Internet Policies

The Children's Internet Protection Act and the Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act require that each district that receives any federal funding for technology must have an board-approved Internet Safety Policy. There should be at least one public hearing on the policy.

DPI provides some guidelines on complying with this legislation. A district may use an Internet Acceptable Use policy that was in place before this legislation was passed if it meets all the requirements of the legislation. DPI requires schools to have Internet safety policy that covers:

	Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and the Web
	The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications
	Unauthorized access, including so-called "hacking," and other unlawful activities by minors online
	Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal identification information regarding minors
	Measures designed to restrict minors’ access to materials harmful to minors.

E-Rate Central has an Internet Safety Policies and CIPA: An E-Rate Primer for Schools and Libraries. It provides the following additional guidelines as well as a sample policy:

	The policy should apply to both minors and adults.
	The policy should specify the use of an Internet filtering mechanism.
	The policy should emphasize staff responsibilities in supervising online activities by minors.
	The policy should address N-CIPA issues for minors such as safe use of email and unauthorized disclosure of personal information.

Web Publishing Policies

As teachers more fully utilize students-created Webs as a learning tool, school districts will have to deal with issues that arise from uploading Web sites on the Internet. Some districts are only allowing student work on Intranets, accessible within the school. This avoids many potential problems that can result from student work that is placed online.

Many of the issues that arise from student work that is uploaded on the Internet are outlines at David Warlick's District or School Web Publishing site. Here is a good site with examples of school district Web policies It examines web policies, release forms and acceptable use policies. The Madison Metropolitan School District policy provides a local example.

Copyright issues are important to consider when student materials are publishing on the Internet. The District Copyright Web Publishing Rules from Bellingham, WA, provide guidelines for schools.

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