DISTRICT WEB SITE
The Banner County School website, hereafter referred to as “BCS website”, serves as a resource for individuals both inside and outside of the Banner County School’s community. The site functions as a means of communication among faculty, parents, students, school board, community members and prospective students and employees. Users are able to access up-to-date news, calendars, and classroom information. Banner County School’s philosophy, school improvement goals, history, curriculum, admissions materials and other viable information are also available on the website. This policy seeks to address these uses and be flexible enough to meet future needs as they occur. Although Purpose and Introduction Webpage Guidelines for Staff are addressed in a separate document this policy also applies to each teacher’s class page along with all Banner County Schools Umbrella Sites, if any.
Website Administrator
Because the BCS website is an official school publication, a Website Administrator has been appointed to serve as the monitor of the site. The Website Administrator is charged with regularly reviewing the school’s web pages to ensure that the information presented is accurate, consistent, up-to-date, and that design elements are uniform. In addition, the Website Administrator serves as the contact for any questions about the site.
The Website Administrator also maintains direct contact with each department and office of the school to assist with the creation, publication, maintenance, and updating of a department or office web page. Members of Banner County School’s community should direct comments, concerns, questions, suggestions, and requests concerning the site to the Website Administrator.
Maintenance of Website Content
In order that the site serves as a reliable resource for prospective students and employees, as well as for parents, current students, alumni, faculty, board members, and community members, it must contain timely information. Each office, department and teacher must review and maintain their section of the website and work to ensure that it is current and relevant.
Announcements
Persons wishing to post announcements on the home page or other portions of the website should submit their request through email, phone or letter to the School Administration for review with the Website Administrator. Postings are at the discretion of the School Administration and Website Administrator and must follow all guidelines of relevancy to the educational community.
Student Safety
Banner County Schools takes seriously its legal and moral obligations to protect the privacy of its students and their parents.
• Personal contact information – No personal contact information for students, parents, and siblings, including home addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and other information that could be used by unauthorized individuals will be published on any BCS website. Parent or family member names should not be published with student names. Please refer to separate School Website and Publication Privacy Policy.
• Publishing Photos and Media Content – No student photograph, video, audio, quotation or student works will be published on the BCS website, without “Permission to Publish Student Work and Likeness” release signed by the student’s parent or legal guardian on file in the Business Office.
• Publishing Student Names - To prevent the association of names and faces, students will not be identified by name in photos published on the website.
• Student Schedules/Location – No information that identifies the location of a specific student at any particular time during the school day (such as individual student schedules) should ever be published.
Teacher Profile and Classroom Press
Teacher Profile Pages are created for each faculty member. Classroom pages are created for each grade/class. Teachers may use classroom pages to post homework assignments, syllabi, class resources, photos, and other information for their classes. Teachers shall not post photographs of students unless written parental consent is on record. If faculty members have existing web pages with educational content hosted elsewhere, they may link to those pages from their class pages as long as they conform to this policy. Teacher Pages must remain current, avoid dead links and follow both the Banner County School Privacy Policy and Webpage Guidelines for Staff
Video or Audio Files
Video or audio files posted on any BCS website must adhere to this School Hosted Website Policy. Proper written permission from those who have been audio-and/or videorecorded must be obtained by the person or persons doing the recording. In the case of students, that permission is the “Permission to Publish Student Work and Likeness” release.
It is important to remember that, as in the case of anything else on the website, audio and video clips represent Banner County School. Therefore, audio or video must be high quality. Video which is inappropriate in content, blurry, unsteady or difficult to view will not be posted. Audio that is difficult to hear or inappropriate in content will not be posted. Final discretion as to whether a media file is placed on the BCS website rests with the School Administration and the Website Administrator.
All applicable copyright laws will be followed.
Advertising and Logos
Unless approved by the Board of Education, the advertising or direct sale of non-school related goods and services is prohibited on all sections of the BCS website and its umbrella sites.
Only Banner County Schools Web-Site Host logos are allowed on the BCS website HOME page. Other logos that may be deemed appropriate for inclusion on the HOME page are school, professional, and student association or organization logos. Class or activity related logos are allowed on classroom or activity pages.
When Banner County Schools has a relationship with an external resource, sponsor, or company we may mention the relationship’s name on our website, but we will not provide direct hyperlinks to their business.
Acceptable Link Criteria
Banner County Schools utilizes the following acceptable link criteria:
1. Link must be educational in nature
2. Advertising on the page must be “family friendly”
3. Link will be reviewed “3 clicks deep” to ensure site contains appropriate content
Where deemed appropriate, the BCS website includes links to resources housed on external websites. These resources are linked through the “For Parents”, “For Students”, and “About Us” buttons in the top margin of each web page. Periodically, it will be the duty of the Website Administrator to ensure these external resources meet the above “Acceptable Link” criteria.
Websites that are of educational value, but pertain to only a select part of the community, or that can be classified as “personal interest” or “outside interest/hobby” sites can be listed on a faculty member’s Teacher Page, but not on the main BCS website.
It is the policy of Banner County Schools to not link to websites that are of a commercial or political nature. Exceptions to this policy may happen. Links to sites that are deemed to have educational value or which, in some way, further the mission of the school are permitted. Links to non-school related social networks or faculty personal websites are not permitted. All links shall be reviewed by the Website Administrator in conjunction with the School Administration.
Copyright
Posting or providing access to material that violates the copyrights of others is prohibited. No copyrighted materials, including educational materials subject to copyright, may be posted anywhere on the BCS website, or on personal web pages hosted by BCS website, without the written authorization of the copyright owner. Knowingly providing links to websites that contain pirated materials is also prohibited. Anyone who repeatedly violates this rule may lose the right to have his or her materials hosted by BCS website or other discipline, up to and including termination of employment or enrollment, as appropriate. Anyone wishing to assert his or her copyright to original materials that he or she has placed on the BCS website may include the following on the first page of the materials: ( “Copyright © (YEAR)(NAME)”).
Acceptable Use
The Banner County Schools has adopted and enforces the standards set forth in this Website Policy for materials posted on its website and on any BCS related website. The School reserves the right to remove or disable access to material that violates its acceptable use policies. However, the school does not assume any responsibility or liability for content provided by others, including content provided by faculty, staff, and students on their own personal web pages, nor does Banner County Schools assume any liability or responsibility for failure to enforce its acceptable use standards as set forth herein.
Disclaimer (to be Published on Website)
All content displayed on these pages is the property of Banner County Schools. However, Banner County Schools cannot be held responsible for the content or accuracy of information obtained from sites linked or referenced on the Banner County School web pages. Linked sites are not supervised by or within the control of the school district, but are provided only as a convenience. Linked sites do not imply endorsement of the site by Banner County Schools. Banner County Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, marital status, religion, or disability.
Legal Reference: 20 U.S.C. sec. 1232g (1988) (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
47 U.S.C. 201 et seq. (Communications Decency Act of 1995)
Neb. Statute 79-2104
Cross Reference: 504 Student Rights and Responsibilities
507 Student Records
603 Curriculum Development
604 Instructional Curriculum
1006 Use of District Facilities and Equipment
