The District’s electronic network is part of the curriculum and is not a public forum for general use.  Students may access technology for only educational purposes.  The actions of students accessing networks through the District reflect on the District; therefore, students must conduct themselves accordingly by exercising good judgment and complying with District policies and guidelines.  Students are responsible for their behavior and communications using the Districts computers and networks.

District 209 maintains the legal title of any technology issued to students. Students are authorized to possess and use the technology so long as they comply with the Acceptable Use Policy and other related guidelines, but they do not have any ownership rights over the technology.

Laptops (and their components) issued by District 209 are the property of District 209. Once a laptop has been given to a student, the student and their parents or guardians are responsible for the laptop (and its components) for the duration of time it is assigned to their student. Students and their parents or guardians must take reasonable care to protect and correctly use the laptop. This includes but is not limited to:

• Students have to use technology or access District 209’s network for educational purposes only.
• Students must bring their District issued laptop fully charged and a power cord to school daily. Repeated failure to bring the technology to class daily may result in discipline or other consequences under District 209’s policies and guidelines, including, but not limited to, impacting the student’s score on the school-wide Code of Collaboration.
• Laptops (and other District 209 technology) should be transported if it is distributed with the device. Using the case will prevent accidents from occurring.
• The student is the only authorized user of their assigned laptop (or other District 209 technology). Laptops (or their components) should not be traded with other students or individuals.
• The student is the only authorized user of their network or software logins and is expected to comply with the protection of login information.
• Care will be taken to maintain the integrity of technological resources from potentially damaging messages or viruses.
• If a problem occurs, the student is expected to bring their laptop to the Technology Department upon discovery. A loner device will be issued while the problem is being diagnosed.
• Students should not tamper with any settings or hardware on the laptop.
• District 209 applied labels, asset tags, and other identifiers may not be removed from laptops or other District 209 technology.
• Laptops (and other District 209 technology) must not be marked with markers, stickers, or other similar materials. 

The District’s electronic network is part of the curriculum and is not a public forum for general use.  Users should not expect that email or files stored on District servers will be private.  The District reserves the right to log technology use, to monitor fileserver space utilization by users, and to examine users’ files and materials as needed, and at its discretion. Users must recognize that there is no assurance of confidentiality with respect to access to transmissions and files by persons outside, or from persons inside the District. 

With access to computers and people all over the world comes the potential availability of material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting, or that may be harmful or disruptive.  Because information on networks is transitory and diverse, the District cannot completely predict or control what users may or may not locate.  The Board of Education believes that the educational value of limited access to the information, interaction, and research capabilities that technology offers outweighs the possibility that users may obtain or encounter material that is not consistent with the educational goals of the District.

In accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, District 209 installs and operates filtering software to limit users’ Internet access to materials that are obscene, pornographic, harmful to children, or otherwise inappropriate, or disruptive to the educational process, notwithstanding that such software may in certain cases block access to other materials as well.  At the same time, District 209 cannot guarantee that filtering software will in all instances successfully block access to materials deemed harmful, indecent, offensive, pornographic, or otherwise inappropriate.  The use of filtering software, as explained in the District 209 Board of Education Policy 6:235, Access to Electronic Networks, does not negate or otherwise affect the obligations of students to act in accordance with the policy and related guidelines.  The District views parents and guardians as partners in setting and conveying the standards that their children should follow when using electronic media and information sources.  For more information, go to the Justice Guidelines for Parents/Guardians on Internet Safety located at: 

  https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/children-internet-safety

No technology is guaranteed to be error-free or totally dependable, nor is it safe when used irresponsibly.  District 209 is not liable or responsible for but, not limited to:

• Any information that may be lost, damaged, or unavailable due to technical, or other, difficulties.
• The accuracy or suitability of any information that is retrieved through technology.
• The consequences may come from failure to follow District 209 policy and procedures governing the use of technology. 

Manufacturer defects and accidental damage coverage are included with the laptops.  District 209 will be responsible for repairs that fall into these categories.  Damage will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.  If the District 209 technology is damaged, lost, or stolen due to negligence, the student’s family will have the sole responsibility of paying for replacement and repair costs.  A detailed list of repair costs can be found on our website at https://www.pths209.org/east.    The cost of a new device is $415 for the 2018-2019 school year.  District 209 reserves the right to inspect laptops at any time.

If District 209 technology is lost or stolen, the police must be notified within twenty-four (24) hours of the discovery of the theft or loss.  A police report detailing the circumstances of the incident must be filed and a copy submitted to the principal’s office.  Failure to do so within the timeframe will result in the parents’ or guardians’ complete responsibility for replacing the technology.

Violations of policy, or any administrative regulations and guidelines governing the use of technology, may result in disciplinary action, including loss of network access, loss of technology use, suspension or expulsion, or other appropriate corrective action.  Violations of local, state, or federal law may subject students to prosecution by proper law enforcement authorities.

When a student withdraws from enrollment in District 209 or has his or her rights terminated, the student must return any technology issued by the District immediately. In no event shall the student retain the school's technology for more than two school days after the date of such expiration, withdrawal, or termination.  If a student fails to return the technology in a timely fashion, the family will be responsible for paying for replacement costs.

If a student receives consequences for a violation of technology use policies or guidelines or if the family is required to pay replacement or repair costs, the student’s parents or guardian may request an appeal in writing within ten school days of notification of consequences or payment due decision.  All requests for appeal must be addressed to the Superintendent and should include a full description of the parent or guardian’s reasons for disagreeing with the decision. The Superintendent or designee will then review the decision and will respond to the parent within ten school days after receipt of the request for appeal.  A meeting may be held by the Superintendent or designee to obtain additional information from the student, the parents and/or guardian and/or District staff, at the Superintendent’s discretion.  The Superintendent or designee’s decision on appeal shall be final.

All property must be returned to the school’s Technology Department pending the resolution of any appeal. 

District 209 makes no warranties regarding district-issued technology. District 209 shall not be liable for any damage, loss, or other claims of any and all kinds resulting directly or indirectly from the use or inability to use district-issued technology.