Employee Acceptable Use Policy

Gunter Independent School District offers Computer/Internet access for employee use.  This document contains the Acceptable Use Policy for your use of Gunter ISD’s Electronic Communication System (GECS) including Videoconferencing. 

A. Educational Purpose 

1. Gunter ISD’s Electronic Communication System (GECS) has been established for a limited educational purpose.  The term "educational purpose" includes classroom activities, career development, and limited high-quality self-discovery activities.

2. GECS has not been established as a public access service or a public forum.  Gunter ISD has the right to place reasonable restrictions on the material you access or post through the system.  You are also expected to follow the rules set forth in Gunter ISD’s Disciplinary Code and the law in your use of GECS.

3. You may not use GECS for commercial purposes.  This means you may not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through GECS.

4. You may not use GECS for political lobbying.  But you may use the system to communicate with elected representatives and to express your opinion on political issues. 

B. Unacceptable Uses--The following uses of Gunter ISD’s Electronic Communication System are considered unacceptable: 

 1. Personal Safety

a. You will not post personal contact information about yourself or other people.  Personal contact information includes your address, telephone, school address, work address, etc.

b. You will not agree to meet with someone you have met on-line.

c. You will promptly disclose to the technology director any message you receive that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable. 

    2. Illegal Activities

a. You will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to GISD’s Electronic Communications System or to any other computer system through GECS or go beyond your authorized access.  This includes attempting to log in through another person's account or access another person's files.  These actions are illegal, even if only for the purposes of "browsing".

b. You will not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means.  These actions are illegal.

 c.  You will not use GECS to engage in any other illegal act. 

 3. System Security

a. You are responsible for your individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use your account.  Under no conditions should you provide your password to another person.

b. You will immediately notify the system administrator if you have identified a possible security problem.  Do not go looking for security problems, because this may be construed as an illegal attempt to gain access.

c. You will avoid the inadvertent spread of computer viruses by following the District virus protection procedures. 

 4. Inappropriate Language

a. Restrictions against Inappropriate Language apply to public messages and private messages.

b. You will not use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language.

c. You will not post information that could cause damage or a danger of disruption.

d. You will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks.

e. You will not harass another person.  Harassment is persistently acting in a manner that distresses or annoys another person.

f. You will not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization. 

 5. Respect for Privacy

a. You will not repost a message that was sent to you privately without permission of the person who sent you the message.

 b.  You will not post private information about another person. 

 6. Respecting Resource Limits

a. You will use the system only for educational and career development activities and limited, high-quality, self-discovery activities.

b. You will not download large files unless absolutely necessary.  If necessary, you will download the file at a time when the system is not being heavily used and immediately remove the file from the system computer to your personal diskette or home directory.

c. You will not post chain letters or engage in "spamming".  Spamming is sending an annoying or unnecessary message to a large number of people.

d. You will check your e-mail frequently, delete unwanted messages promptly, and stay within your e-mail quota.

e. You will subscribe only to high quality discussion group mail lists that are relevant to your education or career development.

f.  You will not stream audio or video unless it is for  educational purposes; and if you choose to use video you will make every attempt to download the file previously to viewing during a time that will not create a problem with bandwidth. 

 7. Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

a. You will not plagiarize works that you find on the Internet.  Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others and presenting them as if they were yours.

b. You will respect the rights of copyright owners.  Copyright infringement occurs when you inappropriately reproduce a work that is protected by a copyright.  If a work contains language that specifies appropriate use of that work, you should follow the expressed requirements.  If you are unsure whether or not you can use a work, you should request permission from the copyright owner.  Copyright law can be very confusing.  If you have questions ask a teacher. 

 8. Inappropriate Access to Material

a. You will not use Gunter ISD’s Electronic Communications System to access material that is profane or obscene (pornography), that advocates illegal acts, or that advocates violence or discrimination towards other people (hate literature).  A special exception may be made for hate literature if the purpose of your access is to conduct research.

b. If you mistakenly access inappropriate information, you should immediately exit the site.  This will protect you against a claim that you have intentionally violated this Policy. 

D. Your Rights 

 1. Free Speech

Your right to free speech, as set forth in Gunter ISD’s Disciplinary Code, applies also to your communication on the Internet.  The GECS is considered a limited forum, similar to the school newspaper, and therefore the District may restrict your speech for valid educational reasons.  The District will not restrict your speech on the basis of a disagreement with the opinions you are expressing.

 2. Searches and Seizure

a. You should expect only limited privacy in the contents of your personal files on the District system. 

b. Routine maintenance and monitoring of GECS may lead to discovery that you have violated this Policy, the disciplinary code, or the law.

c. An individual search will be conducted if there is reasonable suspicion that you have violated this Policy, the disciplinary code, or the law.  The investigation will be reasonable and related to the suspected violation.

d. Your parents have the right at any time to request to see the contents of your e-mail and GECS computer files. 

E. Due Process 

1. The District will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal officials in any investigation related to any illegal activities conducted through GECS.

2. In the event there is a claim that you have violated this Policy or disciplinary code in your use of the GECS, you will be provided with notice of the suspected violation and an opportunity to present an explanation before an administrator.

3. If the violation also involves a violation of other provisions of the disciplinary code, it will be handled in a manner described in the Gunter ISD’s Disciplinary Code.  Additional restrictions may be placed on your use of your Internet account. 

F. 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. 

G. Personal Responsibility 

When you are using the GECS, it may feel like you can more easily break a rule and not get caught.  This is not really true because whenever you do something on a network you leave little "electronic footprints," so the odds of getting caught are really about the same as they are in the real world.  But the fact that you can do something or think you can do something without being caught does not make it right to do so.  Even if you don't get caught, there is always one person who will know whether you have done wrong -- and that person is you.  Your use of the Internet can be a mirror that will show you what kind of a person you are.