Acceptable Use Policies

Google Apps for Education

This year, Plumas Unified School District and Plumas County Office of Education will provide students with Google Apps for Education accounts. Google Apps for Education includes free, web-based programs like email, document creation tools, shared calendars, and collaboration tools. This service is available through an agreement between Google and the Plumas County Office of Education.

Google Apps for Education runs on an Internet domain purchased and owned by the school and is intended for educational use.

Google Apps for Education is also available at home, the library, or anywhere with Internet access. School staff will monitor student use of Apps when students are at school. Parents are responsible for monitoring their student’s use of Apps when accessing programs from home. Students are responsible for their own behaviour at all times. Student safety is our highest priority.

Acceptable Use (Privacy and Safety)

Apps for Education is primarily for educational use. Students may use Apps for personal use subject to the restrictions below and additional school rules and policies that may apply.

Privacy - School staff, administrators, and parents all have access to student email for
monitoring purposes. Students have no expectation of privacy on the Apps system.
Limited personal use - Students may use Apps tools for personal projects but may not use them for:
Unlawful activities
Commercial purposes (running a business or trying to make money)
Personal financial gain (running a web site to sell things)
Inappropriate sexual or other offensive content
Threatening another person
Misrepresentation of Plumas Unified School District, Plumas County Office of Education, staff or students. Apps, sites, email, and groups are not public forums. They are extensions of classroom spaces where student free speech rights may be limited

Safety

Students may not post personal contact information about themselves or other people. That includes last names, addresses and phone numbers.
Students agree not to meet with someone they have met online without their parent’s approval and participation.
Students will tell their teacher or other school employee about any message they receive that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable.
Students are responsible for the use of their individual accounts and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use their account. Under no conditions should a user provide his or her password to another person.

Access Restriction - Due Process

Access to Google Apps for Education is considered a privilege accorded at the discretion of the District. The District maintains the right to immediately withdraw the access and use of Apps when there is reason to believe that violations of law or District policies have occurred. In such cases, the alleged violation will be referred to the Principal for further investigation and account restoration, suspension, or termination. As a party of the Agreement with Google, the County Office of Education also reserves the right to immediately suspend any user account suspected of inappropriate use. Pending review, a user account may be terminated as part of such action

Consumer Safety (Advice for Students and Parents)

Don't get scammed. Crooks are good at fooling people. They create fake emails and web pages that look real in a practice called phishing. Don't trust links or web pages sent by email. Instead, open a new browser window and type in the address yourself.
Don't get spammed. Spam is unwanted advertising sent by email. Never reply to spam and never do business with a company that sends spam. Use the "report spam" button to get rid of spam.

Digital Citizenship (Advice for All)

Treat others well. It hurts to get a mean email just like it hurts when someone is mean in the school hallway. When using email or making a post on a forum or web page, be kind. Everyone will see what you write so think before you type. Be careful with what you say about others and yourself.
Respect the rights of copyright owners. Copyright infringement occurs when an individual reproduces a work without permission that is protected by a copyright. If a work contains language that specifies acceptable use of that work, the user should follow the expressed requirements. If the user is unsure whether or not they can use a work, they should request permission from the copyright owner.
Students have First Amendment rights to free speech. Your rights can be limited in school, though. If you post something via email or on a school web page that disturbs the learning environment in your school, your right of speech may be limited. School web sites, email, and groups are for educational use and are not considered public forums for debating ideas. This means that a school has the right to limit student speech that disturbs the learning process in these areas.

These are the laws and policies that help to protect our students online:

Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

The school is required by CIPA to have technology measures and policies in place that protect students from harmful materials including those that are obscene and pornographic. This means that student email is filtered. Mail containing harmful content from inappropriate sites will be blocked.

-- CIPA - http://fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

COPPA applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. By default, Google advertising is turned off for Apps for Education users. No personal student information is collected for commercial purposes. This permission form allows the school to act as an agent for parents in the collection of information within the school context. The school’s use of student information is solely for education purposes. -- COPPA http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.shtm

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents rights to review student records. Under FERPA, schools may disclose directory information (name, phone, address, grade level, etc...) but parents may request that the school not disclose this information.

The school will not publish confidential education records (grades, student ID #, etc...) for public viewing on the Internet.
The school may publish student work and photos for public viewing but will not publish student last names or other personally identifiable information.
Parents may request that photos, names and general directory information about their children not be published.
Parents have the right at any time to investigate the contents of their child’s email and Apps for Education files. -- FERPA - http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa