1. Acceptable Use of Knox County School District Technology Resources 

The Knox County School District provides technology resources to its students and staff for educational and administrative purposes. The goal in providing these resources is to promote educational excellence by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication with the support and supervision of parents, teachers, and support staff. The use of these technology resources is a privilege afforded students and staff and should not be considered a right. 

With access to computers and people around 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. The employees of Knox County Schools firmly believe that the value of information, interaction, and research capabilities available outweigh the possibility that users may obtain material that is not consistent with the educational goals of the district. 

Proper behavior, as it relates to the use of computers, is no different than proper behavior in other aspects of school activities. All users are expected to use the computers and computer networks in a responsible, ethical, and polite manner. This document is intended to clarify those expectations as they apply to computer and network usage. 

2. Definition of District Resources 

The District’s computer systems and networks consist of many configurations of hardware and software. These systems and networks include all of the computer hardware, operating system software, application software, stored text, and data files at any Knox County campus or administrative site and extends to equipment loaned to employees or student for their use at home. This includes all equipment, software, or other technology resources provided regardless of source. 

Further, this includes electronic mail, local databases, remotely accessed databases, CD-ROM, optical media, clip art, digital images, digitized information, communications technologies, and new technologies as they become available. 

The District reserves the right to monitor all technology resource activity. 

3. Definition of Acceptable Use 

The District’s technology resources will be used only for learning, teaching, and administrative purposes consistent with the District’s mission and goals. Commercial use of the District’s system is strictly prohibited. 

The District will make training available to all users in the proper use of the system and will make copies of acceptable use guidelines available to all users. All training in the use of the District’s system will emphasize the ethical use of this resource. Other issues applicable to acceptable use include: 

1. Copyright: All users are expected to follow existing copyright laws, copies of which may be found in each campus library. 
2. Supervision and permission: Student use of computer and/or the computer network is only allowed when supervised or granted permission by a staff member. 
3. Identity theft: Attempting to log on or logging on to a computer or e-mail system by using another’s password is prohibited. Assisting others in violating this procedure by sharing information or passwords is unacceptable. 
4. Improper use of any computer or the network is prohibited. This includes the following:
   1. Use of racist, profane, or obscene language or materials
   2. Using the network for financial gain, political or commercial activity
   3. Attempting to or harming equipment, materials or data
   4. Attempting to or sending anonymous messages of any kind
   5. Using the network to access inappropriate material
   6. Knowingly placing a computer virus on a computer or the network
   7. Using the network to provide addresses or other personal information that others may use inappropriately
   8. Accessing of information resources, files, and documents of another user without permission 

4. System Access 

Access to District networks systems will be governed as follows: 

1. Students will have access to the District’s resources for class assignments and research with a staff member's permission and/or supervision.
2. For systems that require password access, staff members with accounts will be required to maintain password confidentiality by not sharing the password with students, staff members, or others.
3. With the approval of the immediate supervisor, district employees will be granted access to appropriate district systems.
4. Any system user identified as a security risk or having violated District Acceptable Use Guidelines may be denied access to the District’s system. Other consequences may also be assigned. 

5. Maintenance of Local Hard Drives 

All classroom workstations and some administrative workstations allow access to the local hard drive for installing software. This access is enabled so that staff members may preview and deploy software as needed without requiring the assistance of a member of the district technology team or the building technology contact. 

This access does not allow or encourage the installation of personal software on district computing systems. In a routine matter of service, it may be necessary to reformat the hard drive of one of the district computing systems. With this in mind, please keep any installation disks in an identified location at your local campus should the need for reinstallation arise. Users are personally responsible for making backups of any data files that are stored on local hard drives. 

6. Vandalism Prohibited 

Any malicious attempt to harm or destroy district equipment or materials, data of another user of the district’s system, or any of the agencies or other networks to which the district has access is prohibited. Deliberate attempts to degrade or disrupt system performance may be viewed as violations of district guidelines and, possibly, as criminal activity under applicable state and federal laws. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creating of computer viruses. 

7. Forgery Prohibited 

Forgery or attempted forgery of electronic messages is prohibited. Attempts to read, delete, copy, or modify the electronic mail of other system users or deliberate interference with the ability of other system users to send/receive electronic mail is prohibited. 

Forgery or attempted forgery of documents or currency is prohibited. Deliberate attempts to create, copy or modify official documents or currency using district technology resources may be viewed as a violation of district guidelines and, possibly, as criminal activity under applicable state and federal laws. 

8. Information Content/Third Party Supplied Information 

System users and parents/guardians of students with access to district network systems should be aware that the use of the system may provide access to electronic communications systems outside of the district’s filtered network system that may contain inaccurate and/or objectionable material. Students bringing prohibited materials into the school’s electronic environment will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action and/or revocation of privileges on the district’s system. An employee knowingly bringing prohibited materials into the school’s electronic environment will be subject to disciplinary action and/or revocation of access to district systems in accordance with district policies. 

9. Computing Platform Selection 

The selection of platforms that are supported in the district is the responsibility of the Technology department. In so much as is possible, Knox County Schools currently supports three instructional computing platforms, Windows, Macintosh, and PalmOS. In addition to these campus platforms the Information Systems Department may support additional administrative platforms. 

The selection of the campus computing platform is the responsibility of the school technology committee in accordance with their school technology plan and with the concurrence of the site administrator. No school department, government entity, or other outside organization shall impose equipment on the site that cannot be maintained and supported in a reasonable fashion by the Building Technology Team. It should be assumed that all school departments will select “required” applications that are available on both supported platforms. Training for district mandated software products shall be available on both computing platforms. All equipment deployed at the school site should be able to make use of all appropriate network resources. Schools are encouraged to select systems that can be supported effectively. While any site may elect to attempt to support a mixed platform environment, it has been demonstrated that supporting multiple platforms in a networked environment requires a significantly higher level of expertise and additional time for the support staff. Consequently, technology committees and site administrators are advised as follows: 

1. Elementary and middle school sites are strongly encouraged to select a single computing platform for all computing functions. 
2. In the high school environment, sites are encouraged to, at a minimum, “departmentalize” their platform selection as much as possible. 

10. Building Level Technology Contacts 

1. Selection of a Building Level Technology Contact – The principal will serve as or designate a staff member to serve as the primary Building Level Technology contact. The primary BLTC will serve with the approval of the Instructional Technology department. Should the principal elect to delegate the role of BLTC, the principal and the supervisor of Instructional Technology will work cooperatively to select the most appropriate person to serve as the BLTC for the campus. 
2. Multiple Building Level Technology Contacts – A principal may elect to share the roles and duties of the BLTC among several staff members. This is encouraged at sites with larger enrollments or higher computer to student ratios. 
3. Role of Building Level Technology Contacts – Any person selected for the role of Building Level Technology agrees to perform the following functions at their campus:
   1. Demonstrate the positive and ethical use of technology resources in the classroom.
   2. Assist the Instructional Technology and Information Systems departments by communicating procedures, policies, and other operational information to the campus staff.
   3. Assist the Instructional Technology and Information Systems departments with the training of staff members in regard to hardware use, applications training, and classroom integration. 
   4. Facilitate the inventory of technology related resources as defined in Section 2.
   5. Provide a first-line of assistance to other staff members in the diagnosis and resolution of minor hardware, software, and network issues.
4. Additional Responsibilities of the Primary Building Level Technology Contact – In addition to the duties and responsibilities defined in Section 10c above, the Primary Building Level Technology Contact will:
   1. Serve on the Campus Technology Committee. In many cases, the primary BLTC may chair the committee but this is not a procedural requirement. 
   2. Will be responsible for acting as a liaison with the Instructional Technology department and the Information Services department to ensure accurate and appropriate information is disseminated to campus staff members.
   3. Be available a minimum of two days annually for scheduled BLTC training sessions. The Instructional Technology department will provide substitute teachers on these days if necessary.
5. The building administrator should be sensitive to the fact that the BLTC position is not a paid position. Most of the staff members who elect to serve in the BLTC do so out of interest in technology and commitment to the integration of technology in the classroom. The following recommendations should be observed in regard to BLTC activities:
   1. BLTC’s should never be interrupted during contact time with students.
   2. At sites with large inventories of technology resources or high numbers of staff, troubleshooting responsibilities should be shared among several staff members.
   3. BLTC’s should be considered favorably when technology conferences and off-site training opportunities are made available.
   4. When it is possible, BLTC’s should be considered for release time or extended contracts to facilitate the completion of the requests that are made of them by other staff members.

11. Technology Equipment Specifications 

Technology specifications are provided to guide district and campus administrators in their purchasing decisions regarding new technology. It is the responsibility of the Instructional Technology department and the Information Systems department to establish, review, update, and communicate specifications that provide guidance in the purchase of technology resources. The current specifications may be found on the Instructional Technology web site. These specifications apply to any and all equipment that becomes a portion of the inventory of Knox County Schools during the fiscal year. 

1. Responsibility – All Central Office staff members, site administrators, and Building Level Technology Contacts are expected to reference these specifications prior to purchasing additional technology resources. Questions regarding specifications should be addressed to the Instructional Technology department prior to initiating purchase.
2. Specification Review Procedure – Technology Equipment Specifications will be reviewed a minimum of twice annually. Typically, these reviews will be made prior to the beginning of a new school year and, again, prior to the beginning of the second semester. Adjustments may also be made to the specifications in conjunction with state or local bids that may impact performance or price of the equipment available to schools.
3. Feedback regarding Technology Equipment Specifications – The Instructional Technology department welcomes the opportunity to receive input or to answer questions regarding current or future specifications. Requests for information should be made via e-mail to the Supervisor of Instructional Technology. Feedback is welcomed from any community member, however, anonymous feedback cannot receive appropriate response and may not be considered as valid input. 
4. Application of Technology Equipment Specifications – Any equipment, whether purchased with system funds, special project funds, school funds, PTA/PTO/PTSO funds, club-generated funds, new equipment to be donated to the school, etcetera, is required to meet specifications. It is the responsibility of the principal or departmental supervisor to ensure that equipment added to the school inventory meets the current technology equipment guidelines.
5. Exceptions – Exceptions may be sought for extraordinary circumstances. The following procedure should be adhered to when seeking to make purchases that are outside the current technology specifications:
   1. Prior approval from the Supervisor of Instructional Technology for any purchase that does not meet specifications should be sought and received in writing prior to the purchase of equipment.
   2. Written approval should be kept as a portion of the purchase record to insure the equipment will be supported and serviced. Unapproved equipment added to the inventory that does not meet Knox County specifications will be considered expendable and therefore, will not be eligible for training, support, or repair. 

12. Questions Regarding These Guidelines 

Questions, comments, or concerns regarding these guidelines should be addressed to the Instructional Technology Department of Knox County Schools (Voice 594-1726 or Fax 594-1325).