The following policy for acceptable use of computers and networks, including the district's intranet, the Internet, and any network accessible resource shall apply to all district administrators, faculty, staff, and students. All technology equipment shall be used under the close supervision of the staff member responsible for that particular computer or network equipment.

Winters I.S.D.'s intention for publishing a Policy for Acceptable Use of Computers and Networks is not to impose restrictions that are contrary to Winters I.S.D.'s culture of openness, trust or integrity. Winters I.S.D. is committed to protecting the district's staff and students from illegal or damaging actions by individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly.

Internet/intranet/extranet-related systems, including but not limited to computer equipment, software, operating systems, storage media, network accounts providing electronic mail, WWW browsing, and FTP, are the property of Winters Independent School District. These systems are to be used for educational and administrative purposes in serving the interest of the students and staff in the course of normal operations.

Effective security is a team effort involving participation and support from every Winters I.S.D. employee and student who deals with information and/or information systems. It is the responsibility of every computer user to know these guidelines and to conduct their activities accordingly.

The purpose of this policy is to outline the acceptable use of computer and network equipment at Winters I.S.D. These rules are in place to protect the staff and students of the school district and to meet the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), that was signed into law on December 21,2001. Inappropriate use exposes Winters I.S.D. to risks including virus attacks, compromise of network systems and services, and legal issues.

1. Users shall not erase, rename or make unusable any computer file or storage media. Storage media includes, but is not limited to, disks (internal and external), diskettes, zip disks, CD-ROMs, DVD's, flash memory cards, etc.

2. Users shall not let other persons use their name, logon, password, or files for any reason.

3. Users shall not use or try to discover another user's password.

4. Users shall not use district computers or networks for any non-instructional or non-administrative purpose.

5. Users shall not use a computer for unlawful purposes, such as the illegal copying or installation of software.

6. Users shall not use the district computers and network equipment to access inappropriate and/or offensive material via the Internet.

7. Users shall not use the district computers and network equipment to access personal, non-district email accounts.

8. Users shall not use the district computers and network equipment to access non-educational web log (blog) or "chat" sites. These sites include, but are not limited to online programs designed to provide "real time" communications between two or more computers and the computer users.

9. Users shall not use the district computers and network equipment to access and configure free personal, non-educational, web hosting sites.

10. Users shall not use the district computers and network equipment to access and/or download online games.

11. Users shall not use district computers and network equipment to access unapproved streaming Internet data. Streaming data includes, but is not limited to information accessed from the Internet that requires a continuous connection to that content for the purpose of viewing or listening to said content.

12. Users shall not copy, change or transfer any software of documentation provided by Winters I.S.D., teachers, or another student without permission from the campus administrators or consultant.

13. Users shall not write, produce, generate, copy, propagate, or attempt to introduce any computer code designed to self-replicate, damage, or otherwise hinder the performance of any computer's memory, file system, or software. Such software is often called bug, virus, worm, trojan horse, or similar name.

14. Users shall not deliberately use the computer to annoy or harass others with language, images, or threats. Users shall not deliberately access or create any obscene or objectionable information, language, or images.

15. Users shall not intentionally damage the system, damage information, misuse system resources, or allow others to misuse system resources.

16. Users shall not tamper with, alter or abuse, computers, networks, printers, or other associated equipment.

17. Users shall not remove technology equipment (hardware or software) from the Winters I.S.D. premises without written permission of the campus principal.

18. Winters I.S.D. computers cannot be used for personal profit at home or school.

19. Users shall not load software on computers or networks unless the district itself owns the software, or has copyright privileges in the public domain. Personal software from outside of the school district shall not be installed or used on district computers.

Students or staff in violation of this policy will be restricted from use of district computers and network equipment. Restrictions may include exclusion from any computer or network access. Violators may also be subject to other district disciplinary action as outlined in the Student and Teachers Handbooks.