COMPUTER SERVICES
GENERAL INFORMATION
St. Francis de Sales High School provides computer equipment, services, and Internet access to its students and staff for educational purposes only. The intention of providing technology resources is to improve learning and teaching through research, teacher training, collaboration, dissemination and the use of global communication resources. The system administrators are employees of St. Francis de Sales High School and reserve the right to monitor all activity on network facilities.
Because of the complex association between so many agencies and networks, the end user of these networks must adhere to strict guidelines. They are provided here so that staff and student users and the parents/guardians of students are aware of their responsibilities. St. Francis de Sales High School may modify these rules at any time by publishing modified rule(s) on the system or posting them in the computer labs. Parent and students signatures on the "blue card" indicate that they agree to adhere to the rules and their signatures are legally binding and indicate that the parties have read these terms and conditions carefully, understand their significance, and agree to abide by established rules.
INFORMATION CONTENT AND USES OF THE SYSTEM
The user agrees not to publish on or over the system any information which violates or infringes upon the rights of any other person or any information which would be abusive, profane or sexually offensive to an average person, or which, without the approval of a school administrator, contains any advertising or any solicitation of other members to use goods or services. The user agrees not to use the facilities and capabilities of the system to conduct any business or solicit the performance of any activity which is prohibited by law.
Because St. Francis de Sales High School provides, through connection to the Internet, access to other computer systems around the world, students and their parents understand that the School and system administrators have no control over content. While most of the content available on the Internet is innocuous and much of it a valuable educational resource, some objectionable material exists. The School will provide student access to Internet resources only in supervised environments and has taken steps to block objectionable areas, but potential dangers remain. Students and their parents/guardians are advised that some systems may contain defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, or otherwise objectionable material. St. Francis de Sales High School and the system administrators do not condone the use of such materials and do not permit usage of such materials in the school environment. Parents of minors having accounts on the system should be aware of the existence of such materials and monitor any future home usage of the School's resources. Students knowingly bringing such materials into the school environment will be dealt with according to the discipline policies of the School and such activities may result in termination of such students' accounts on the network.
ON-LINE CONDUCT
Any action by a member that is determined by a system administrator to constitute an inappropriate use of network resources or to improperly restrict or inhibit other members from using and enjoying those resources is strictly prohibited and may result in termination of an offending member's account and other action in compliance with the School's discipline code. The user specifically agrees not to submit, publish, or display any defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, or otherwise illegal material; nor shall a user encourage the use, sale, or distribution of controlled substances. Transmission of material, information or software in violation of any local, state or federal law is also prohibited and is a breach of these Terms and Conditions.
Users and their parents/guardians specifically agree to indemnify St. Francis de Sales High School and the system administrators for any losses, costs, or damages, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the School relating to, or arising out of any breach of this section (Online Conduct) by the user.
Network resources are to be used by the user for his/her personal use only; commercial uses are strictly prohibited.
SOFTWARE LIBRARIES
Software is provided to students as a curricular resource. No student may install, upload, or download software without the expressed consent of the system administrators. Any software having the purpose of damaging other members' accounts or the School's network (e.g., computer viruses) is specifically prohibited. The system administrators, at their sole discretion, reserve the rights to refuse posting of files and to remove files. The system administrators, at their sole discretion, further reserve the right to immediately terminate the account or take more serious action consistent with the School's discipline code of a member who misuses the software libraries.
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
Copyrighted material must not be placed on any system connected to the network without the author's permission. Only the owner(s) or persons they specifically authorize may upload copyrighted material to the system. Members may download copyrighted material for their own use.
Any member may also non-commercially redistribute a copyrighted program with the expressed permission of the owner or authorized person. Permission must be specified in the document, on the system, or must be obtained directly from the author.
PUBLIC POSTING AREAS (MESSAGE BOARDS/USENET GROUPS)
UseNet messages are posted from systems connected to the Internet around the world and St. Francis de Sales High School system administrators have no control of the content of messages posted from these other systems. To best utilize system resources, the system administrators will determine which UseNet groups are most applicable to the curricular needs of the School and will carry these groups on the local system. The system administrators, at their sole discretion, may remove messages posted locally that are deemed to be unacceptable or in violation of the Terms and Conditions. The system administrators, at their sole discretion, further reserve the right to immediately terminate the account of a member who misuses the message boards or UseNet groups.
REAL-TIME INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION
The system administrators, at their sole discretion, reserve the right to immediately terminate the account of a member who misuses real-time conference features (internet relay chat/talk, cu-seeme, etc).
ELECTRONIC MAIL
Electronic mail ("E-Mail") is a private electronic message sent by or to a member in correspondence with another person having Internet mail access. Messages received by the system are retained on the system until deleted by the recipient. A canceled St. Francis de Sales High School account will not retain its mail. Members are expected to remove old messages in a timely fashion and the system administrators may remove such messages if not attended to regularly by the member. The system administrators will not intentionally inspect the contents of mail sent by one member to an identified addressee, or disclose such contents to other than the sender or an intended recipient, without the consent of the sender or an intended recipient, unless required to do so by law or policies of the St. Francis de Sales High School, or to investigate complaints regarding mail which is alleged to contain defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, or otherwise illegal material. St. Francis de Sales High School reserves the right to cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation concerning or relating to any mail transmitted on the St. Francis de Sales High School network.
DISK SPACE
The system administrators reserve the right to set quotas for disk space on the system. A member who exceeds his quota will be advised to delete files to return to compliance. A member who remains in non-compliance of disk space quotas after notification will have their files removed by a system administrators.
SECURITY/VANDALISM
Security on any computer system is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users. If a member feels that he can identify a security problem on the system, the member must notify a system administrator or e-mail ADMIN@sfstoledo.org. Members should not demonstrate the problem to others. Professional staff may allow students who are not members to access the system through the staff person's account as long as the staff person does not disclose the password of the account to the students and understands that the staff person assumes responsibility for the actions of students using his/her account. Members may not otherwise let others use their account and password. Passwords to the system should not be easily guessed by others, nor should they be words which can be found in a dictionary. Attempts to log in to the system using either another member's account or as a system administrator will result in termination of the account. Members should immediately notify a system administrator (ADMIN@sfstoledo.org) if a password is lost or stolen, or if they have reason to believe that someone has obtained unauthorized access to their account. Any member identified as a security risk will have his account terminated and be subject to other disciplinary action.
Vandalism will result in cancellation of system privileges and other disciplinary measures in compliance with the School's discipline code. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user, the system, or any of the agencies or other networks that are connected to the Internet backbone or of doing intentional damage to hardware or software resident on the system. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses.
GAME PLAYING AND "PAINTING"
Game playing is permitted on the St. Francis de Sales High School system only when terminals are not needed for other purposes and the game conforms to the curricular goals of the School. Game playing over network links or other inter-machine gaming is prohibited.
Although drawing and painting may have legitimate academic use, those activities are prohibited when done for recreational purposes.
PRINTING
The printing facilities of the St. Francis de Sales High School network should be used judiciously. Unnecessary printing is a drain of the capacity of the networks, adds expense, and shortens the life of equipment. By developing on-screen proofreading skills and practicing proper use of cut and paste techniques, users can and should conserve printing resources and help the system run more efficiently.
DISCLAIMER
Students agree that violation of the acceptable use policy is unethical, a violation of School rules, and may constitute a criminal offense. Should any student commit any violation, he understands that his access privileges may be revoked and that disciplinary action may be taken. Appropriate legal action may also result.
Parents and guardians of students understand that their son's access to computer resources and the Internet is designed for educational purposes and that the School has taken reasonable precautions to eliminate controversial material. However, they also recognize it is impossible for St. Francis de Sales High School and its system administrators to restrict access to all controversial materials, and they agree not hold the school or the system administrators responsible for materials acquired on the network. Furthermore, they accept full responsibility for supervision if and when their son's use is not in a school setting.