925 Procedure: Web and Intranet Publishing

I.    PUBLISHING PRIVILEGES

A.    Privileges for using school district resources for publishing information and/or authoring web pages are granted to individuals who have been authorized by the district webmaster.

B.    Any deliberate tampering with or misuse of school district network services or equipment is prohibited and may result in criminal and/or disciplinary action.

II.    CONTENT

A.    All subject matter on school district or school web pages and their links must relate to curriculum, instruction, school-authorized activities, or authorized information about the school district.

B.    Staff or student work may be published only as it relates to professional materials, a class project, course work, or other school-related activity.

C.    It is the intention of Osseo Area Schools to comply with the Copyright Act. Federal copyright law applies to all forms of intellectual works which include, but are not limited to, text in any format, graphics, art, photographs, music, and software.

D.    District and school websites must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Accessibility should be promoted by (but is not limited to): 

1.    providing text equivalents for images posted on district-controlled sites; 

2.    ensuring that documents posted on district-controlled sites are provided in accessible formats; 

3.    using color, fonts and font sizes which are readable/accessible to individuals with low vision; 

4.    posting videos and other multimedia which are accessible, regardless of disability.  

III.    No copyrighted material may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way without explicit permission of the owner of the material, except as provided by the fair use provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Use of any school district electronic communications systems to circumvent legitimate copyright protections is prohibited. 

IV.    Prohibited electronic use of copyrighted materials includes but is not limited to: 

A.    Reproduction of copyrighted materials, trademarks, photographs or images, or other protected materials without express written permission from the material’s owner.

B.    Usage of materials that enjoy protected status under current intellectual property laws in their own publications. 

C.    Distribution or duplication of copyrighted software without appropriate licensing agreements or use of software in a manner inconsistent with its license. 

D.    Distribution or reproduction, in any digital form, of copyrighted music, video, or other multimedia content without the express written permission of the material’s rightful owner. 

V.    The “fair use” provisions of copyright law allow for the limited reproduction and distribution of published works without permission for such purposes as criticism, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.

A.    By providing links to external sites, Osseo Area Schools does not guarantee, approve, or endorse the information or products available on these sites. Privacy, security and accessibility policies may differ from those of ISD 279-Osseo Area Schools. 

B.    Neither students, nor staff, nor other individuals may use the school district web pages to provide access to personal pages or unauthorized servers or online services.

C.    Where content on web pages reflects an individual’s thoughts, opinions, interests or activities, such as in an editorial written by a student, the school district does not endorse or sanction that individual’s expression. Concerns about content created by students or staff should be directed to the school principal, school webmaster, school district webmaster, or immediate supervisor of a staff person or teacher of a student. Due to First Amendment rights of free speech, if the published content complies with Policy 925 – Web and Intranet Publishing, and Policy 524 or 441 – Network/Internet Acceptable Use Policy, the disagreement of the third party with the content may result in review of the content, but will not necessarily result in removal or alteration of the content.

D.    The school district webmaster, school webmasters, and selected staff, with input from administration, are responsible for approval and denial of all web page material prior to publication. Decisions of these responsible parties may be appealed to the appropriate administrator.

VI.    STANDARDS AND CONSISTENCY

A.    The school district webmaster and other designated staff will determine the structure of district and school websites. Only approved staff members will be given access to school district web servers.

B.    The school district webmaster may place limits on the length of time a web page can remain on a school district server.

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Created/Revised
Revised: 1/16/18
Revised: 1/19/16
Revised: 7/17/12
Created:  3/4/03

Legal References
17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq. 512, 1201-02
Public Law No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860 (Oct. 28, 1998)
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
28 C.F.R. § 35.160

Cross References
Policy 441 – Network/Internet Acceptable Use Policy
Policy 515 – Protection and Privacy of Student’s Records
Policy 524 – Network/Internet Acceptable Use Policy