Policy 3.29

Acceptable Use of Technology by Employees

1. Purpose. -- The purpose of this Policy is to set forth terms and conditions as well as standards and guidelines for the acceptable uses by District employees and School Board Members (hereinafter collectively referred to as employees) of Palm Beach County School District technology resources and other technology when conducting District business. The Policy also provides for employee use of e-signatures and electronic notarizations when authorized. This Policy does not prohibit or restrict public access to inspect data and information on publicly available District technology resources.

2. General Standards of Appropriateness.

   1. When using District technology resources, applications, databases, and supplies, District employees shall adhere to the standards established by this Policy, all applicable laws, regulations, rules, School Board Policy 2.501 and the District's Information Technology (IT) User Standards and Guidelines Manual ("Manual"). This Manual is specifically incorporated by reference into this Policy and is located on the District's IT Security web site.

   2. Except as stated within Section 7 of this Policy, District technology resources, including, but not limited to the use of computers, networks, copiers, biometric record readers, and communication devices such as cellular and office phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and facsimile machines, shall not be used for a private business or for the benefit of "for profit," or "not for profit" organizations unless the use of the technology will benefit the District or, as to "not for profit" organizations, if the organization benefits the children, schools or community and is not for religious or political purposes.

3. Any employee using the Internet in any form through the District's network must submit to his/her supervisor (or, if the form is available and can be transmitted electronically, submit to the District) a completed and signed Employee Internet/Intranet Services Acknowledgement and Consent form (PBSD 1664). The employee shall sign and submit this form shortly after the School Board's adoption of this Policy, after any revisions to this policy, and upon initial employment by the District.

   1. The consent form shall state and the employee shall acknowledge that there is only a limited expectation of privacy to the extent required by law for the employee related to his/her use of District technology resources. The District may monitor an employee's use of District technology for good cause, such as for educational purposes, responding to a records request, ensuring that their use is authorized; for management of the system; to facilitate protection against unauthorized access; verifying security procedures, survivability and operational security; compliance with School Board policies, a possible security incident, routine maintenance or computer performance.

   2. The consent form shall further reflect that before using the District's technology resources, employees shall become familiar with the District's employee code of conduct (School Board Policy 3.02) as well as Fla. Admin. Code Sections 6B-1.001 and 6B-1.006, including the provisions prohibiting harassment and discrimination, defamation, use of institutional privileges for personal gain, and improper disclosure of confidential information; Fla. Stat. § 112.313, including the duty to avoid improper use or disclosure of "information not available to members of the general public and gained by reason of [their] official position for [their] personal gain or benefit or for the personal gain or benefit of any other person or business entity", and School Board Policy 8.121 on the use of copyrighted materials. All employees shall abide by these provisions when using the District's technology resources.

4. The District authorizes employees to use District technology resources, applications, and databases for the employees' assigned responsibilities when allowed by an appropriate District representative. Employees shall use these resources to enhance job productivity in performance of District business. Principals and department heads are to follow District standards to ensure accountability of their staff's use of these resources to support academic and business functions.

   1. Creation by an employee of any District blogs and/or social networking sites must be authorized by the Superintendent/designee and be for a public purpose. The use of the blog must be compliant with District policies, including but not limited to those involving public records retention, student privacy, and copyright laws.

   2. Employees are advised that many District technology resources, including but not limited to laptops and desktops, may contain input systems such as web cameras and microphones which can be remotely controlled to turn them on and off. The District will not utilize any such input systems remotely unless consistent with the law.

5. Examples of utilizing employee user account/passwords can include:

   1. Electronically sign District documents by e-signature.

   2. Provide access to the employee's personal information.

   3. Make binding legal obligations, if the employee is authorized.

   4. Access District files or records to the extent the employee is authorized.

6. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive and confidential information and shall not be shared with anyone but the employee to whom they were assigned. Employees are responsible for all activity that occurs for user accounts that have been assigned to them as well as any e-signatures that are attributed to their account.

7. An employee may utilize District technology resources (except for cellular devices) outside of the employee's paid duty hours to use the Internet for the employee's personal and professional growth provided no additional costs are incurred to the District, the District's Internet and network resources are not negatively impacted, and firewall and network configurations are not altered to allow different services that are not usually allowed during the employee's paid duty hours.

   This provision is not intended to restrict or limit an employee's ability to utilize District technology during the employee's paid duty hours for professional development when the professional development is related to the employee's responsibilities for the District, certification, or license, such as District or professional organization training vodcasts; power points or breeze presentations related to one's duties.

   Employees are encouraged to use these facilities for personal and professional growth, which must not be confused with financial gain, and engaging in activities seeking financial gain is prohibited. Examples of "financial gain" include offering products or services for sale and soliciting for an advertiser or sponsor for the benefit of any enterprise other than the District.

8. Cellular Devices -- Consistent with the goal of expending public funds in the most economical manner, the following standards shall apply to use of District-issued cellular devices, which include but are not limited to cellular phones, cellular radios, PDAs, air cards, and any other portable communications devices that can transmit voice and/or cellular data signals through wireless technology, all of which are referred to in this policy as "cellular devices":

   1. Cellular devices purchased or leased with District or Internal Account funds are for District business use only.

   2. District employees will limit cell phone usage; whenever possible, calls will be made on a conventional land line telephone if one is reasonably available. Employees should be aware that when using cellular devices they are subject to outsider's viewing or hearing the communications through spy ware.

   3. A centralized, standardized, and cost-effective wireless services contract shall be established through a competitive procurement process. All cellular devices paid for with District funds, or internal accounts, must be obtained and operated under the standard contract approved by the School Board. Cellular devices purchased prior to the adoption of this Policy and under existing contracts may remain under that contract until the existing term expires, and then the number will be ported to the District carrier.

   4. Every cellular device issued in the District must be approved in writing on District Cellular Device Request Form PBSD 2317 by the employee's Chief, Director, Area Superintendent or Principal and justified as reasonably necessary for carrying out the employee's responsibilities for the District. In an effort to reduce the number of cellular devices, the District limits the use of cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other cellular devices to only those employees who, as part of their official assigned duties:

      1. must routinely be immediately available to citizens, supervisors, or subordinates;

      2. be available to respond to emergency situations;

      3. be available to calls outside of regular working hours;

      4. have access to the technology in order to productively perform job duties in the field; or

      5. have limited or no access to a standard phone, or have no ability to use a personal cell phone, if needed.

   5. Each District cellular device must be placed on the most cost-effective plan under the District's contract to satisfy the work-related needs of the particular employee. Each school/department is responsible for the cost of the cellular devices and monthly service.

      1. Orders for new cellular devices must be made through a District Purchase Order that includes a name, school/department and funding strip or internal account number for monthly service. P-Cards cannot be used for a cellular device purchases or monthly service, per Purchasing Manual chapter 24-7-C. The Purchasing Manual can be found at: http://www.palmbeachschools.org/purchasing/bids/purch/manual/index.asp.

      2. Transfers and Cancellations - If an employee with a cellular device transfers to another school/department or terminates employment, the supervisor must immediately submit a written or email request to the District's wireless contract designee to cancel, suspend or transfer the service.

      3. The employee must immediately report lost, stolen or damaged cellular devices to the Supervisor and the Service Desk to suspend or cancel service. If the cellular device contains District data, such as email, the employee must immediately inform the Service Desk so that the information will be deleted remotely from the device in a manner consistent with public records retention requirements. The Supervisor needs to complete the Plant Security report (PBSD 0766) and submit the report to School Police. The school/department using the cellular device is responsible for all charges up to the time the loss is reported to the cellular carrier. If a replacement cellular device is required, District Cellular Device Request Form PBSD 2317 will be used and the purchase price will be charged to that school/department. Employees must exercise due care to prevent loss or theft of the cellular device. If it is determined that a District cellular device is lost, stolen or damaged through carelessness, the Supervisor may exercise reasonable discretion, considering the circumstances, in deciding whether to provide a replacement or, through District procedures, request reimbursement to the District from the employee.

      4. Cellular plan features, such as roaming, anytime minutes, nights and weekends, free long distance, text messages, instant messages (IM), and directory assistance are for District use only. If these features are an additional charge to the plan, they would need to be cost effective, approved and justified by the Supervisor as in the best interests of the District.

   6. Monitoring Bills: the Director, Principal or Area Superintendent of an employee with a District cellular device shall monitor and approve the bills and call details generated by the employee's usage.

      1. Personal Calls

         1. Personal calls on District cellular devices are prohibited.

         2. A "personal call" means communication for purposes other than furtherance of the employee's public duties for the District. This includes, but is not limited to incoming calls, outgoing calls and night and weekend calls.

         3. If an employee is found to be using the cellular device for personal reasons, the Supervisor may take disciplinary action, up to and including termination. If the use, however, was due to a bona fide emergency (which is defined as an imminent threat to the health, safety, or welfare of an individual), discipline would not be warranted. The District would request reimbursement for personal use through District procedures. Reimbursement would be accomplished by the employee paying legal tender to the District immediately, although in cases hardship, the employee may be allowed, at the discretion of the Supervisor and the IT cell phone contract manager, to make payments over time not to exceed a year and the payment terms could also be spelled out. If the employee does not make payment, the School Board may institute a civil action for damages to hold the employee liable. Any Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fees or penalties resulting from the benefits of "personal use" are the responsibility of the employee.

      2. District/Business Calls

         1. Based on a monthly review of the cellular device use for each employee, the Director, Principal or Area Superintendent or designee, shall consider altering or terminating the employee's plan by contacting the cellular contract designee to request modification to a more economical plan or termination.

   7. Subject to any prohibitions within this Policy or federal or state law or local ordinances, as applicable, the following shall apply to employees using cellular devices or data devices (i.e. laptops, blackberries, smart phones, etc.) while driving a vehicle:

      1. Texting, instant messaging, and composing or reading written messages or emails are prohibited.

      2. Employees issued a District cellular device shall not use the device for any purpose while driving any vehicle, unless using the device hands-free.

      3. Employees are not authorized while driving a vehicle to use any cellular devices, including cellular phones, to communicate regarding District related matters, unless using the device hands-free.

      4. Employees are not authorized, while driving a vehicle on any District authorized business, to use any cellular device, including cellular phones, for any purpose, unless using the device hands-free.

      5. Employees are not authorized, while driving a District owned or leased vehicle, to use any cellular device, including cellular phones, for any purpose, unless using the device hands-free. This does not prohibit the use for legitimate District business of the two-way radio installed in District vehicles.

      6. Bus drivers, while operating a District vehicle, are prohibited from using any cellular or data devices even if a hands-free device is available. This does not prohibit the use for legitimate District business of the two-way radio installed in District vehicles.

      7. Other persons driving students on District business are prohibited from using any cellular or data devices, while operating the vehicle, even if a hands-free device is available.

      8. School police would be exempt from these Policy restrictions if the cellular or data device is being used for District business, and exceptions to the Policy would be made for all employees when responding to health and safety emergencies.

      9. Nothing contained within this provision obligates the District to provide an employee with a hands-free cellular device.

   8. Wireless internet access on wireless devices, such as PDAs or Air Cards, that use a cellular network, is to be used for District business use only. This includes connecting the device to any computer/laptop. Employee users must restrict their usage to sites consistent with School Board site restrictions stated within Policy 8.125 District Review and Filtering of Web Sites and CIPA and be knowledgeable as to the categories of these restrictions.

   9. An employee is prohibited from sending or receiving his/her personal email on a District cellular device.

   10. Third party services enabled on accounts must be pre-approved in writing on PBSD 2317 by the Supervisor who will then notify the IT cell phone contract manager. If third party charges appear on the monthly bill that have not been authorized (i. e. ring tones, games), the employee shall cancel that service and reimburse the District for the cost of that service.

   11. GPS Tracking. The District has the right to track the location of any District cellular device at any time without further notification to the employee beyond the statements within this Policy. Reasons include proper allocation of resources, monitoring employee's job performance and efficiency, consideration of disciplinary action or other good cause.

9. As set forth in the Manual, employees may use electronic signatures through their District account for certain forms and documents as approved by the Superintendent/designee.

10. Compliance. -- When using District technology resources, applications, databases, and supplies, in addition to adhering to the standards set forth above in Sections 2 and 3, District employees must observe that:

    1. Any information generated through a computer, electronic device, stored on electronic storage media, electronically mailed, including but not limited to text messaging, instant messaging, tweets, and similar instantaneous methods of communication, or handled as e-mail, if it meets the definition of a public record, is subject to the District's Retention Schedule, records holds, and Florida law concerning public records, as explained in School Board Policy 2.041. The District's Retention Schedule can be found at: http://www.palmbeachschools.org/records/RecordsRetention.asp. Employees are allowed to communicate by e-mails through services provided by the District but are prohibited from engaging in text messaging, instant messaging, tweeting and other methods of instant electronic communication if the messages must be retained as public records in accordance with the District's Retention Schedule.

    2. The willful and knowing unauthorized use, modification, alteration, dissemination, or destruction of District information technology resources or databases is considered a violation of this Policy and the District may impose discipline, up to and including termination. The Supervisor, including through District procedures as stated above in Section 7(f) (i) (c), may request reimbursement to the District for the actual cost of damages from the employee. If the employee does not make payment, the School Board may institute a civil action for damages to hold the employee liable. Moreover, this conduct may constitute a computer-related crime punishable under Fla. Stat. Ch. 815.

    3. All employees who have access to or may have access to personally identifiable student information shall adhere to all standards included in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U. S.C. § 1232g; the IDEA and its regulations at 20 U. S.C. § 1417(c) and 34 C.F.R. § 300.623; Fla. Stat. §§ 1002.22 and 1002.221; School Board Policy 5.50; and other applicable laws, rules, and regulations, as they relate to the release of student information. Employees shall not use access to student records information for personal gain and shall use and release student information only as authorized by law.

    4. Intranet and Internet Resources, phones, voice mails, text messaging, instant messaging, tweets, and e-mail, when utilized, shall be used in performance of District business and shall not be used to send abusive, threatening, or harassing messages. Employees shall not send communications where the meaning of the message, or its transmission or distribution, would be illegal under state or federal statutes, federal regulations, or state rules or unethical under or violative of Fla. Stat. Ch. 112, Chapter 6B-1 of the State Board of Education rules, or School Board Policies, including Policies 5.001, 5.002, 5.81 and 3.02.

    5. Users shall utilize only hardware and licensed software and that has been approved by the Superintendent/designee after submission to the Technology Clearinghouse Committee (TCC). Software and hardware installed prior to July 1, 2009 are grandfathered in but subject to approval by the Superintendent/designee following submission to the TCC before they are upgraded or replaced. Employees are responsible for using software in compliance with restrictions that apply to those licensing agreements.

    6. All devices that are connected to a School District of Palm Beach County (SDPBC) network must be approved by the District's Director of IT Infrastructure, or designee. These devices include, but are not limited to, servers, workstations, modems, wireless access points, routers, switches or hubs. Any unauthorized devices will be immediately disconnected from the District network.

    7. Employees shall not make or facilitate the distribution of unauthorized copies of software. Modifications cannot be made to any software without the authorization of the copyright holder. The copyright legend or notice shall not be removed from the software or any of its documentation.

11. Forms: The PBSD forms mentioned within this Policy or within the Manual are incorporated herein by reference, as part of this Policy and can be found on the District's Records Management Web site for forms.

12. Implementation. -- The Superintendent or designee is authorized to issue bulletins and administer procedures regarding the use of information technology in the District in accordance with the standards set forth in this Policy including the Manual. The Superintendent will direct compliance training for employees who use District technology. The training will be provided and designed to promote the District's commitment to the standards as set forth within this Policy and the Manual.

13. Enforcement. -- Any employee failing to comply with this Policy or its implementing procedures and standards may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Moreover, the Supervisor, including through District procedures as stated above in Section 7(f) (i) (c), may request reimbursement to the District for the actual cost of damages from the employee. If the employee does not make payment, the School Board may institute a civil action for damages to hold the employee liable. Depending on the misconduct, the employee may also face criminal liability. Additionally, IT has the authority to take reasonably necessary immediate actions to protect District technology resources.