Internet Acceptable Use Policy

The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy, Bloomfield, Connecticut

INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE AGREEMENT

Internet access is available to students and teachers at The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy.

The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy is pleased to bring this access and believes the Internet offers vast, diverse, and unique resources to both students and teachers. The school’s goal in providing this service to teachers and students is to promote educational excellence in schools by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication.

The Internet is an electronic highway connecting thousands of computers all over the world and millions of individual subscribers. Students and teachers have  and will have access to such features as:

• Electronic mail (E-mail) communication with people all over the world
• Information and news from NASA as well as the opportunity to correspond with the scientists at NASA  and other research institutions
• Public domain software and graphics of all types for school use
• Discussion groups on a plethora of topics ranging from different cultures to the environment to music to politics
• Access to many University Library Catalogs, the Library of Congress, and several other collections of relevant information to educators and students and graphical access to the World Wide Web.

With access to computers and people all over the world also comes the availability of material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting. The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy has taken precautions such as installing web filtering to restrict access to controversial materials. However, on a global network it is impossible to control all materials and an industrious user may discover controversial information. The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy firmly believes that the valuable information and interaction available on this worldwide network far outweighs the possibility that users may procure materials that is not consistent with the educational goals of the school.

Internet access is coordinated through a complex association of government agencies, and regional and state networks. In addition, the smooth operation of the network relies upon the proper conduct of the end users who must adhere to strict guidelines. These guidelines are provided here so that students and parents are aware of the responsibilities they are about to acquire. In general this requires efficient, ethical and legal utilization of the network resources. If a Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy user violates any of these provisions, his or her accounts and files will be terminated and future access could possibly be denied.

 

INTERNET  TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

1. Acceptable Use – The purpose of the backbone networks making up the Internet is to support research and education in and among academic institutions by providing access to unique resources and the opportunity for collaborative work. The use of your accounts and files must be in support of education and research and consistent with the educational objectives of the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy. Use of other organization’s network or computing resources must comply with the rules appropriate for that network. Transmission of any material in violation of any national or state regulation is prohibited. This includes but is not limited to: copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, or material protected by trade secret.

2. Privileges - The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right and inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. (Each student who receives an email account and network storage will first receive training and instruction from the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy computer teacher pertaining to the proper use of the network.) The school technology coordinator and school administration will deem what is inappropriate use and their decision is final. Also, school technology instructor may close an account at any time as required. The administration, faculty, and staff of The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy may request the system administrator to deny, revoke, or suspend specific user accounts.

3. Network Etiquette -You are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Be polite. Do not get abusive in your messages to others.
• Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language. Illegal activities are strictly forbidden.
• Do not reveal your personal address or phone numbers of students or colleagues.
• Note that electronic mail (E-mail) is not guaranteed to be private. People who operate the system do have access to all mail. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities may be reported to the authorities.
• Do not use the network in such a way that you would disrupt the use of the network by other users.
• All communications and information accessible via the network should be assumed to be private property.

 

4. The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, for the service it is providing. The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy will not be responsible for any damages you suffer. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or your errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained via the Internet is at your own risk. The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services.

5. Security – Security on any computer system is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users. If you feel you can identify a security problem on the Internet, you must notify the teacher in charge. Do not demonstrate the problem to other users. Do not use another individual’s account without written permission from that individual. Attempts to log on to the Internet as a system administrator will result in cancellation of user privileges. Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access to the Internet.

6. Vandalism – Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data or another user Internet or any of the above listed agencies or other networks that are connected to any of the Internet backbones. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses.

7. Discipline – Nothing in the previous sections limits the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy from taking additional disciplinary action against any student who willfully disregards the terms of this Agreement.

8. Consequences – The consequences for violating School’s Acceptable Use Policy include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

• Revocation of Network privileges;
• Suspension of Internet access;
• Revocation of Internet access;
• Suspension of computer access;
• Revocation of computer access;
• School suspension;
• Expulsion; or
• Employee disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.