Protecting Students at School
Student safety remains a priority for the District. We feel the best way to keep students safe online is to teach them to be safe consumers of technology. The District uses curriculum to teach digital citizenship and online safety to all students. As a certified Common Sense Media District, our online safety program is derived from the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) recommended guidelines established through Common Sense Media.
In addition, the district uses a content filter that is updated nightly to block inappropriate sites and content. Because of the nature of the Internet, no content filter is foolproof. Although the content filter will provide a degree of protection to the user and the device, the user assumes responsibility for accessing content that is not school related, whether blocked by the filter at that particular time or not. Board Policy EHB and EHB-AP1 states that “evading or disabling, or attempting to evade or disable, a content filter installed by the district is prohibited.” Furthermore, this policy allows for the monitoring of all District technology. As with all devices, the District has the ability to access the activity of any student/device regardless of if the activity is done on the district network.
Student devices will have district supported instructional software programs. These include Chrome Apps, Windows installed software and online resources. All District approved software has been researched to ensure that it is safe for students to use and that they meet the District’s strict data privacy requirements. The District has a dedicated page online that lists the software and online resources most commonly used by the students. Since the student devices are managed by the district, students can only install district approved software or apps.
Student Safety at Home
We feel that online safety and digital citizenship should not end when a student leaves our building. It is an expectation that students follow all district guidelines for technology usage when using the district technology resources away from school. We encourage families to discuss online safety and district expectations at home. To help parents and students grow more comfortable with technology and the etiquette needed for the Digital Age, the District’s website has resources regarding online safety and digital citizenship for parents to use at home.
All student devices will be filtered at home by the same software used in district. As with all content filters, it is important to remember that no filter is foolproof. The District digital citizenship curriculum teaches online safety, including safe searching practices.
Board Policy EHB and EHB-AP1 allows for the monitoring of all District technology. As with all devices, the District has the ability to access the activity of any student/device regardless of if the activity is done on the district network or away from school.
The following are guidelines for use of district resources away from school:
- Parents are encouraged to supervise their student’s device use at home. The best way to keep students safe and on task is to participate in what they are doing while utilizing the device at home.
- Parents are encouraged to support the District’s digital citizenship curriculum at home.
- It is recommended that parents/guardians develop a device care plan with their student(s) to addresses the following key areas:
- Use of the device in common spaces, not isolated behind closed doors.
- A safe storage location for overnight charging.
- Digital Citizenship expectations for use at home including guidelines for Internet activity.
- Consistent conversation about the student’s digital work.