THE BOW SCHOOL DISTRICT

INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

Use of Facilities

The Bow School District's Network system, BowNET, has a limited educational purpose. Activities that are acceptable on BowNET include classroom activities, career development, and high-quality personal research. You may not use BowNET for entertainment purposes (except for those periods of time that the school has designated as "open access"). BowNET is not a public access service or a public forum. The Bow School District 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 the Bow School District's disciplinary code and the law in your use of BowNET. You may not use BowNET for commercial purposes. This means you may not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through BowNET. You may use the system to communicate with elected representatives and to express your opinion on political issues, but not for political lobbying.

Responsible Personnel

The School District Technology Coordinator is responsible for administration and monitoring of BowNET. Any decisions involving significant changes to the system will be made together with the Superintendent.

The School District Technology Coordinator is responsible for the oversight and management of the Bow School District web site. School Building Web Masters are responsible for the oversight and management of school building web sites. Teachers are responsible for the oversight and management of their teacher web sites and any student produced websites they oversee.

Materials on all web sites sponsored by the district must be updated on a monthly basis or as needed to remain current. The Bow School District reserves the right to remove any published content from any website sponsored by the district.

All users with access to BowNET must sign a User Agreement acknowledging the receipt of this AUP. All executed user agreements will be maintained in individual school building administrative offices. Disciplinary issues will be dealt with by the appropriate district personnel.
Network Access

Users of BowNET are those students and employees of the Bow School District with a signed User Agreement on file. Users of the Bow School District will be allowed access to BowNET during class time as well as during other periods designated as "open access". Users of BowNET are prohibited from sending or receiving the following types of material on the Network:

  • Any materials which are profane or obscene (pornography, advocates or condones unlawful or dangerous acts, advocates or condones violence or discrimination towards other people (hate literature);
  • Materials without an educational purpose such as for the purposes of entertainment (except during periods designated as Òopen accessÓ);
  • Personal information on students. * See FERPA below.

The Bow School District is in receipt of federal education funding and has installed Internet filters on BowNET. Students and staff should self-monitor to determine appropriateness of material and activities. It is not our intent to curtail any academic freedom to use appropriate materials for educational purposes; however, all staff should be confident in evaluating material accessed on the Internet for use in the classroom. Staff will monitor students for inappropriate use of the Network. Special authorization may be obtained from the School District Technology Coordinator to allow exceptions to prohibited material in cases of legitimate research.

Students needing access for class projects have highest priority for access to the Network. Students should immediately notify supervising staff if they mistakenly access prohibited material. The Bow School District cannot monitor in accord with a multitude of different family values; therefore parents are encouraged to discuss values with their children. Parents are responsible for monitoring any remote access provided by the Bow School District.

District web pages will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1994). See http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm. Hyperlinking web pages must be made with caution, as any hyperlinked sites will be subjected to the same scrutiny as all other material posted on any district web pages.

Privacy The BOWNET is maintained and managed by the system administrator in such a way as to insure its availability and reliability in performing its educational mission.  Users have no reasonable expectation of privacy concerning any materials transferred over or stored within the BOWNET. E-mail messages are subject to district review at any time.

Copyrighted and other proprietary materials:

All users shall respect copyright and proprietary interest of any materials accessed through the BOWNET.  Users may not duplicate copyrighted software, including school owned software, without permission from the copyright holder, whether for personal use or the use of others.  Duplicating copyrighted materials or the issue of such materials are offenses subject to criminal prosecution. Any distance learning courseware developed by the Bow School District is owned by the District.

Disciplinary Actions

When inappropriate use of the Internet is determined through due process the result will be the cancellation of those privileges or any other disciplinary action as appropriate. The Building Administrators will deem what is appropriate use and their decision is final. The Technology Coordinator may close an account at any time as required. The administration, faculty, and staff may request the administrator to deny, revoke or suspend specific user accounts. Any student identified as a security risk may be denied access.

Limitation of Liability

The District makes no guarantee that the functions or the services provided by or through the District system will be error-free or without defect. The District will not be responsible for any damage you may suffer, including, but not limited to, loss of data or interruptions of service. The District is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through or stored on the system. The District will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system. Parents may be held financially responsible for any harm to the system as a result of a student's intentional misuse.


* Family Educational Rights of Privacy Act (FERPA): Information on student Internet activity that may be traced to a particular student may constitute "personally identifiable information" about a student. Parents of minor students are entitled to access this information. Placement of personally identifiable information on the web site concerning a student raises significant FERPA issues.

NH RSA 189:1-e Directory Information is the NH state law that enhances the effect of FERPA:

A local education agency, which maintains education records, may provide information designated as directory information consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Each year schools shall give parents public notice of the types of information designated as directory information. By a specified time after parents are notified of their review rights, parents shall request in writing to remove all or part of the information on their child that they do not wish to be available to the public. Such approval shall be renewed on an annual basis. Items of directory information, which is information not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed, may include:

  • Name and address of a student
  • Field of Study
  • Weight and height of athletes
  • Most recent previous school attended
  • Date and place of birth
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
  • Dates of attendance, degrees, and awards.

BES User Agreement Contract

BMS User Agreement Contract

BHS User Agreement Contract