Web sites should follow the Guidelines for Student Rights and Responsibilities, and reflect professionalism as defined in the TUSD-TEA Consensus Agreement. Web sites should not be used for commercial or personal gain. School sponsored activities and fund raising efforts may be announced. Laws of privacy for students should be respected on the Web. Photographs of students or staff should be used only with permission from the parent or staff member. Students' last names should not be used on Web Sites. Any information posted on Web Sites representing TUSD must conform to TUSD Governing Board Policies 1050 (Computer Software Copyrights) and 1051 (Computer Data Protection.)

Downloading Material: Educators and students are advised to exercise caution in using digital material downloaded from the Internet in producing their own educational multimedia projects, because there is a mix of works protected by copyright and works in the public domain on the network. Access to works on the Internet does not automatically mean that these can be reproduced and reused without permission or royalty payment and, furthermore, some copyrighted works may have been posted to the Internet without authorization of the copyright holder. To obtain permission for use of copyrighted materials, contact the copyright holder in writing.

Attribution and Acknowledgement: Educators and students are reminded to credit the sources and display the copyright notice © and copyright ownership information if this is shown in the original source, for all works incorporated as part of educational multimedia projects prepared by educators and students including those prepared under fair use. Crediting the source must adequately identify the source of the work, giving a full bibliographic description where available (including author, title, publisher, and place and date of publication.) The copyright ownership information includes the copyright notice (©, year of first publication, and the name of the copyright holder.)

TUSD employees and students may create web sites on TUSD servers that represent the curricular interests of the district. The design, writing and publication of web pages will take place under the direction of the TUSD Governing Board, the building administrator, and a designated, certificated staff person, in accordance with TUSD Web Site Guidelines and district student/faculty codes of conduct. The designated staff person will serve as a school resource for the maintenance of web publications standards that support the mission and curriculum of the school, and enhance the role of web technology in the delivery of that curriculum. Schools who do not have a designated, certificated staff person will have a minimal page based on the TUSD Profiles and Directions publication.

Recognizing that opinions about resources may differ, the school districts will follow the following procedures, in accordance with TUSD-TEA Consensus Agreement, Section 17.2, for the review of any TUSD-connected web page about which concerns have been raised. Any student, employee, parent, or guardian of a child in TUSD may express concerns about any district-connected web pages. Such expressions of concern shall be evaluated according to district web site guidelines. Concerns about page links will also be evaluated on the same criteria.

Procedures:

A. The web page shall remain on line during this procedure.

B. The expression of concern shall be directed to the designated staff person in writing and will include the concern in as much detail as possible.

C. The designated staff person shall respond to the concern by:

1.      informing the school site principal

2.      sharing a copy of the web guidelines with the concerned party

3.      describing the educational use of this resource in writing

D. The designated staff person and principal will make a recommendation as to the web site retention, alteration, or elimination within five working days of the written concern

E. At this point the web site owner or the concerned party may appeal this recommendation within five working days of the recommendation. Such an appeal is directed to the district Web Guidelines Committee.

F. Web Guidelines Committee (WGC) appeal process:

1. Upon receipt of the appeal, the WGC will review the concern and recommendation and forward their recommendation to the Governing Board regarding retention, alteration, or elimination of the web site. This recommendation will occur within thirty days. A written report, signed by all committee members, and accompanied by any relevant materials will be forwarded to the Governing Board with the WGC recommendation. Copies will be sent to the concerned party and the school principal.
2. Any further appeal must be addressed to the superintendent or his designee.
3. The members of the committee will be comprised of both district personnel and representatives from the community. Appointments shall be made through the Instructional Technology department. All committee members will receive training in issues of copyright, intellectual freedom, and information technology as used educationally. Committee members shall serve a two-year staggered term.