With the introduction of network servers to the school, new possibilities for sharing information and accessing educational resources are available on a wide scale. These are powerful communication tools, and the guidelines contained in this policy are designed to allow the Knox County School System to make efficient and coordinated use of these tools.

1. General Information – The school web site should enhance communication between parents, students, staff, and the community, and must adhere to Knox County Board of Education Policy I-221.

2. Responsibility 

1. District Level
   1. The Instructional Technology department will offer training and support for staff members designated to develop and maintain district level web sites within the Knox County School System. 
   2. The Communications Supervisor will be responsible for content of the district page and for providing guidance to individual schools concerning the school’s web site.
   3. Each department head is responsible for the development and updates of the departmental web site.
   4. The day-to-day execution and oversight of departmental sites may be designated, in writing, to a staff member* within the department by the department head. A designated representative must be an individual employed by the school district in an administrative, professional or teaching capacity within the department.
   5. New web page files will be posted to the district web server by either the Communications Supervisor or the Instructional Technology department.
2. School Level
   1. Each school principal is responsible for the development and updates of the school’s web site. The Instructional Technology department will offer training and support for staff members designated to develop and maintain sites for their schools.
   2. The day-to-day execution and oversight of this function may be designated, in writing, to an individual staff member*. A designated representative must be an individual employed by the school district in an administrative, professional or teaching capacity.
   3. Principals or his/her designated representative will approve all content prior to posting to the web site. The principal or their designated representative will be responsible for posting files to the school web server. At no time will files be posted that are submitted directly by students.
   4. Principals are encouraged to designate a web site committee to assist in content development and review. The committee may be composed of administrators, teachers, parents, community members, and students. The chairman must be a designated staff member*. 
   5. The principal or his designated representative is responsible for acquiring a signed KCS release or authorization to publish from a child’s guardian prior to posting any student’s name, picture, art, written work, voice, verbal statements or portraits (video or still) on the school’s web pages. This form must be signed by the parents and filed at the school. This form is available from the Knox County Schools Public Affairs Office. 

*The designated staff member must be identified and approved in writing by the Building Principal or Department Head using the form provided by the Instructional Technology Department. A list of the designated staff members responsible for web sites will be maintained by the Instructional Technology department and published on the Instructional Technology web site. 

3. Web Site Requirements and Restrictions  

The Knox County School System Web Servers are for educational use only. Contents of the site should give information and promote school activities (PTA, classes, staff, departments, sports, school projects, calendars, volunteering opportunities, etc.). School or district web pages may not be used for personal gain. 

1. District/School Symbology – All pages must contain the Knox County Schools' crest and the words “People, Possibilities, Potential” in either the upper right or left corner of the page. This will be the only distinguishing symbology on district and departmental web pages. Schools may further individualize their pages with recognized school specific symbology or verbiage. 
2. Page Titles – All Web pages must have a title (which appears on the Web browser’s title bar). 
3. Time-Sensitive Information – Pages containing time-sensitive information (calendars, school events, staff information) must be updated weekly (at a minimum) to insure current, accurate information. 
4. General Contact Information – Each school’s homepage must include the school’s name, address, phone number, a link to the Knox County Schools web site, and all school administrators’ e-mail addresses. Each departmental web site must include department name or descriptor, address, phone number, a link to the Knox County Schools web site, and all administrative staff members’ e-mail addresses.
5. Navigation – Each page must (at minimum) contain a link back to the previous level in the school’s site, and a link to the site’s main navigational page. 
6. External Links –
   1. Fundraising Information – Approved school and district fundraising information is allowed and encouraged to be posted on web sites. 
   2. Commercial Links – Business partners may be recognized but links to commercial sites are prohibited. All other commercials, commercial transactions, or advertisements are prohibited on school pages.
   3. Educational Links 
      1. The Instruction department in conjunction with the Instructional Technology department will actively research and provide sites that support and enrich curriculum. These sites will be provided via the appropriate departmental web site. 
      2. External educational links may be allowed by the building principal. Care should be taken that educational links are in no way commercial in nature. 
      3. In all cases where an “external link” (any link to a site or content that is not hosted on the official Knox County Schools Web Server) is used on a school’s web site, the following disclaimer statement must be present on the school’s main navigation page: “Knox County Schools is not responsible for contents on external sites or servers.” 
7.  Individual/Classroom Web Pages – Teachers or staff members may post individual classroom pages with their school’s Web site following the same protocol and guidelines presented in this document. 
8. Policy Infringement – Files hosted on the KCS Web server(s) and hyperlinks from these files should not contain information that is in violation of (or promotes the violation of) any district policy or regulation nor any local, state, or federal regulation or law. 
9. Staff Contact Information –
   1. Staff members’ official KCS e-mail addresses and contact telephone numbers will be maintained as public information, on the district’s web site.
   2. Individual school staff members’ e-mail addresses should also be posted on each school’s Web site. (It is recommended that schools also include telephone extensions and staff photos, if available.) 
   3. Personal contact information such as e-mail address, phone numbers, addresses, etc. should never be published on the school web site. 
10. Student Information – The following student information is generally acceptable to include on a school’s web page, if the guardian(s) have given permission/consent to use it by signing a district release form. No other personal information about a student is allowed, such as e-mail address, phone number, home address. 
    1. Elementary students: Student’s picture or work with first name, or first name and last initial only.
    2. Secondary students: Student’s picture or work with first and last name, or first name and last initial, or first name. 
11. Copyrighted Materials – Unauthorized use of copyrighted material is prohibited. Giving credit (web address or active link) to a company that has created a graphic, design, etc. for a school page may be allowed, unless the district internet filter blocks the site. 
12. Prohibited Items – The following items are expressly prohibited on any Knox County school, departmental, or district web site:
    1. Location of Students – Information giving the physical location of a student at any given time. 
    2. Personal Information of staff or volunteers - Personal information about staff and parent volunteers including:  Non-district e-mail addresses, non-district mailing address, and non-district phone numbers except as approved by the building principal. Example: PTSO/PTA/Booster organization officer/contact requests to have their personal e-mail address listed in the appropriate area on the school’s page(s) and principal approves the request. Note: Pictures and names of staff and parent volunteers will be allowed with principal’s approval.
    3.  Student Contact Information – Student personal contact information of any kind including but not limited to address, phone/pager numbers, social security information, or e-mail addresses. 
    4. External Links to Personal Pages – Links to staff, volunteer or student personal home pages  including hidden links associated with graphics or pictures.
    5. External Links to Remote Web Servers – Links to “non-official” KCS related sites that are hosted on remote/external (non-district) web servers - Examples: athletic booster pages, PTA       pages, teacher created classroom pages, etc. However, booster organizations, PTA, teachers, etc. are welcomed and encouraged to post their pages on their school’s Web site following the same protocol and guidelines presented in this document.
    6. Messaging Systems – “Guest books”, “chat areas”, “message boards”, “Instant messaging systems” or similar links to sites that are not accessible inside the network (through the district  network filter)
13. Recommended Items for School Pages – The following information should be included on school pages:
    1. Welcome – A greeting from the principal
    2. General information about the school – Namesake, history, when the school opened, last renovation, student population, etc.
    3. Event information – School calendar, upcoming events/meetings, special programs, days off, early release days, etc.
    4. School Technology Committee information – Names, addresses and phone numbers of members, committee’s role and mission, annual report, and technology action plan.
    5.  Organizational Information – Information about the PTA, PTO or other volunteer organizations including officers and board members with phone numbers so newcomers can access them, events, programs, and volunteer opportunities.
    6. Student/Parent Handbook – Pertinent information from student and parent handbooks including policies and procedures regarding attendance, discipline, tardies, etc.
    7. Newsletters – Include on-line copies of school newsletter and other publications disseminated to parents or students. 
    8. Demographic Information – Links to attendance area information or non-confidential demographic information i.e. total number of students, students at each grade level.
    9.  Achievement Information – Links to test score information at the district level or information regarding test scores, information regarding initiatives designed to impact student achievement or testing schedules. 
    10. Recognition or awards – Recognition of students and teachers, achievements of school organizations including but not limited to sports teams, musical organizations, vocational teams, scholarship awards.
    11. General information for parents – Parenting information to help parents tutor or assist their children.
    12. Fundraising activities – Details regarding current fund-raising initiatives by the district, school, or school organizations. 
14. Web Page Formatting Recommendations
    1. Page Size & Resolution – Pages should be sized so they will display properly in a variety of screen resolutions. Pages should be previewed and tested at least at “640 x 480”, “800 x 600”, and “1024 x 768”. 
    2. Page Fonts – Regular text entries on web pages should be limited to the fonts “Arial” and “Times New Roman” on the PC, or “Helvetica” and “Times” on the Macintosh. Any special fonts should be saved and used as graphics to ensure that they display properly.
    3. Coloration – Avoid color schemes or backgrounds that make the information on the page hard to read. Colors should be “web safe” as much as possible, so they will display properly in 216 colors. Avoid using white text or links (white is difficult to print).
    4. Graphics – Graphics should be used judiciously. Photos and other graphics should generally not exceed a total 100k (file size) per page.
    5. Animation – Animated GIF files should be used very sparingly and need to be relatively small. The amount, size, and type of graphics used have the most direct effect on the “load time” of Web pages. 
    6. Multimedia – Video and audio files may be used when they are appropriate and are compressed properly. Be aware that these files are generally large files and take extended “load times” for the user. Also be sensitive to the fact that many audio and video files require users of non-district workstations to have special plug-ins or viewers/players that they may not have loaded on their browser in order to view or hear the files. 

4. Web Technologies Supported on District and School Server(s) 

1. Supported Browsers – The district supports both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Users are encouraged to use the most current browser that their workstations are capable of utilizing. Please see the Instructional Technology Web site for current version information and assistance in downloading current browsers supported by the Knox County Instructional Technology department. 
2. Java Applets – All district-networked computers utilize Java capable browsers. 
3. CGI Scripting – The district/campus web servers do not support “cgi” script. 
4. FrontPage Web Extension – The district/campus web servers do not support Microsoft FrontPage Extensions. 
5. Browser Plug-in Technologies – All district/campus networked computers support a variety of browser plug-in technologies. The following plug-ins are considered to be commonly available: 
   • Windows Media Player Plugin 
   • HyperStudio Plugin 
   • Macromedia Shockwave 
   • Macromedia Shockwave Flash 
   • RealPlayer 
   • QuickTime Plugin 
   • Adobe Acrobat 
   • Adobe Acrobat 

Please see the Instructional Technology Web site for current version information and assistance in downloading current browsers supported by the Knox County Instructional Technology department.

5. Security 

Maintaining the integrity of the Knox County Schools educational network is extremely important. Security must be a primary concern of those responsible for network servers. 

1. Carefully think through plans regarding who will have authority to manage any or part of a server. 
2. Passwords should be kept strictly confidential and not shared with anyone other than the school administration and the district administration.