Avery County Schools Policy Policy Code: 3227/7322
WEB PAGE DEVELOPMENT
Consistent with board policy 3225/7320, ACSNet Acceptable Use Policy, the Board of Education encourages the use of the Internet as a means of providing accessible, accurate and timely information for staff, students, parents and others in the larger community to further the school district’s objectives. The Internet provides the school district the opportunity to better communicate with its communities by posting pertinent district and school information on the web. The Avery County School District has established its official district site on the web at http://www.averyschools.net/. In addition to this website, individual schools and departments may create school websites hosted on school district webservers and linked to the school district website. This policy provides the standards that must be followed for development of all district- related websites. Failure to comply with this policy may result in the prevention of posting a web page or in the removal of a web page or website from the Internet.
A “district-related website” is any Internet website that is established on district-provided web servers in at least one of the following ways: • by school district employees or students on behalf of the district; • by any school within the district; • by any school-sponsored club or organization within the district; or • through the use of school district equipment or the school district’s access to the Internet.
Only those websites that are created pursuant to this policy are considered district-related websites. The board does not endorse and is not responsible for websites created by employees, students or others outside the standards and guidelines of this policy. Students or employees who create personal websites that create a substantial and material disruption to the school environment may be subject to disciplinary action.
STANDARDS FOR WEB PAGE DEVELOPMENT
1. Nonpublic or Closed Forums for Expression
All district-related websites shall be “nonpublic” or “closed” forums for expression. This
means that the district has control over information on such web sites and is not required
to allow students, faculty or others to place material on district-related web sites that the
superintendent or his/her designee determines is inappropriate for any such website. The
purpose of district-related websites is to disseminate curriculum-related information, to
present the public with information about the district, its schools and programs and to
provide the community with each school or department’s mission, contact information,
activities, organizational format and instructional program. District-related websites are
analogous to newsletters from the administration or the individual school. District-
related websites are not analogous to a student newspaper or non-school publication.
2. Administration and Editorial Control
Avery County Schools Policy Code: 3227/7322 Page 1 of 4 All staff members responsible for creating, developing, maintaining, editing or approving a district-related website will behave legally, responsibly and ethically in providing educational resources and information to support the mission and curriculum of the school district. Such persons will abide by the generally accepted rules of website etiquette, board policy, procedures and guidelines established by the superintendent.
a. Superintendent Final Authority
The board delegates to the superintendent, administrative staff, principals,
teachers and web managers the authority to place information on district-related
websites. The superintendent or his/her designee has final authority to approve or
disapprove any information in whatever form on such websites.
b. School District Official Website
The superintendent or his/her designee will have editorial control and
responsibility for the content of the school district official website. The
superintendent will appoint a staff member to serve as the web manager/editor of
the district website.
c. Individual School Websites
The school district will provide each school with a web address, web design
software and disk space on district-provided web servers. All district-related
websites will be housed on district-provided web servers. Each principal will
have editorial control and responsibility for the content of the individual school’s
official website, subject to review of the superintendent or his/her designee. The
principal will appoint a staff member to serve as the web manager of the school’s
website and a website committee to advise the web manager and principal
regarding the content of the school’s website. Individual school websites must
comply with the additional guidelines provided below.
d. Teacher and Student Websites
Each teacher will have editorial control and responsibility for the content of
his/her official website and for the content of his/her students’ websites, subject to
the review by the principal, the superintendent and the board. Upon the
knowledge and written consent of a student’s parent or guardian, a teacher may
allow a student to create a website within or linked from a school’s or teacher’s
website only for the following instructional purposes: (1) to teach a student how
to create or maintain a website or (2) to facilitate a student’s work on school
assignments or research projects. No student pages will be posted or made
accessible to the general public until approved by the principal or his/her
designee.
e. Personal Websites
Personal and non-district-related websites shall not be posted or published on
district web servers.
All employees are required to use the Avery County Schools' district network
when creating websites for any and all educational and work related positions or
communications with students.
Avery County Schools Policy Code: 3227/7322 Page 2 of 4 When creating or posting material to a webpage or other internet sites apart from ACSNet, employees should remember that the content may be viewed by anyone, including community members, students and parents.
Employees are to maintain an appropriate relationship with students at all times.
Having a public personal website or online networking profile or allowing access
to a private website or private online networking profile is considered a form of
direct communications with students. Employees are asked to block students from
viewing any material or profiles that are not age appropriate. Any employee
found to have created and/or posted inappropriate content on a website or profile
that has a negative impact on the employee's ability to perform their job as it
relates to working with students will be subject to discipline, up to and including
dismissal. This section applies to all employees, volunteers and student teachers
working for or in the Avery County School System.
The school district is not responsible for personal websites or web pages created
or maintained outside of the district by students, personnel, parents, groups or
organizations. Personal websites or web pages are not considered district-related
websites or web pages, and are not covered by the provisions of this policy.
The superintendent may use any means available to request the removal of
personal websites that substantially disrupt the school environment or that utilize
school district or individual school names, logos or trademarks without
permission.
3. Copyright Laws
Websites must comply with all copyright laws and board policy 3230/7330, Copyright
Compliance. Copyright permission must be obtained for the use of any copyrighted
material. The superintendent or designee and each principal or designee will ensure that
all permission for use of copyrighted work or release of information is maintained in a
safe place.
4. Behavior Standards
When using the Internet, staff and students are responsible for understanding and
complying with board policies and administrative regulations, including policy
3225/7320 (ACSNet Acceptable Use Policy), the 4300 section policies (Student Behavior
Policies) and policy 7300 (Staff Responsibilities).
Legal References: U.S. Const. Amend. I; 17 U.S.C. 100 et seq.; Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2522; Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g; G.S. 115C-391, -325(e)
Cross References: Curriculum and Instructional Guides (policy 3115), Technology in the Educational Program (policy 3220), Internet and the Educational Program (policy 3225/7320), Copyright Compliance (policy 3230/7330), Code of Student Conduct (policy 4300), Student Records (policy 4700), Public Records (policy 5070), Staff Responsibilities (policy 7300),
Avery County Schools Policy Code: 3227/7322 Page 3 of 4 Personnel Files (policy 7820)
ADOPTED: 12/5/05
REVISED: 06/02/08
Avery County Schools Policy Code: 3227/7322 Page 4 of 4