BOARD POLICY                                                                                 Descriptive Code:  IGBGA

The Wilkinson County Board of Education makes available to its students and faculty a wide variety of media resources, including electronic media, which will enable students and faculty to have access to the Internet.  Both students and employees are expected to follow legal, ethical and school rules regarding use of the Internet and other electronic media.  Students who fail to abide by such rules may be subject to disciplinary action, including revocation of use privileges, suspension or other appropriate action.  Employees violating the rules also may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.  Students and employees are especially subject to serious discipline for accessing inappropriate or unauthorized web sites at school, especially pornographic sites or sites featuring violence, threats of violence or other illegal conduct for either students or adults.  This prohibition is intended to include not only use of school equipment, but equipment brought to school belonging to students or faculty.  No employee or student may bring to school or any school activity or event any disc, CD, or other computer storage devise containing materials, which would be inappropriate to display to students or staff.

Teachers will employ the same supervision and care in determining appropriate use of the Internet as is used with other instructional materials.  The Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent or his or her designee to develop guidelines for use of the Internet.  These guidelines should include language that addresses the importance of following all federal and state laws, including copyright laws, when using the Internet; the importance of complying with Internet “etiquette,” including privacy and appropriate language use; appropriate educational uses of the Internet; need for notification to parents regarding Internet use, including a description of the Internet and the wide variety of materials that students may encounter, need for parental permission before using the Internet; and possible disciplinary consequences for violating the guidelines or any other school rules established for Internet use.

Procedures and guidelines are developed for monitoring the online activities of users and the use of a filtering device to protect against access through computers to visual depictions that are (1) obscene, (2) child pornography, or (3) harmful to minors, as those terms are defined in Section 1703(b)(1) and (2) of the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000.  Such procedures or guidelines shall be designed to:

a.       Provide for monitoring the online activities of users to prevent, to the extent practicable, access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and the World Wide Web;

b.      Promote the safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications;

c.       Prevent unauthorized access, including so-called “hacking, and other unauthorized activities by minors online;

d.      Prevent the unauthorized disclosure, use and dissemination of personal identification information regarding minors; and

e.       Restrict minors’ access to materials “harmful to minors,” as that term is defined in Section 1703 (b)(2) of the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000.

Adopted:   June 13, 2000

Revised:   October 9, 2001

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF WILKINSON COUNTY