St. Clare Responsible Use Agreement.

Agreement adapted from California School Board Association, Cupertino High School, Cupertino, CA and St. Cecilia School, Beaverton, OR.