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Emergencies - Kent School District Policy 3432

The Board recognizes that school districts encounter emergency situations where quick and effective action is necessary for the protection of students, staff, and community. School employees are effectively trained to respond to a variety of emergency situations that could occur.

The superintendent has established emergency procedure guidelines for all staff. The guidelines include procedures covering emergencies such as fire, earthquake, severe weather, volcanic eruption, chemical spill, operational emergencies, aircraft disaster, bomb threats, explosives, weapons on campus, intruder on campus, and other on-site disturbances.

In the event that students are required to stay at a school and be sheltered there, family members may not be allowed to remove students from school. The family will be notified in this event.

Student Support & Academic Enrichment Grants (SSAEG) (TITLE IV A)

Kent School District receives this Title IV flexible block grant known as Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants to provide students with a well-rounded education, support safe and healthy students, and effective use of technology. The district is committed to investing in these programs to support students' need to access health and safety programs, a diversity of academic programs and provide modern technology to assist students in achieving academic targets and prepare students for college and career.

Video Cameras on Buses: Student Notification

Continuous-play video/audio recording systems have been authorized for use in school district buses by the transportation supervisor on all bus routes. Buses where cameras may be utilized shall have signs notifying riders that video cameras may be in use.

Video recordings remain in the bus for continuous recording unless the video card is removed for viewing or to support a disciplinary action. If a serious or flagrant violation of student bus rules is observed or if there is a continued violation, despite intervention, standard disciplinary action may be taken. Lesser violations will be brought to the attention of the student and proper conduct shall be explained. When a recording is used to support disciplinary action, the student or the student’s parent/guardian/custodian may request to view the video. A viewing will be arranged at the student’s school or the Transportation Department office. A building principal or designee may also request a viewing of the video through the transportation supervisor.

Any time a bus video is to be used to support a disciplinary action, the video will be dated, labeled, and kept on file at the Transportation Department office for as long as deemed necessary. If a crime has been committed, law enforcement will also be provided a copy of the video. Video not used to support disciplinary action are deleted as space on the video card is needed. On occasion, a video without identifying information may be used by the transportation supervisor for driver-training purposes.

Electronic Resources 

The Kent School District views the use of electronic resources as central to the delivery of its educational program, and as such maintains the expectation that all students will use electronic resources as an essential part of their learning experiences. It is the policy of the Kent School District to maintain an environment that promotes ethical and responsible conduct in all electronic resource activities by staff and students. These procedures are written to implement Kent School District Policy 2022 Electronic Resources to promote appropriate and responsible technology use in support of the mission and goals of the Kent School District and its schools. It shall be a violation of this policy for any employee, student, or other individual to engage in any activity that does not conform to the established purposes and general rules for the use of electronic resources.

• Use of the electronic resources provided by the Kent School District is an expectation and privilege. Where they are available, these resources are offered to staff, students, and other patrons. In order to maintain the privilege, users agree to learn and comply with all of the provisions of these procedures.
• All use of the electronic resources must be in support of educational and research objectives consistent with the mission and objectives of the Kent School District.
• Student data is confidential, District staff must maintain the confidentiality of student data in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Acceptable Use

• Creation of files, projects, videos, web pages, podcasts, and other activities using electronic resources, consistent with the educational mission of the District and in compliance with district policy and procedure.
• Participation in electronic communication and collaboration activities such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, email, and other activities using electronic resources, consistent with the educational mission of the District and in compliance with District policy and procedure.
• Participation in district-sponsored social media to inform and communicate with members of the school district community consistent with the educational mission of the District and in compliance with District policy and procedure.
• With parent permission, posting of student-created original educational material, curriculum-related materials, and student work. Sources outside the classroom or school must be appropriately cited and all copyright laws must be followed.
• Staff use of electronic resources for incidental personal use in accordance with all District policies and guidelines.
• Connection of any personal electronic device consistent with all guidelines in this document.
• Use of electronic resource accounts solely by the authorized owner of the account for the authorized purpose.

Unacceptable Use

• Unauthorized access or unauthorized disclosure of personal information of students, staff, or other individuals for whom the district retains records. “Personal information” includes education records, employment records, and personal addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses.
• Contributing to cyberbullying, chain letters, harassment, intimidation, denigrating comments, discriminatory remarks, and other similar conduct.
• Using or forwarding profanity, obscenity, vulgar language, racist terms, or other language that is offensive to a reasonable person.
• Any use of the electronic resources for individual profit or gain; for product advertisement; for political action or political activities; or for excessive personal use. “Political action or political activities” includes support of or opposition to political campaigns, candidates, ballot measures, or lobbying for or in opposition to legislation;
• Playing games, accessing non-district social networking sites without specific authorization, and streaming or downloading audio and video files unless specifically authorized by a teacher for instructional purposes.
• Intentionally seeking information on, obtaining copies of, or modifying files, other data, or passwords belonging to other users, or misrepresenting other users on the electronic resources.
• Using an electronic account authorized for another person.
• Making use of the electronic resources in a manner that serves to disrupt the use of the network by others.
• Destroying, modifying, or abusing hardware and/or software.
• Unauthorized downloading or installation of any software, including shareware and freeware, for use on Kent School District electronic resources.
• Downloading, copying, otherwise duplicating, and/or distributing copyrighted materials without the specific written permission of the copyright owner other than use that falls within the scope of “reasonable fair use.” The “Fair Use Doctrine” of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17, USC) permits the duplication and/or distribution of materials for educational purposes under most circumstances. Questions regarding whether the duplication or distribution of copyrighted materials violates federal law should be directed to the General Counsel’s Office.
• Using electronic resources to access, process, or transmit obscene or pornographic content, sexually inappropriate content, or files dangerous to the integrity of the network.
• Malicious use of the electronic resources to develop programs that harass other users or infiltrate a computer or computing system and/or damage the software components of a computer or computing system.
• Any attempts to defeat or bypass the District’s Internet filter by using or trying to use proxies, https, special ports, modification to District browser settings or any other techniques, designed to avoid being blocked from inappropriate content or to conceal Internet activity.
• Using any electronic resources for unlawful purposes.

Staff Responsibilities

• Staff members who supervise students, control electronic equipment, or otherwise have occasion to observe student use of said equipment shall make reasonable efforts to monitor the use of this equipment to assure that it conforms to electronic resources procedures and is consistent with the mission and goals of the Kent School District.
• Staff should make reasonable efforts to become familiar with the electronic resources and their use so that effective monitoring, instruction, and assistance may be provided. Staff should report any misuse to their supervisor.

District-Sponsored Social Media

• In the fast-changing world of electronic information and communication with parents, staff, and community members, the Kent School District recognizes that social media tools can be of great value in furthering the district’s mission and promoting the board of directors’ goals. To those ends, approved schools and departments may be authorized to utilize social media in a manner consistent with state and federal law, Policy 2022, and implementing procedure 2022P. The purpose of District-sponsored social media sites is limited to promoting the mission and goals of the district.
• District staff will be authorized to access district-sponsored social media sites during work hours in support of the educational mission and goals of the district. District staff may not initiate a district-sponsored social media site for a school, department, class, activity, sport, or club unless expressly authorized to do so by the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee. All staff employees using district-sponsored social media sites will adhere to all of the acceptable use requirements as set forth in procedure 2022P. The inappropriate use of social media by district employees is a violation of this procedure.
• District-sponsored social media sites are not intended to be used for policy decisions or items of legal and fiscal significance that have not been previously disclosed to the public. To avoid conflicts with Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 42.30 RCW, the board of directors will not engage in meetings or discussions via district- sponsored social media sites. Posting content via district-sponsored social media sites does not constitute giving official or lawful notice to the district as may be required.
• The District may choose to allow user-generated content on its social media sites.
• By doing so, however, the District is not creating an open public forum. The purpose of such sites is to inform and engage with students and their families, staff, residents and other members of our community while promoting the mission of the district and the board of directors’ goals. Although comments will not be removed based on viewpoint, comments and observations must be civil, constructive, respectful, and responsible. Because the district has a compelling interest in the lawful use of public resources and maintaining content that is appropriate for all users, the following content will not be permitted on social networking sites administered by the Kent School District:
  • Comments, posts or replies that are out of context and/or not related to the topic at issue.
  • Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns, candidates, ballot measures, or pending legislation.
  • Sexual content or links to sexual content.
  • Commercial advertisements or solicitations.
  • Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination as prohibited by district policy.
  • Language or content that is profane, vulgar, abusive, denigrating, harassing, intimidating, or bullying in nature.
  • Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • Content that tends to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems, violate the privacy rights of individuals, or infringe on the legal ownership interests of any other party.
  • Content that violates Kent School District Policy 2022 and procedure 2022P regarding the acceptable use of electronic resources.
• Comments, observations, and other postings in violation of these guidelines will be removed by the District. Opinions expressed by third parties on District-sponsored sites are not those of the Kent District or its employees. Because the school district is a public agency, all comments posted on social networking sites administered by the district are public records that will be archived and subject to disclosure upon request.
• District-sponsored sites will not be available for public comments or observations unless staff members have been designated to regularly monitor postings and verify compliance with District policy and procedure. ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp staff so designated will monitor public comment and observations on an established, regular schedule and will remove content in violation of 2022 and 2022P. All removed content will be archived as a public record.

Kent School District Rights & Responsibilities

The Kent School District recognizes its obligation to both protect the well-being of students in its charge and to be the steward of public property and resources. To these ends, the district reserves the right to, and may at any time, do the following:

• Log electronic resource use and monitor fileserver space utilization by users. The District assumes no responsibility or liability for files deleted due to violation of fileserver space allotments.
• Monitor the use of activities through the District’s networks and electronic resources. This may include real-time monitoring of network activity and/or maintaining a log of Internet activity for later review.
• Provide internal and external controls as appropriate, including the right to determine who will have access to Kent School District-owned equipment.
• Restrict or exclude those who do not abide by the Kent School District's electronic resources policy or other policies governing the use of school facilities, equipment, and materials.
• Report to appropriate authorities apparent violations of the law discovered through the District’s monitoring of electronic resources.
• Restrict electronic resource destinations through software or other means.
• Provide guidelines and make reasonable efforts to train staff and students in acceptable use and policies governing electronic resource communications.
• Monitor and maintain mailing list subscriptions and delete files from the personal mail directories to avoid excessive use of fileserver hard-disk space.
• Use filtering software to block or filter access to visual depictions that are obscene and all child pornography in accordance with CIPA. Other objectionable material may likewise be filtered. The determination of what constitutes “objectionable” material is determined by the District's administration consistent with the District’s educational mission, the district’s policies and procedures, and the board of directors’ goals.

Legal Notices

• The Kent School District is not responsible for the information that is retrieved via electronic resources.
• Pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (18 USC 2510 et seq.), notice is hereby given that there are no facilities provided by this system for sending or receiving private or confidential electronic communications. Network administrators have access to all email and will monitor messages.
• Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate authorities.
• The District reserves the rights to monitor, inspect, copy, review, and store without prior notice any and all usage of:
  • The network
  • User files and disk space utilization
  • User applications and bandwidth utilization
  • User document files, folders, and electronic communications
  • Email
  • Internet access
  • Any and all information transmitted or received in connection with network and/or email use operated by or through District resources
• All information files shall be and remain the property of the District, and no student or staff user shall have any expectation of privacy regarding such materials. The District reserves the right to disclose any electronic message to law enforcement officials or third parties as deemed appropriate. All documents generated, received, transmitted, or maintained through district resources or networks are subject to the disclosure laws of the State of Washington’s Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW.
• Tape backup is made of email for the purpose of public disclosure requests and disaster recovery. Barring power outage or intermittent technical issues tape backups are made of staff and student files on District servers for recovery of accidental loss of deleted files. Recovery is not guaranteed.
• While filtering  software  makes  it  more  difficult  for  objectionable  material  to  be received or accessed through district resources, filters are not infallible. The ability to access a site does not mean that otherwise objectionable material or an objectionable site falls within the district’s acceptable use requirements. Every user must take responsibility for his or her use of the network and Internet and avoid objectionable sites and/or materials. Any inadvertent visit to an objectionable site must be reported immediately.
• From time to time, the Kent School District will make determinations on whether specific uses of electronic resources are consistent with the Electronic Resources policy.
• The Kent School District will not be responsible for any damages users may suffer, including loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by our own negligence or user errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained is at the user’s own risk.
• The Kent School District makes no warranties (expressed or implied) with respect to:
  • The content of any advice or information received by a user or any costs or charges incurred as a result of seeking or accepting any information.
  • Any costs, liability, or damages caused by the way the user chooses to use his or her access to the electronic resources.
• The Kent School District reserves the right to change its rules and procedures at any time without notification. All students will be educated about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response.
  • Age appropriate materials will be made available for use across grade levels.
  • Training on online safety issues and materials implementation will be made available for administration, staff and families.

Personal Device Warning

• By connecting a mobile device to the Kent School District email system, you acknowledge and agree that the Kent School District Information Technology Department reserves the right to enforce any reasonable security measures deemed necessary to mitigate data leakage and protect students. This includes but is not limited to:
  • Remotely deleting the contents of your mobile device when deemed necessary, e.g., when a password is incorrectly entered more than 10 times. The deletion may include district and personal contacts, pictures, etc.
  • Enforcing the use of a password/pin to access the mobile device.
  • Restricting the use of applications deemed a security risk.
• In addition, users of district networks with personal devices understand that documents or records prepared, owned, used, or retained by any local or public agency – including the electronic communications of a public agency—are public records under Washington state law. Using any personal device or computer for school district business can result in a requirement that you submit your personal device for examination or search if a public records request is received concerning information related to governmental conduct or the performance of any governmental function that may be stored on your personal device.
• The mobile devices that are subject to this policy are those that directly connect to Microsoft Exchange via the ActiveSync Protocol.
• Examples of ActiveSync compatible devices include but are not limited to: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android-based mobile phone, tablet device, etc.

Violations of Acceptable Use

• Any reasonable belief that user activity has violated this policy and procedure regarding acceptable use should be reported to the school, program, or department administrator responsible for supervision of the use in question. Disciplinary action, if any, for students, staff, and/or other users shall be consistent with the District’s policies and procedures.
• Violations of this policy can constitute reasonable cause for the limitation or revocation of access privileges, suspension of access to Kent School District electronic resources. Violations may also result in employee discipline for staff or school disciplinary action for students, as well as other appropriate legal or criminal sanctions, as appropriate.