PGCPS+Acceptable+Usage+Guidelines

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I. **__PURPOSE __:** To provide guidelines intended to assist users in following established practices and procedures to use technology in a responsible and productive manner. II. **POLICY: **The Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Wide Area Network (WAN) has been created to link school buildings, administrative sites, and support facilities together for the purposes of accessing and sharing information in accordance with the goals and objectives set forth by Prince George’s County Public Schools. The Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Local Area Networks (LAN’s) have been created to interconnect desktops, printers, and other devices at the building level to collaborate and share information. Students are expected to use these networks and PGCPS technology for educational purposes. Employees are required to use the school system technology with the scope of their employment. All users are expected to follow the accepted and established guidelines for technology usage. (Board Policy 0115) III. **__BACKGROUND __:** Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) views technology (including computers, scanners, digital cameras, video projectors, video cameras, and the Internet) as instructional tools for learning. As such, policies and procedures outlined in the Code of Student Conduct apply to the use of all technology tools. Any student who is a user of the PGCPS Network is expected to use technology resources for educational purposes only. Employees, authorized contractors and volunteers of PGCPS are expected to use technology resources for educational and/or PGCPS administrative purposes only. Any user of the PGCPS Network, Internet, and technologies should always reflect academic honesty, high ethical standards, and moral responsibility. IV. **__DEFINITIONS __:**  A. A user is defined as a student, staff member, or employee of PGCPS. B. SPAM e-mail is electronic junk mail. C. Technology includes computers, scanners, digital cameras, video projectors, video cameras, cell phones, Nextel devices, PDA devices, and wireless e-mail devices. V. **__GENERAL PROCEDURES __**: A. All users are responsible for their own accounts. **ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE **0700 Procedure No. July 1, 2009 Date <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">All users are prohibited from sharing accounts and/or passwords with anyone. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">C. Any PGCPS school or administrative entity may be represented by a website on the pgcps.org web site. D. No local accounts can be created on computers without prior approval from the Division of Information Technology (IT). E. No school or administrative entity may be represented by a web site outside of pgcps.org domain without expressed written permission from the Chief Executive Officer. F. Any principal or supervisor may request a web account on the pgcps.org web server(s). Only one website per school or administrative office will be issued. G. A web site account with login and password information will be issued to the supervisor or principal requesting the account. The person issued the account is responsible for the content and management of the web site. H. Personnel from the Division of Information Technology, school-based Technology Coordinators, and staff authorized by the Chief Information Officer are the only individuals who will have administrative rights to computers on the PGCPS domain. I. The web manager duties can be relegated to any employee designated by the principal or supervisor responsible for the account. No student, at any time or any reason whatsoever, should be given the web site password. J. Users with administrative rights may only install software/hardware approved by PGCPS. K. All computers are to be joined to the PGCPS domain unless exempted by t he Division of Information Technology. L. Without prior approval from the IT Department, staff members are prohibited from connecting their personal equipment/devices to the PGCPS network. Certain exceptions may be granted if the staff member is willing to place the machine on the PGCPS domain and possibly lose administrative rights to the device. Any machines that join the PGCPS domain must meet our current hardware and anti-virus standards. A <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">written request for permission to join a personal computer to the PGCPS network must be submitted to the Chief Information Officer. M. Student and/or employee information must reside on school system equipment. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Such data is prohibited from any personal desktop computers, laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), etc. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Any exceptions to this require the expressed written permission from the Chief Information Officer, and the employees signed confidentiality agreement to protect the data. T. Students are to log off all systems before they leave their workstation. U. All users who are assigned a permanent workstation are to log off or lock their system when they are away from their computer. V. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">All users will be held accountable for any violations of the Acceptable Usage Guidelines that can be traced to their individual accounts. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">W. All users are responsible for their own data and system data applicable to their duties. Sensitive information should be stored in the user’s personal network folder (if available). All files should also be backed up to an external media (CD or other removable disk) and stored in a secure place. Certain critical sites will have building backups, but only for redirected My Documents or office group shares. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">0700 <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">Procedure No. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">July 1, 2009 <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">Date <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES ACCEPTABLE USAGE GUIDELINES 4 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
 * ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">0700 <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">Procedure No. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">July 1, 2009 <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">Date <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES ACCEPTABLE USAGE GUIDELINES 1 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS **

VI. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">PROCEDURES __:** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Technology Acceptable Uses __**<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">

Acceptable use of technology and all related resources requires users to: 1. Protect private information such as addresses, phone numbers, or passwords. 2. Use appropriate language. This applies to public messages, private messages, material posted on Web pages. 3. Respect all copyright laws. 4. Respect network limitation when sending or receiving information. There is no limitation on the size of e-mails, either internally or externally. We do, however, have a 10Mbps limit on attachments leaving or entering the network; but no limitation on the size of attachments within the network. 5. Use the computers for their intended educational purposes only. 6. Understand that use of the computer or the network for illegal activities is strictly prohibited.

B. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Prohibitions __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> The following actions are prohibited to all users and web managers of the PGCPS Network. They include but are not limited to:

1. Group account log-ins. 2. Damaging computers, computer systems or computer networks, degrading or disrupting equipment of system performance. 3. Trespassing in another’s files, folders or work. 4. Utilizing the network for commercial purposes. 5. Displaying a logo of any commercial entity not directly related to Prince George’s County Public Schools. <span style="display: block; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; text-align: left;">15. Posting anonymous messages. 16. Posting any files that prove detrimental to web services performance. This includes unauthorized scripts, programs, and large files that may impede network operations. 17. Users causing undue congestion of the network through lengthy downloads of files, or by engaging in idle activities; e.g., students playing games not part of a class activity: or, employees involved in actions other than their job responsibilities. 18. Vandalizing the data of another user. 19. Attempting to gain unauthorized access to resources, files, or any device on the network; e.g., use of hacking, spy ware tools, etc. 20. Identifying one’s self with another person’s name or any misrepresentation of one’s true identity. 21. Using an account password of another user. 22. The theft of data, equipment, or intellectual property.

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> C. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Web Acceptable Uses __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> Acceptable use of PGCPS Web Sites and all related resources requires web managers to: 1. Use the web site to improve communications and services of the school or office with students, staff, parents and the entire community of Prince George’s County Public Schools. 2. Protect private information such as addresses, phone numbers, or passwords.

3. Use appropriate language. 4. Respect all copyright laws. 5. Use the issued web account for the intended educational and administrative purposes only. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> 6. Understand that use of the web site for illegal activities is strictly prohibited. 7. In the use of photography on a web page, when identifying a specific person by first and last name, written permission by way of the standard PGCPS release should be on file. Group or candid photographs are not subject to the use of a release. 8. Utilizing the network for commercial purposes.

D. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Process for Reporting Inappropriate Use of the Network or Web Site __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> If a user believes that there has been a violation of these guidelines, the user is to immediately contact a teacher, school administrator or supervisor. A good rule of thumb is, "when in doubt … ask."

E. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Consequences __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> If it has been determined that a user has improperly used the equipment or its resources in any manner, the user can expect disciplinary actions which may include, but are not limited to:

1. Immediate suspension of equipment access. 2. Disciplinary action by school/office administration. 3. Letter of reprimand. 4. Arrest and prosecution. 5. Additional disciplinary action may take place as outlined. F. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">E-mail __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> Every PGCPS employee is eligible for an e-mail account. Users should: 1. Only use their Prince George’s County Public Schools e-mail address for school system business. Users are advised to acquire and use a "personal" e-mail address when signing up for list servers, circulars, newsletters, etc. Users can get free e-mail accounts from Hotmail, Yahoo, and others. These providers offer a web interface to send/receive your personal e-mail, which can be accessed via our Internet connection. This is advisable not only to avoid SPAM, but it is also important because certain harmful viruses propagate through e-mail attachments. While this procedure will minimize SPAM, it will not prevent it completely. Some of our web pages contain user’s e-mail addresses that have been collected from "spammers". Users are advised to open e-mail only from people known, and delete any e-mail thought to be SPAM.

2. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Clear out their e-mail trash bin regularly. ** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> G. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Anti-Virus __**<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> All computers are to have working anti-virus protection with updated definitions; preferably, PGCPS network-wide standard version of managed anti-virus. Please notify your Technology Coordinator, or call the Help Desk at 301-386-1549 if anti-virus software is needed.

H. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">SPAM __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> Current policy dictates that users should treat SPAM e-mail as "junk" and delete it as it arrives. PGCPS has SPAM filtering software in production. Each piece of email that comes into our system is scanned by our software and receives a SPAM score of 1 - 100. Most SPAM receives a score of 98, 99, or 100. Any email with a score of 51 – 100 gets quarantined by our server and does not get delivered to a user’s mailbox. 1. Every Monday, users will receive a **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Quarantine Digest **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">from proofpoint-pps that will contain all of the e-mail they received since the last digest which had a SPAM score of 51 – 97. Any e-mail with a score of 98 – 100 is not included in this digest. This way users do not have to examine hundreds of e-mails that are known to be SPAM. While most of the e-mail contained in this digest is SPAM, it could contain mail users wish to receive. 2. If users see any e-mail in their digest they want to receive, they can click on **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Release **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">to the left of the message and the message will be sent to their Inbox. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Safelist **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">to the left of the message and that sender will be added to the user’s Safer Senders List. 4. If questions, please call the Help Desk at 301-386-1549, or e-mail helpdesk@pgcps.org.

**<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Safelist **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">to the left of the message and that sender will be added to the user’s Safer Senders List. 4. If questions, please call the Help Desk at 301-386-1549, or e-mail helpdesk@pgcps.org.

I. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Cell Phones or "Nextel" Devices __** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> Prince George’s County Public Schools offers cell phones to all Board Members, the Superintendent, the Deputy Superintendent, all Chiefs, and Executive Directors. "Nextel" devices will be offered to certain personnel in the Division of Supporting Services. 1. Cell phones and "Nextel" devices must be used for the sole purpose of conducting official school system business. Cell phones and "Nextel" devices are prohibited from being used for personal use (incoming or outgoing calls) text messaging or downloads. PGCPS is due reimbursement for any charges incurred by the user for personal calls. Reimbursement rates will be directly aligned with users "calling plans". Evidence of repeated personal use of the phone may result in termination of phone privileges. The Office of Internal Audit will conduct audits to ensure that cell phones and "Nextel" devices are only used for official school system business, in accordance with guidelines provided by the Internal Revenue Service.

2. Technical support will be provided through the Division of Information Technology by contacting the Office of Telephone Services at 301-925-2890 or e-mail to __revans@pgcps.org__; or by calling the Help Desk at 301-386-1549, or e-mail to __helpdesk@pgcps.org__. 3. **<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Replacement of all lost, stolen or damaged phones and/or accessories will be the responsibility of the user. ** <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> J. **__<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;">Dial-Up Network Access __**<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;"> The Division of Information Technology provides filtered dial-up network access to selected staff members. Dial-up access provides free Internet access to internal web sites; connectivity to the HP computer centers at Eleanor Roosevelt and Crossland High Schools; the AS/400 Student Information System; and Mainframe S/390, etc. 1. Dial-up access is authorized for the following groups; approved on an individual basis: The Division of Information Technology currently offers VPN access to a limited number of staff. VPN access is currently limited to senior IT staff and IT professionals working off site in support of the Oracle project, or staff approved by the Chief Information Officer. VPN access is restricted to those with high-speed Internet connections only; DSL or cable modem (PGCPS does not provide these devices or internet access). As new technology becomes available at a reasonable cost, we will migrate to a more current version of software and hardware. 1. IT staff will provide any required software and training. Hardware (modem and/or router) is the user’s responsibility. A recommended list of acceptable equipment is available through the Division of Information Technology.

Distribution: Lists 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11