ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR DISTRICTS

• Parental consent for student Internet use
• Teacher supervision of student use of technology-based devices
• Auditing procedures to determine whether education technology is being used for the purpose of accessing sexually explicit or other objectionable material
• Limiting use of email on school property to the email system approved by the Kentucky Department of Education as meeting standards for electronic mail systems​

• Statement that the AUP complies with state and federal laws and regulations.
• List of the roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders (employees, students, parents/guardians) when using technology resources on campus.
• Explanation of the rights and responsibilities of users when accessing district-owned resources through the Internet from technology devices both on and off campus.
• A disclaimer limiting the school district’s liability relative to:
• Information stored and/or retrieved on school technology-based devices or within district-owned resources accessible on the Internet from any location.
• Personally owned technology-based devices used on school property.
• Description of the instructional philosophies and strategies as well as the advantages gained by the district/schools in utilizing the technology resources available.
• Description of the safety measures the district undertakes to comply with Child Safety laws and regulations, with a disclaimer that these measures do not provide foolproof means for enforcing the provisions of the AUP.
• Description of the method the district undertakes to ensure system and data security, user accounts, and user privileges, with a disclaimer that these measures do not provide a foolproof means for enforcing the provisions of the AUP.
• Assurances that the policy will be enforced as well as a description of the procedures to address Acceptable Use violations, including legal action.
• Description of the ongoing awareness training opportunities for all stakeholders.
• Description of the procedures for evaluating and revising the AUP.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. AUP development/revision should involve representatives of each stakeholder group (i.e. parents, students, teachers, administrators, community members, etc.). Develop a policy which is straightforward and easy to understand. It is very helpful to draw analogies to Board policies and codes of conduct which already exist. If it is unacceptable behavior for a student or staff member to bring a paper magazine with sexually explicit pictures to school, for instance, it is unacceptable behavior for those same people to bring an electronic image of sexually explicit material into the school. If it is unacceptable behavior for a student or staff member to send someone a threatening or harassing hand-written note, it is unacceptable behavior to do the same via electronic mail. These issues are fundamentally those of behavior and personal responsibility thus, for these reasons and more, many districts have integrated their AUP into their local Student Code of Conduct and Staff Handbooks.
2. Educate the staff, students and parents/guardians. Policy implementation is far more likely to be successful if the elements of Digital Citizenship are supported by the AUP and incorporated into the curriculum and  awareness training of parents, students and employees.
3. Develop parental consent forms as required by law. These forms should either clearly explain the Board's definition of acceptable use, provide examples of use which is not acceptable, and stipulate the disciplinary actions or other consequences which may occur if the policy is violated OR be accompanied by a copy of the actual AUP and/or related guidelines. Consent forms should be based on the principle that network access is a privilege and not a right and that the privilege of access entails responsibility.
4. Although the Board policy should respect the privacy rights of students and staff, the policy should state clearly that email and other technology use is not guaranteed to be private. System administrators may periodically scan email, monitor files stored locally or on district-owned resources, both locally and Interned-based, and scan Internet use logs. Educating users and parents about district-owned Internet-based resources, such as Live@EDU email, file sharing, collaborative resources, etc. will be beneficial. Users and parents must understand that although these district-owned resources can be accessed from home, adherence to acceptable use guidelines and the district’s right to monitor and manage still applies. This aspect of an AUP might be analogous to the Board’s policy on school lockers; while generally private, lockers may be searched under certain circumstances.