Campus Webmaster Content Standards

The AISD Campus Webmaster Guidelines are designed to aid campuses in planning, developing and implement their own unique web sites.

Free Speech

The schools' right to free speech applies also to communications on the Internet. The Austin Independent School District web pages are considered a limited forum, similar to the school newspaper, and therefore the district may restrict the speech for valid educational reasons. The district will not restrict any speech on the basis of a disagreement with the opinions being expressed.

Site Content

Your development team will determine the major areas of your site during the planning stage. Keeping in mind the purpose of your site and the target audience, you need to establish the content of the pages. The Internet is a very visual medium and lends itself to the use of bright colors and lots graphics and pictures. While this is exciting, it can also cause your target audience problems and frustrations in the excessive time it takes them to have your pages downloaded to their computers.

Moderation is the key in the use of graphics and photos on an individual page. Keep in mind your audience members are most likely using slower modems on their own Internet dial-up account. The limits how fast your graphics and text will appear on their monitor.

There are two major areas of concern in the development of your web pages. First, the safety of your students. Second, plagiarism and copyright infringements.

Safety

The Austin Independent School District is always concerned about the safety of its students. The greatest danger to our young people through Internet access is the possibility they will become involved with an on-line stalker and make the mistake of meeting with this individual person, resulting in less-than-desirable circumstances. Because of this, DO NOT place the following information on your web pages:

• Personal contact information (home addresses, phone numbers, pager numbers, etc.)
• Photos of students with their names or any personal contact information

This does not preclude the use of unidentified student photos, simply the identification of the students in the photos. Since one of the main purposes of your site is to highlight your school and it's accomplishments, use such anonymous photo labels as "A student at Anderson", or "Mr. Field's History Class". For information on obtaining parent permission for posting student related information, please see the information below regarding the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

For administrators and staff members, only use their photos, names, or other personal contact information with their consent.

FERPA

The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (aka the Buckley Amendment) prohibits the release of any information directly related to a student without written consent of a parent or guardian. This includes names, ages, and any other personal contact or school record information.

The complete text of the Buckley amendment may be viewed at: http://www.cpsr.org/prevsite/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ferpa.buckley.html

External ISPs, External Electronic Networks

As representatives of AISD, administrators and staff need to exercise reasonable caution with respect to material posted on external networks. Additionally, any use of District funds or District personnel to construct a website outside the Austin ISD electronic network makes that external site an extension (by proxy) of the AISD electronic network and is subject to the guidelines and procedures governing the internal electronic network. If your campus website is to link to a staff member, student organization, or parent organization website that is not hosted on AISD's network, a release form must be signed by the principal allowing the link to be created. The release form can be found online.

Plagiarism and Copyright

Plagiarism has always been inappropriate, but the internet makes it very easy to cut and paste ideas and writings of other people into documents. This must not be done unless you have specific authorization to do so from the source of the items you want to use.

Creative works (text, music, pictures, graphics, etc.) are automatically protected by copyright from the moment it is created. The author requires no copyright notice or registration. Since a notice is not required, merely publishing a work without a notice is not a relinquishment of copyright rights.

"Public Domain" or "Freeware" is a status of a work that is not protected by copyright because the creator has clearly and specifically relinquished all rights or the copyright has expired. Unless the originator of the work states the items are being placed in the "public domain" or they are being distributed as free for your use, you must consider them as copyrighted items.

The owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to copy, modify, distribute, display/transmit, and perform the work. The owner of a copyright can grant other people permission, called a license, to exercise any of these rights. The permission can be expansive or limited. Permission to copy and distribute does not mean permission to modify or to sell. Transferring a work in the form of digital data, from one computer system to another is considered copying and distributing that work.

Another situation you may encounter is where the author retains and maintains the copyright for the item, but allows free use and distribution as long as they are credited for its creation. Also, they will usually state the item may be freely given away, but may not be sold. Always carefully read all copyright statements that accompany items you find on the internet or those you have purchased on disk or CD-ROM.

Inappropriate Content

Being a public institution, schools and departments must be very careful in the content of their web pages. The following items are prohibited from being placed on your web pages:

Commercial Use - A school or department web pages should not be used for commercial services defined as "offering or providing products or services." This does not prohibit school web sites from linking to commercial sites with educational or educationally relevant content.

Political Lobbying - The use of a web page by district employees for political lobbying activities is prohibited. Engaging in fund-raising or other political activities is also prohibited.

Objectionable Material - School or department web pages must not include access to or contain any objectionable or inappropriate material. What is objectionable or inappropriate will be defined by the Board of Education.

Abusive Material - Schools or departments must not post defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually-oriented, threatening, harassing, offensive, or illegal language or material. These items are defined by the Board of Education.

Illegal Acts - Schools must not use AISD web pages to engage in any other illegal act, such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of any person or vandalism. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm, modify, or destroy data, equipment, or software. This includes, but is not limited to, the attempt to obtain, create, or spread computer viruses.

Content Suggestions

As an aid, here is a listing of possible areas, or subjects which you might consider including on your campus website:

• Link to main AISD website
• School Name & Address
• School colors & Mascot
• School motto or slogan
• Upcoming Events
• Programs Highlights of past events
• Internet Links
• Guestbook
• How to contact us: Staff members
• Extracurricular activities
• Sports
• School Newspaper
• PTA Events
• What's New!
• Site Index or "Site Map"
• Band, Choir
• Academic events & programs