Creators of Web pages need to familiarize themselves with, and adhere to, the following procedures and responsibilities as well as other board policies regarding technology and the publication of information and materials related to the district. Failure to do so may result in the loss of authoring privileges or other more stringent disciplinary measures.

Content Standards
The superintendent or designee is responsible for Web site and Web page approval. A school administrator whose school plans to create a Web site and/or Web pages must receive initial approval from the superintendent.

The superintendent shall maintain a copy of the current contents of the district-level Web pages. The school administrator shall maintain a copy of all current contents on his/her school's Web pages.

All information to be posted on a Web page must be presented for review to the appropriate administrator or designee at least 48 hours prior to posting. Updates to material shall also be presented for review.

Approval for Web sites and/or Web pages in existence before the adoption of this board policy must receive approval from the Superintendent by October 1, 1998, in order to continue to be available over the Internet.

Subject Matter
All subject matter on Web pages should relate to curriculum, instruction, school-authorized activities, general information that is appropriate and of interest to others; or should relate to the school district, or the schools within the district. Staff or student work may be published only as it relates to a class project, course, or other school-related activity.

The development of staff home pages, with appropriate links, may include the staff members name, photo, department, certification, educational background, professional awards or recognition, professional publications, school sponsorships, and email address. Students may not publish personal Web pages as part of the district or school Web sites. Home pages for, or links to, other individuals or organizations not directly affiliated with the district are not acceptable. The only exception is when a link is to instructional material.

(cf. 6161.1 - Selection and Evaluation of Instructional Material
(cf. 6161.11 - Supplementary Instructional Materials)
(cf. 6162.6 - Use of Copyrighted Materials)

Quality
All Web pages must be written well and free of spelling and grammatical errors.

Documents may not contain harmful matter or material, or link directly to harmful matter or material, that is threatening, obscene, disruptive or sexually explicit, or that could be construed as harassment or disparagement of others based on their race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion or political beliefs.

(cf. 5145.3 - Nondiscrimination/Harassment
(cf. Penal Code 313 for the definition of harmful matter. )

Regarding questions of quality or propriety of Web page material, appearance, or content, the judgment of the Superintendent or school administrator shall prevail. If the superintendent or school administrator judges that certain material does not meet the appropriate standards, then the material shall be removed immediately. A verbal appeal of a decision regarding questions of quality or propriety or removal of material may be made to the superintendent, who shall make the final decision. Any further appeal must follow the district guidelines for complaints against personnel.

Ownership and Retention
The district reserves the right to delete any files that exist on a school or district server, or to delete a school or district Web page or any part of its contents, at any time without notice.

Technical Standards
Consistency: Each page added to a school or district Web site must contain certain elements for the purposes of general consistency.

• 1. At the bottom of the Web page, there must be an indication of the date of the last update to that page and the initials of the person(s) responsible for the page update. It shall be that person's responsibility to keep the web page current.

• 2. At the top and bottom of the Web page, there must be a link that returns the user to the appropriate point(s) in the district or school Web pages.

• 3. Staff members must exhibit care when creating Web pages with extensive tiled backgrounds or large graphics. Such files require extensive download time, are frustrating for modem users, and slow down the file server. School administrators, in consultation with the superintendent, should develop guidelines regarding length of download time for Web pages and formats to be used for any graphics, sounds, or video. All web pages should adhere to copyright regulations:

a. To republish a graphic or text file which was produced externally, a notice must be included at the bottom of the Web page crediting the original producer, the date permission was granted, and indicating all rights are still reserved by the copyright owner. Where applicable, the notice should include the URL of the original source.

b. Students and staff members responsible for developing Web pages must provide the school administrator with an email or hard copy permission to file before the material is published.

c. Failure of a site to display a copyright notice may not be interpreted as permission to copy the material. Only the copyright owner may provide the permission.

d. Staff members and students with questions regarding these guidelines must check with the school administrator in their building before proceeding with the collection of graphics and text.

• 4. All Web pages must be given names that clearly identify them.

• 5. A staff member who creates a Web page(s) for herself or himself, or for a student, shall edit and test the page for accuracy of links, and shall check for conformance with standards outlined in this policy prior to submitting the page(s) to the administrator for review.

• 6. Final decisions regarding access to active school Web pages for editing, content, or organization shall rest with the school administrator or designee for school Web pages, with the superintendent for district-level Web pages, and with the superintendent if a school administrators decision is appealed.

Student Safeguards

• 1. Parents and guardians shall be informed at the beginning of each year of the circumstances in which the name of their child may appear on a Web page (such as honor rolls, school news, student work, school newspaper, and the like) and be given the opportunity to deny permission for the student's name to appear.

• 2. Web pages documents may not include a student's email address, phone number, mailing address, names of other family members, or names of friends.

• 3. Web page documents may not include any information that indicates the physical location of a student at a given time, other than attendance at a particular school, or participation in school activities.

• 4. Decisions on publishing student pictures (video or still) and audio clips are based on the judgment of the school administrator or designee. Decisions regarding the publication of student photos should take into consideration the age of the student and the type of photo and whether a parent/guardian's permission should be required. In general, the district discourages the use of close-up photos or videos that also include any form of the students' real names. It is recommended that special permission be obtained from the student's parent/guardian for the publication of a student's photo with a name. It is also recommended that special permission be obtained from the student's parent/guardian for publication of an audio clip where the student's voice is used.

• 5. Published email addresses are restricted to staff members or to a general group email address where arriving email is forwarded to a staff member.

District Policies

• 1. All Internet-published documents must conform to district policies and regulations as well as established school guidelines. Copies of district policies are available in all school offices. Persons developing or maintaining Web documents are responsible for complying with these and other policies. Some of the relevant issues and related district policies include the following:

• 2. Electronic transmission of materials is a form of copying. No unlawful copies of copyrighted materials may be knowingly produced or transmitted via the district's equipment.

(cf. 6162.6 - Use of Copyrighted Materials)

• 3. Documents created for the Web and linked to any district or school Web pages shall meet the criteria for use as instructional material or supplementary instructional material.

(cf. 6161.1 - Selection and Evaluation of Instructional Material)
(cf. 6161.11 - Supplementary Instructional Materials)
(cf. 6162.6 - Use of Copyrighted Materials)

• 4. All communications via the district and school Web pages will comply with the district's policies and regulations.

• 5. Non-curricular materials shall be limited to information about parent groups, other youth activities, agencies, or organizations which are known to be non-sectarian, exclusively devoted to community interests or child welfare, are non-profit, and non-discriminatory. Web page links may not include entities whose primary purpose is commercial or political advertising.

• 6. Any deliberate tampering with or misuse of district network services or equipment shall be considered vandalism and handled in accordance with district policy and applicable law.

Other

• 1. Material on Web pages may reflect an individual's thoughts, interests, and activities. Such Web pages do not, in any way, represent individual schools or the Southern Humboldt Joint Unified School District, nor are they endorsed or sanctioned by individual school or the district. Concern about the content of any page(s) created by students or staff should be directed to the school administrator or the superintendent.

• 2. Given the rapid change in technology, the standards outlined in this policy are subject to change or modification at any time. Such changes can be made temporarily with approval of the superintendent if they are then submitted for Board approval within one of the next two regularly scheduled board meetings.

• 3. School administrators may set up additional procedures for review of submitted Web page materials.