School Board of Alachua County

District Technology Plan

2001 - 2006 UPDATE FOR 2006 - 2009

Table of Contents

Pre Pages........................................................................................................................................ 2

1. Mission Statement...................................................................................................................... 4

2. General Introduction/Background............................................................................................... 4

3. Needs Assessment/Goals......................................................................................................... 11

4. Funding Plan............................................................................................................................ 13

5. Technology Acquisition Plan..................................................................................................... 14

6. Access..................................................................................................................................... 18

7. User Support Plan.................................................................................................................... 20

8. Staff Training Plan.................................................................................................................... 22

9. Program Evaluation.................................................................................................................. 23

Appendices............................................................................................................................... 24

SBAC Network configuration

People who assisted in the preparation of this Plan

District Acceptable Use Policy and Code of Student Conduct (computer section)

Sample Technology Learning Center flyer

1. MISSION AND VISION

1.1 Promote the effective use of telecommunications and information technology to implement the Sunshine State Standards to improve performance of all students.

MISSION

“We are committed to the success of every student”

2. GENERAL INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

2.1 District Profile-Provide relevant social, economic, geographic and demographic factors influencing the district implementation of technology.

2.2 Planning Process-Provide a description of technology plan development process to include but not be limited to:

· Development of partnerships with community, business and industry, and

· Integration of technology in all areas of the curriculum, ESOL and Special Needs including students with disabilities.

2.3 Collaboration with existing adult literacy service providers to maximize the use of such technologies and project resources.

District Profile

Outstanding academic achievement and innovative, high quality educational programs are the hallmarks of the Alachua County school system, one of the premier public school districts in Florida.

Students in Alachua County consistently outperform their peers throughout the state and the nation. On the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Norm Referenced Test, which compares the achievement of students across the U.S., local scores meet or exceed state and national norms in both reading and math. Alachua County high school students earn higher SAT and ACT scores. They also earn higher scores on the rigorous Advanced Placement exams, which means many of our students are earning college credits while still in high school.

Alachua County students earn many state and national honors in academics, arts and athletics, as do local schools. In 2005 Newsweek Magazine ranked three local high schools among the top 1½ % of high schools in the nation.

Alachua County students benefit from a wide variety of educational programs. Enrichment and magnet programs are available at the elementary and middle school levels for gifted and talented students. High-achieving high school students can choose from among several accelerated academic programs, including dual enrollment, Advanced Placement and honors courses and the prestigious International Baccalaureate program. High-school magnet programs offer students real-world experience in fields such as health, business, culinary arts, technology and criminal justice.

Outstanding teachers and a supportive community are keys to the success of Alachua County’s schools and students. Fifty-five percent of the district’s instructional staff members hold advanced degrees, and the average Alachua County teacher has 15 years of classroom experience. Both figures well are well above state averages. Ninety-six local teachers have also earned prestigious national certification, the profession’s highest credential. Across the district, 16,800 volunteers contributed 674,000 hours of service to students, teachers and staff last year, and more than 300 local businesses provided support and resources valued at more than $1.7 million to Alachua County schools.

For six straight years, the Alachua County school system has earned the ‘What Parents Want’ award from SchoolMatch, the nation’s largest school selection consulting firm. The award places the district among just 15% of districts nationwide that meet parent-established criteria in such categories as student-teacher ratio and academic achievement.

For more information, please contact the Public Information Office at (352) 955-7253 ext 228 or visit the district’s Web site at www2.sbac.edu

28,000 Students

· 43 Schools & Centers with over 8000 computers and 100 local area networks,

· All Schools & Centers are connected to the Internet

· 23 Elementary Schools

· 7 Middle Schools

· 7 High Schools

· 2 Special Ed Centers

· 1 Alternative School

All High schools are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools.

Educational Opportunities

· Enrichment Programs

· Magnet Programs

· International Baccalaureate

· Pre-International Baccalaureate

· Advanced Placement and Honors

· Early College Admissions

· Academic Dual Enrollment

· Vocational/Technical & Fine Arts Dual Enrollment

· Tech Prep programs

Community Involvement

· 16,800 volunteers, 674,000 Hours

· 525 Adopt-A-School Business Partnerships

· 3500 College Student Volunteers

DISTRICT COMPUTER NETWORKING

The Administrative and Instructional Technology Department has implemented a district wide networking plan. (See Appendix A for current configuration). Each school and administrative site has been equipped with a local area network that connects all areas within the site to the Internet. Currently, school sites have over 8000 computers in computer laboratories, general areas, classrooms and administrative areas connected to the network. This backbone network allows shared devices such as printers, file servers and CD-ROM servers to be more efficiently used. It also allows any computer running communications software to connect to services and resources outside of that site by routing to the Kirby-smith center and through other routers to FIRN (Florida Information Resource Network) and through FIRN to the Internet. These educational and information resources are a valuable tool for students and staff.

The School Board operates a county-wide metropolitan area network of T1 point-to-point and 10MBPS digital circuits connecting local-area networks (LANs) in all school sites and administrative locations to the district central office. This district, on November 1, 1991, became one of the first in the nation to have district-wide Internet connectivity for all schools, through an agreement with the Southern University Research Association Networking Project (SURAnet).

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

For automation in district administration, the Information Resources department was created in 1982 to replace the contracted information services at the Alachua County Regional Information Center. Transition to district-operated equipment, software, and communications was made July 1st, 1983. Since then the mainframe hardware systems have been upgraded and expanded regularly to handle an increased need for information processing capabilities. The current system is an IBM X-235 running FLEX’s with more than 340 GB (billion bytes) of RAID-5 disk storage, 8 cartridge tape units, four 3490 tape units and two Xerox DP-75 high-speed laser printers. The IBM system currently supports a comprehensive district wide student information system, research and planning and a facilities/transportation system. In 2005, two DELL/SUSE servers were added to upgrade our e-mail system.

One key aspect of Information Resources department staffing is the assignment of application programming teams to directly support each major functional administrative area, i.e. student support/curriculum, business services, human resources, and facilities. This model has proven quite successful in insuring that district information processing needs are being addressed in a manner that satisfactorily meets the requirements of the various divisions.

The Information Resources Department maintains the District's World Wide Web site at http://www2.sbac.edu. This site provides a vast amount of information about the school district and its many programs. It is available over the Internet to the general public as well as each school. Each school and department has a page linked to the District page where specific information can be posted. The posting and updating of the information is a responsibility of the individual school or department.

SCHOOL COMPUTER USE

Schools currently use computers for instruction in three general areas: technology literacy, curriculum support, and communication. All schools have technology/computer committees that provide direction for the application of technology in the instructional process and the purchase of hardware/software. Each school committee selects and purchases its own computer software according to District Standards and curriculum objectives and needs. The District sets general direction and provides oversight to assure the quality and compatibility of the instructional materials. New schools are equipped with one or more computer labs containing the most up-to-date computers, printers and networking equipment available at the time of purchase.

All schools use computers to access Accelerated Reader, Star Reading, Star Math.

All Secondary Schools use Read 180 to remediate students who fall into lexiles 1 & 2 in their reading ability. All Secondary Schools are required to test their lexile 1 & 2 students 3 times a year using SRI testing software located on a District Server. The data from the testing can be accessed on the Districts “Student Performance Monitor” Portal.

CONFIGURATIONS COMMON TO ALL LOCATIONS

Because different teaching strategies require specific technology application, individual schools have chosen to purchase various combinations of the following devices:

Teacher Presentation Stations - teachers use stand-alone and network-attached computers with LCD projectors to display lessons and demonstrations for the whole class to view.

Teacher Material Production Stations - using computers, laser printers and desktop publishing software, teachers produce commercial quality materials for their classes. In many ways these materials are more effective because they are tailored to the specific lesson plans used by the teacher. In many media centers a teacher production center has be established that contains the computers, printers and software that can be shared by all the teachers in the school.

Internal Accounts Workstations - all schools have a Dell P 4 work station with the primary purpose of running the Internal Accounts Management software. These workstations also have access to the district network as well as word processing and spreadsheet programs.

General Administrative Workstations - a variety of computers with Web Browsers and Terminal Services software are installed in all locations for access to mainframe applications and Application Service Providers.

HEADSTART

The Headstart program uses computers and color printers with preschool skill development software to provide young students with early learning skill orientation and practice. Students gain valuable computer operational skills as they learn math and language arts.

TITLE 1

The Title 1 program uses the Josten Learning System and Compass Learning software on networked computers at elementary school sites throughout the district. This sophisticated integrated learning system assesses the student and provides computer administered lessons in math, reading and writing based upon the students current working level. As students demonstrate mastery of the skills they are progressed to more challenging lessons. If they have difficulty, the computer administers remedial lessons until the skills are mastered. The system provides reports that can be used by the regular classroom teacher to be able to monitor student progress.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PLUS (IMS+)

Teachers at all elementary schools inform the Curriculum Resource Teacher (CRT) when students are ready to take an end of the book mastery test for the basal reading series. The CRT administers the mastery test and feeds the scoring information into the IMS+ computer management program. The teacher also has the option to administer unit tests in the classroom and submit to the CRT for scanning. Reports are generated and given to the teacher who uses the data to make decisions about the student's reading progress. School administrators, teachers and district staff use the data provided by the IMS+ system to make informed decisions about teaching strategies, validity of curriculum, feedback to parents and to meet more closely a child's individual needs. Data is aggregated at the District level to provide summary reporting information.

INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA

The Horizon Library Management System is a district wide program that uses computers in each school's media center to input and access information on a centrally located server. This IBM AIX server contains a union catalog database of over 750,000 library books. Each media center has a computer running a circulation application to check books in and out using barcodes located on each book, AV material, and equipment. Each year a physical inventory is conducted by scanning the bar coded items. Other computers throughout the school access the Library Catalog by using a Web Browser over the Internet. Materials may be searched by title, author or subject. Access is also available on-line to additional resources and catalogue materials.

In the media center and other areas in the school, online ASP’s (Application Service Providers) are being used to teach the research process by allowing thousands of pages of indexes, encyclopedias, and dictionaries to be searched for information in a very short period of time. Students gain invaluable experience with today's research skills. The State Department of Education is coordinating the development of SunLink, a union catalog of the total holding of all school media centers in the state. They host a website with the cataloging information on all the school media centers that have been completed. This will allow every school to know what is available in every other school and will facilitate interlibrary loan where allowed by the district.

Many high school and middle school media centers house small computer labs that provide for: Independent Student Use, Teacher Production of Materials, and Internet Research. The use of computers connected to the Internet provides access to resources that several years ago were available only at University Graduate Research Libraries.

Online services being used:

E-books – full text reference materials

Gale – online index of periodicals

Cover Page and Reviews – searching for a book provides cover page, title page and reviews.

VOCATIONAL/TECHNOLOGY & CAREER EDUCATION

The Vocational Education program is one of the heaviest users of technology in this school district. Uses range from teaching office practices to computer assisted drafting. In order for students to learn skills that can be translated into jobs they must be trained on the same type of equipment that is being used in business and industry within the community. We are in a period of rapid technological growth which makes it difficult to keep up with the new devices and software being used in local business and industry. Industrial Arts Education has changed to Technology Education and encompasses such topics as Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Middle and High Schools have a Technology Laboratory for use by their vocational classes. These laboratories provide specialized equipment and materials need for learning current and future job skills.

The district developed and maintains a Mobile Technology Laboratory housed in a 12' x 65' highway trailer. This unit is moved from school to school to demonstrate the latest in computer and display technology. It is used as a portable classroom with 12 networked multimedia computer stations where students can sharpen their high tech communication skills. These computer stations are connected to the Internet so that students and teachers can learn to use the information superhighway.

OTHER AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY

CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION

All of our schools have full Closed Circuit Television systems. Under the District criteria all new and/or remodeled schools are automatically wired for Closed Circuit Television systems.

There are currently 4 community cable television companies serving Alachua County and the School System. The largest of these is Cox Cable which serves the Gainesville metropolitan area. The Cox franchise provides a free cable hookup for each school in its service area. Cox's franchise also requires them to provide a local access channel (cable channel 12) and an educational access channel (cable channel 6). The educational access channel is jointly available to the University of Florida, Santa Fe Community College, the School Board of Alachua County, and the Regional Library System. The major share of programming on the educational access channel is provided by the UF's channel 10BR, which carries many educational programs for which the university has rights to rebroadcast. The other cable companies provide free hookup and programming for the schools in their service areas but don't currently provide an educational access channel.

VIDEO PRODUCTION

Video Production Classes -- Schools where students have shown a high interest have equipped TV production studios that are used by students to learn professional television production skills. Included in many of these studio control rooms and also in middle school technology labs are computer controlled video editing stations. These stations allow video scenes from different tapes and live video from a camcorder to be assembled with titles and transitional effects such as fades/dissolves to produce finished professional looking tapes.

The Administrative & Instructional Technology Production Department provides support for schools teaching television production courses. It also provides purchase advice on video and audio editing and production equipment. The Production Department and the Instructional Equipment Repair Department are responsible for maintaining all production equipment.

DISTANCE LEARNING

This concept makes it possible for instructors in one location to teach classes in another or several other locations. Many people think of instructional television as the only delivery system for distance learning but, with Internet access, computers can also be used. Another technology is Video-Teleconferencing over either leased lines (such as ISDN) or the Internet.

The District currently uses the C.R.O.P. (Credit Retrieval Outreach Program) approach through the Internet. This program provides high school students with an alternative way to make up course work, demonstrate mastery and receive credit for courses needed for graduation. This program is also used at the Regional Detention Center to provide temporarily incarcerated students with a meaningful educational experience. NOVEL™ is a comprehensive middle and high school curriculum consisting of 31 subjects that meet the learning standards for all 50 States. This curriculum was developed by Home Study International a recognized leader in providing high quality competency based curriculum. STARS™ Student Testing, Assessment, and Remediation System, is an online Internet-based system that provides unique curriculum delivery capabilities including automated assessment, individualized prescriptive remediation, and comprehensive reporting.

Many of our students take courses through the “Florida Virtual High School". The School Board of Alachua County cooperated with Orange County Public Schools to develop this exciting resource that allows students to access High School courses from home and other locations throughout the state using a computer Internet Access. In the near future, students can complete the full requirements of a High School diploma without physically entering a school building. This type of school will serve home bound, home schoolers, incarcerated, and traditional students.

TELEPHONE AND CELLULAR PHONE SYSTEMS

All schools currently have a basic level of telephone service provided by the district. High schools and Middle schools have voice communications service technology using Nortel switches. Most elementary schools also have newer Nortel systems. The district will request E-rate funds in schools that qualify, to upgrade the wire infrastructure and retrofit other sites as monies become available. The district will upgrade to VOIP (Voice over IP) at those sites that have the oldest phone systems. To better utilize our human resources and better serve our students, we are planning and implementing a district standard wire design for Voice/Data/Video/Security. We will move to a fiber and cat5E district standard.

As part of the district commitment to parent notification, the Voice communication department will continue and expand the use of the district Phone Home system. The system will allow the district to contact parents by phone to report absentees and other timely information as well as allow parents and students to phone in for information on class assignments. Cell phones are provided at schools for field trips, children safety, disasters, and emergencies.

PARTNERSHIPS

The following community, business, and industry partners collaborate with our district to maximize the use of technology. They are, Alltel Wireless, Cox Communications, Gainesville Regional Utilities, Florida Credit Union, University of Florida, Santa Fe Community College, Exactech, Regeneration Technologies, Florida Farm Bureau, and Progress Energy. The reported cash and in kind gifts reported from the contributions of our community business partners for the 2004-2005 school year were $1.6 million.

Additionally, the district has created partnerships with vendors of software and hardware to support technology. They include Cisco, Dell, 3Com, Riverdeep, Microsoft, Software House International, Apple and GRUCOM.

The adult literacy program is based out of Loften High School. This program provides teachers and services for the Alachua County Detention Center, Division of Blind Services, Exceptional Industries (ARC), and the Fearnside Family Service Center. This program works in conjunction with the Santa Fe Baptist Literacy Fellowship, The Volunteer Center, which connects tutors with literacy candidates, and the Gainsville Sun, which sponsors literacy events and outreach programs. Additionally, this program provides five different sites for ESOL on the University of Florida campus.

3. NEEDS ASSESSMENT/GOALS

3.1 A description of the information-based processes used for determining district instructional and administrative telecommunications and technology needs.

3.2 Identification of telecommunications services and technology infrastructure, equipment, assistive technology, programming (educational materials, software, media, etc.), replacement, training and support needs.

3.3 District Technology Goals:

· Short-term goals listed in priority order.

· Long-term goals listed in priority order.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

This edition of the "District Technology Plan" represents the latest revision of an ongoing process that started in May of 1990. Since that time groups and individuals have periodically given input into updates for the plan. This plan is a dynamic road map that plots the course the District must follow in order to provide teachers and students with the tools necessary to function in the 21st century. It also represents community input and partnerships that are so vital to a successful educational enterprise. (see Appendix B for a list of contributors)

Each year as part of the Florida Department of Education Categorical funding process and other technology initiatives, the School Board of Alachua County requires all of its schools to develop technology plans. The technology committee at each school site surveys the faculty to determine: objectives, technology needs, infrastructure needs, and inservice needs. Once the needs are established then the committee helps to prioritize the objectives, allocate funds and other resources, set timelines for completion, and set standards for evaluation of objectives.

Another element of the planning process is the Florida School Technology and Readiness Survey (STaR Chart) which all Alachua County schools are required to complete. The results can be viewed at http://www.starsurvey.net/ login: 01, pw: sanderling. The goal of the survey is to provide information to the school site for their technology planning. It also gives pertinent information to compare technology development within the district to the state. Historically, the survey focused on the amount of hardware and the type of infrastructure that a district was developing. Now the focus of the survey is on integration of technology into the classroom. The state sees the use of technology in the classroom as a major strategy in the learning process.

There are five major areas of technology reporting: Technology Administration and Support; Technology Capacity; Educator Competency and Professional Development; Learners and Learning; and Accountability. The survey has been assessed using rubric scoring based on a scale from 1 to 4, four being the highest. In general, the district has been slightly below the state average except in the area of community involvement.

The district’s Staff Development office conducts a needs assessment each year that addresses teacher’s needs for training in specific areas that contribute to the effectiveness in the classroom. This survey is used to structure technology training opportunities through out the year.

The District doesn’t have a current strategic plan but the former plan provides the structure for our technology goals. Only the strategies that were to be addressed through the use of technology are included in the following:

School Board of Alachua County Strategic Plan

Strategy 1 – We will ensure conditions which provide optimal learning for every student.

6. Provide teachers, staff, and students with the technology, supplies, and equipment needed for quality instruction to all students. (Ongoing short term goal)

Strategy 3 – We will create a collaborative system among our communities to educate all students.

5. Collaborate effectively with community members to establish an Alachua County schools television channel to communicate educational points of interest and share viewpoints within the holistic community. (Long term goal)

Strategy 4 – We will ensure the effectiveness of all staff.

7. Provide staff with the tools essential to effective performance of their assigned responsibilities. (Ongoing short term goal)

Strategy 6 – We will acquire and allocate resources to guarantee equal opportunity for all students.

7. (New equipment procurement): Acquire and allocate technology to those schools/centers that do not meet the minimum criteria for the core collection of technology beginning with the sites in greatest need. (Ongoing short term goal)

8. (System operation and maintenance): Repair malfunctioning technology within one week of the time the malfunction is reported. (Ongoing short term goal)

9. (Technology training and support): Provide training in technology and software operation to assure teachers and staff can use technology available to them. (Ongoing short term goal)

10. (Replacement and upgrade): Replace 20% of computer and associated peripherals to assure that no computer is more than five-years-old, beginning with the schools/centers farthest from the criterion. (Long term goal)

Strategy 7 – We will ensure that each student is prepared to learn every day.

1. Guarantee each child has access to all materials and equipment required by faculty to prepare for daily lessons. (Ongoing short term goal)

Strategy 8 – We will transform teaching and learning in order to accomplish our mission.

6. Within four years, staff will use technology applications for instruction as well as managing and communicating professional information. (Long term goal)

7. Students will demonstrate their use of technology in becoming “capable information technology users; information seekers, analyzers, and evaluators; problem solvers and decision-makers, creative and effective users of productivity tools, communicators, collaborators, publishers, and producers; and informed, responsible, and contributing citizens.”

ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students. (Long term goal)

8. Hardware, software, and personnel will be provided to support instructional technology needs throughout the district. (Ongoing short term goal)

Administrative Information Systems Goals

· Implement current technology in our centralized computing environment to meet anticipated demands within the district.

· Investigate and implement a relational database and a “fourth generation” language environment to increase programmer/analyst productivity.

· Continue to maintain and expand the District Web Site (www2.sbac.edu).

· Adequately staff the department in support of current and future user requirements.

· SUNSHINE CONNECTIONS -- Promote the use of information technology in the decision making process throughout the district.

· GRU HARDEND SITE--Add the necessary hardware and software to insure continued district wide computing services in the event of a disaster.

4. FUNDING PLAN

4.1 Identification of major sources of funds for district-wide technology needs. Funding sources should be categorized as recurring or nonrecurring and include real and projected dollar amounts for the technology plan period.

Sorces of Funding	Recurring/Nonrecurring	Real $ Amount	Projected $ Amount
Public School Technolgy Funds	Recurring	533,559.00
Title II NCLB: Enhancing Education Through Technology	Recurring		45,000.00
Board Designated BiTech Implementation Reserve	Nonrecurring	145,000.00

4.2 A sufficient budget to acquire and maintain the hardware, software, professional development, and other services that will be needed to implement the strategy for improved educational services.

Department	Operational	Capital	Total
Information Resources	2,428,421.76	90,627.21	2,519,048.97
Information Technology	1,343,603.93	67,681.98	1,411,285.91

	3,772,025.69	158,309.19	3,930,334.88

4.3 Specifically identify the district's planned allocation of funds from the 2004-2005 Public School Technology Fund.

Salaries			907,679.00
Teacher Training			65,838.52
Equipment			35,108.78
Total			1,008,626.30

5. TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION PLAN

5.1 Identification of appropriate technologies to meet the goals of the district instructional program as identified by the needs assessment procedures.

5.2 District plans to acquire software and technology-based educational materials which are usable by students with the widest range of abilities to deliver technology-based instructional programs in support of the Sunshine State Standards.

5.3 Timetable for acquisition of grade-appropriate, up-to-date technologies in sufficient quantities to accommodate student and staff needs for instruction and assessment.

5.4 Appropriate technology acquisition policies or procedures that address the following areas:

· Consistency and interoperability with existing and planned technology delivery systems,

· Upward migration to emerging technology standards, and

· Support and maintenance requirements.

5.5.1 Provision for technical guidance to school and district personnel responsible for making strategic technology related purchasing decisions.

The 2005 Qualified Zone Academy Bond Project

TECHNOLOGY AUDIT

During October of 2005 staff from the Administrative & Instructional Technology Department conducted a comprehensive Technology Audit of the 6 schools that were not eligible for QZAB funds during the first cycle in 2001. These schools now have 35% or greater “free or reduced lunch status” students and are in need of major computer replacement. The audit showed that each of these schools has a majority of their computer that are technologically obsolete. What this means in practical terms is that:

Current software will not run on these computers.
Current peripherals are not compatible with these computers.
It is increasingly difficult to keep these computers operational.
Parts are not available or are increasingly difficult to find.
Students’ operational skills will be deficient because of the older software and hardware.

The dollar amount necessary to replace the 1068 oldest computers as well as older peripheral equipment such as printers and scanners and software is estimated to be $1,794,000. Because of the large amount required, QZAB is a good funding sources.

APPLICATION FOR QZAB PROJECT

The Qualified Zone Academy Bond Federal program was designed to allow school districts to finance capital projects such as the replacement of outdated technology with interest free bonding. The equivalent of interest on the bonds is paid by the Internal Revenue Service as a direct deduction of the bond purchaser’s taxes due. Schools with at least 35% free or reduced lunch status students and a 10% match of requested funds from their business partners could qualify to apply for the right to sell the bonds. Six of our schools that couldn’t qualify under a previous QZAB project are now qualified under their current free or reduced lunch status percentage.

SCHOOLS SOLICIT BUSINESS PARTNER MATCH

During October of 2005 the schools that were eligible to apply for QZAB worked with their business partners to solicit a required 10% match for the funds. District wide the required match amounted to $180,000. The actual pledge of $1,800,000. far exceeded the required amount and demonstrated the overwhelming support of the business community.

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SUBMISSION AND APPROVAL

The School Board approved the submission of our project to the Florida Department of Education, Facilities Division, which is the agency responsible for awarding the grants in Florida. In November, we received the good news that our project had been approved for the sale of the full amount of the Bonds. In December the Board voted to proceed with the process of issuing the Bonds.

SCHOOLS DEVELOP THEIR PLANS

In March we worked with the Principals of each of the 6 schools to decide what type of computer and peripherals would replace the old computers. This process was extremely important because of the instructional implications of their choices. Although schools had a great deal of leeway in the selection of replacement equipment, the brand and model of computers and peripherals is a district wide decision to assure supportability, cost effective acquisition and compatibility with curriculum including K-12 technology skills development. Each school worked with their technology committees to develop their replacement plans based upon the unique needs of their students and teachers. The Director of Instructional Technology and the technical support staff assisted the committees in making the hard choices. Schools submitted their plans to the Administrative and Instruction Technology Department for compilation during January of 2006.

COMPILING THE DISTRIC WIDE ORDER

After the school plans were compiled a master order was developed. The orders will specify that the vendor must:

Deliver the computers to the school sites the week before installation
De-install the old computers at each school
Un-box and install the new computer at specified locations
Install networking software and configure for network and internet access
Remove old computers
Remove packing materials

SCHOOL SITE INSTALLATIONS

Installation of the Computers will begin in April of 2006. It is projected that the total installation at all sites will take approximately 4 months.

At each school site the following sequence of installation will be followed.

Computers and peripherals will be delivered to the school the week before installation and will be moved to the pre-arranged locations
Network preparations will be finished the week before hardware installation
The week of installation, installers will visit the campus and complete the following.

Disconnect and remove old computers and peripherals
Un-box and set new computers in place.
Configure operating system.
Install networking software and configure.
Connect peripherals and install drivers.
Verify correct operation and replace any malfunctioning equipment.
Remove old computers.
Remove packing materials.

Follow up to assure that new equipment and network is working properly

TRAINING

To assure that the new equipment, peripherals and software are used to their fullest extent, training classes will be conducted in conjunction with the new installations. The Technology Learning Center staff (at the Sivia Center) has developed lessons in the following areas:

Microsoft Windows XP professional orientation

a. Basic operations

b. Internet Explorer/Netscape

c. Accessing CICS

Microsoft Office XP professional overview

a. Word

b. Excel

Various Computer Hardware orientation classes

a. Desktop PC’s

b. Laptop PC’s

c. Desktop Mac’s

d. Laptop Mac’s

Various peripheral orientation classes

a. Printers

b. Scanners

c. Digital Cameras

d. Digital Video Camcorders

After the hardware and software is in place then we will be able to proceed with the implementation of a K-12 Technology skills curriculum for students. Future training programs will be developed to address these critical areas.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

The QZAB equipment is replacing older equipment but it will still result in the need for the operational support of the higher-level equipment and software. It will also require that our tech support staff supervise the vendor installations at each school site. New equipment tends to be more reliable than the older equipment but still requires that technicians diagnose the problems before seeking warranty repairs.

SANTA FE COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOINT PROJECT

We are currently implementing a support/training program in cooperation with Santa Fe Community College and the College of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. Interns from the Information Technology department at SFCC receive hands-on experience in computer support and we benefit from trained resources to help with technology support. We also benefit from Santa Fe’s experience in developing technology training for students, teachers and staff. The U of F College of Teaching and Learning also assists us in training our teachers and supervisors to identify software and classware that more effectively addresses specific academic objectives.

COMPUTER PURCHASING

Computers purchased since the districtwide upgrade in 1990 have been based upon the most current models available at the time of purchase. Typical systems include: Dell Pentium IV and Macintosh iMacs and G series. Schools purchase technology based upon their unique instructional goals and objectives. These goals and objectives are part of their School Improvement Plan and their School Technology Plan. The School Advisory Committee and the School Technology committee make recommendations for purchasing and monitor implementation and assessment of goal/objective achievement within each site. Schools receive a share of State Technology Categorical funds based upon the number of students enrolled. The Administrative & Instructional Technology staff work with school staff to establish criteria for audiovisual and production equipment. This criteria is then used to select specific makes and models that can be purchased by district bid and/or state contract.

Schools that wish to purchase computers and peripherals contact Administrative & Instructional Technology for the latest recommendation in either the Windows or Macintosh lines. The initial decision of which line to purchase depends upon many factors including: software availability, training requirements, curriculum coverage, special features/peripherals, compatibility with existing computer systems and long term support requirements. After a teacher decides between Macintosh and Windows the specific model is chosen based upon specifications such as: included software, RAM, hard disk size, monitor resolution and type, CPU and peripheral ports and cost. Most of the purchases are made from Florida Department of Education contracts with major computer manufacturers. These contracts establish discounted pricing, shipping policy, warranty repair, parts availability, etc. Where possible, the district establishes specific brands and models for specific purposes. This makes support (operational and repair) of the computer, peripheral devices, and software much more efficient and cost effective. It is becoming increasingly difficult to standardize on a specific model for longer than the 3 to 6 months it normally takes for the manufacturer to withdraw one model and replace it with another.

Advances in technology will constantly bring about new computing hardware and software that has educational significance and application. Change must be recognized as unavoidable and planned for accordingly. Because major developments in computer hardware reach market every 2 years and the average availability of a specific computer model is less than 9 months, it is economically impossible for School districts to keep current in all of their computer hardware. The most that can be hoped for is to periodically update a portion of the computers used in the most critical applications. This rapid technological advancement will continue at an accelerated pace as manufacturers find ways to go from design to market in shorter periods of time.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE SELECTION AND PURCHASE

School Technology Plans and/or Technology Grant Proposals contain a listing of existing software and future purchases updated each year. Software should be selected in the same way as other supplemental instructional materials. An evaluation should be conducted before purchase unless an evaluation is available from a valid educational source. Software that costs less than $1000.00 may be purchased and an evaluation conducted within the semester.

Software with multi-grade level scope and integrated instructional management capabilities (such as teacher reports and skill mastery results) should be evaluated and approved by a district level instructional material selection committee. (Compass Integrated Learning System and Computer Curriculum Corporation's Integrated Learning System are examples of this type of software.)

Software for administrative use is selected after coordination with the Administrative & Instructional Technology Department. Because of the large quantity of software and small number of support staff only a limited number of major packages for word processing, spreadsheet, and other applications can be supported. If you purchase a piece of software not on the approved list then you won’t be able to get formal support.

In order to assure compatibility with existing hardware and peripherals, all purchase requisitions for administrative and instructional software are forwarded by the Purchasing Department to the Director of Administrative & Instructional Technology, Sivia Center for Sign-Off.

COPYRIGHT

The School Board of Alachua County recognizes and supports the protection and limitation imposed by copyright laws. These laws specifically prohibit the unauthorized duplication of copyrighted software except to provide for archival back-up copies. It is inappropriate and illegal to use "pirated" or otherwise illegally obtained software on District equipment. Use of District equipment to make unauthorized copies of District owned, privately owned, or illegally obtained software is prohibited.

Students must be taught the proper use of copyrighted materials and the consequences for violation of the copyright law. Because of the importance of this concept it is addressed in the "Code of Student Conduct". Parallel rules for district employees are part of the School Board Policy Manual.

COMPUTER HARDWARE SELECTION AND PURCHASE

Hardware Selection -- The selection of computer hardware depends upon many considerations: features, availability, reliability, vendor/manufacturer support, repair, availability/cost of repair parts, price, etc. The determination of which particular brand and model the district will purchase requires an assessment of the impact the hardware will have on many departments and their resources. These departments include: the microcomputer support departments (for training, operational support and maintenance); the facilities' department (for installation of electrical or computer network wiring plus any remodeling to fit the technology); and the telephone department (for installation of telephones for troubleshooting and installation of digital network wiring). Because of the impact that selections can have on limited resources, decisions must be based upon input from all parties involved at the school and district level.

In order to assure compatibility with existing hardware, peripherals and their support-ability, all purchase requisitions for administrative and instructional hardware are forwarded by the Purchasing Department to the Director of Administrative & Instructional Technology, Sivia Center for approval.

6. ACCESS

6.1 Equitable access to telecommunications and other technologies to support teaching and learning by:

· Providing for the equitable distribution of resources to support the Sunshine State Standards,

· Providing access for teachers, parents and students to the best teaching practices and curriculum resources through technology,

· Providing access for students with special needs including those students with disabilities,

· Providing appropriate access to external instructional service and programming providers, such as public libraries, charter schools, remote teaching sites, home school connections, online products and other services and

· Providing access to information for decision-making by teachers and administrators.

6.2 District acceptable use policy for access to all systems including Internet/World Wide Web that:

· Protects the confidentiality of students,

· Protects intellectual property rights, licensing agreements and legal/ethical standards for sharing of resources with other educational entities and

· Maintains the integrity of systems, programs and information resources

6.3 Internet content filtering that meets the requirements of the Child Internet Protection Act

ACCESS

The District provides a Web Site that is accessible by the general public. Each school provides space on their web page to give access to curriculum information and general information about the schools policies and staff. Many schools web page contain a calendar of current activities including testing days, school lunch, atheletic events, club meeting, PTA/PTO meetings and other information useful to students and parents. Many schools also provide links to other educational sites such as the Regional Library System.

All schools are given a technology allocation from the technology categorical State funding based upon student population. This is not enough to assure equal access to technology at all sites. Grant funding is used to increase the use of technology in schools that have high percentages of free or reduced lunch status students. The Administrative & Instructional Technology Department coordinates efforts to maintain a core collection of technology consistent within school levels (elementary, middle, high school). The Qualified Zone Academy Bond Project was designed to address core collection inequity as well as the replacement of outdated technology. One of it’s basic requirements is a free or reduced lunch population of 35% or more.

AN ACCESS STATION FOR STUDENTS with special needs is provided at all school sites. ESE provides a technology specialist to assist students and staff with selecting assistive devices and software that will accommodate access for those with special needs.

SECURITY

Security for the protection of confidentiality of students is mandated in Section JO of the School Board Policy Manual. Only those staff members requiring access for legitimate administrative purposes have account privileges allowing such access. Security for integrity of systems, programs, and information resources on district computers is provided using a multi-layered computer access control system. Access is authorized by the principal or director of the appropriate department responsible for maintaining the data, and managed by the security administrator, who assigns accounts and passwords with access to various systems in accordance with the District or School Access Request Form (MIS 945.002). This form is signed by the user receiving access and the principal or department head authorizing access, and maintained by the security administrator in Information Resources.

Security for instructional labs and networks is maintained by the network administrator at each school site and by the Administrative and Instructional Technology Department. We are also in the process of installing Active Directory Servers throughout the district so that each administrator, teacher and student will have a profile that will define their access to the resources that they need to do their jobs and or learning. The Active Directory system acts as a District wide LDAP to control access to individual software and data.

Physical security for the district mainframe and mini-computer systems, as well as administrative servers, is provided in the Information Resources department. Physical access is limited to operations and system staff only, or those escorted by such staff. Logs are maintained of any access other than staff. Computer rooms are protected by doors with combination locks and an alarm system. The electrical power supply is protected with battery backup and power conditioning.

Major components of district networking equipment are housed in locked communications closets at each school site. Schools are locked, with alarm systems armed, during periods when school staff are not present. Critical microcomputers are locked to the desktop with security brackets and cables.

The District’s ASA Firewall device filters incoming and outgoing internet traffic using access control lists to eliminate those data streams that potentially can be harmful or destructive to computer equipment. Also at each site ACL’s can be activated using Cisco routers. In the future we will upgrade the routers to incorporate IOS (within the routers) firewalls. The district also uses a McAfee Webshield appliance to filter email viruses and unsolicited email.

District acceptable use policy

See Appendix C (District Acceptable Use Policy and Excerpt from the Code of Student Conduct).

CHILD INTERNET PROTECTION ACT

The School Board of Alachua County utilizes the Florida Information Resource Network (FIRN) to access the Internet. FIRN has contracted with Websense to provide content filtering to meet the requirements of the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The FIRN Websense filter categorizes websites and blocks or allows access to these groups. Examples of blocked categories are: pornography, obscenity, racism and hate, adult material, drugs, violence, gambling and web chat. Additional Websense filters maybe located at the districts’ hub to allow more granular control.

7. USER SUPPORT PLAN

7.1 Network management and improved support for end-users in classrooms.

7.2 Development of district technical support options for equipment maintenance and replacement.

COMPUTER SUPPORT

Administrative and Instructional Technology Department

This department’s main function is to set the overall direction for the use of technology in the District and to provide support to all schools and departments in their use of technology. This support includes troubleshooting and solution of operational problems, troubleshooting and repair of hardware and software problems, training in the operation of hardware and software, assistance in the selection of hardware and software. It also includes the design and implementation of the SBAC Wide Area Network (connecting computer systems at all schools and administrative sites) as well as Local Area Networks at each site.

As part of this department’s support, a unified computer and networking “Help Desk” has been established. By dialing 955-7500 (ext. 226 or 227) you are connected to a specialist that can help talk you through the initial solutions to your computer and networking problems, whether they are Instructional or Administrative. This dialogue helps to completely solve many problems. It also gathers critical information (if needed) to pass along to a Technical Specialist for further troubleshooting. The help desk is a “facilitative” center for communication and for documentation. A key feature of the Help Desk is an ASP (Web based program) application called Big Web Desk which allows an online entry of tickets from each school and district site which automatically notifies the Zone Tech responsible for that site. The Big Web Desk also allows the analysis of tickets to predict trouble trends and provide proactive solutions. Another part of the Big Web Desk allows documentation of troubles and solutions so that each tech can see what was done to solve different types of problems.

It’s the first place people call and the first level of trouble solution.
The Help Desk staff records the information about what’s needed – what the problem is, number of students affected, contact information, priority, etc.
The staff then communicates with the Field Techs (this is a 2 way dialogue). The techs know more about what is going on in the “Field” and help set priorities/timelines/and in many cases may originate jobs themselves (donation pickup/quick jobs onsite principle/administrator priorities.)
The Techs then go onsite to solve the problem. We are currently using many methods of remote diagnosis and problem solution. This saves everyone travel time and makes staff more effective.
The Help Desk staff then records what was done to finish the job and close it out.

This system is designed to work in coordination with the school site’s Technical Support Person. The Technical Support Person (a supplemented staff member) is trained to do the initial screening of problems for obvious solutions; such as computers not plugged in, resetting of network devices, and common software operational techniques. The principal at each site also designates other staff members to report problems to the district Help Desk. In this way, many problems can be solved immediately by local “experts”.

We are in the process of training all of our technical support team to provide support on the majority of computer (PC’s and Mac’s) systems and network operating systems. Our structure is designed to start with 8 geographically located Data Communications Specialists who function as the second line of problem solution. If they need additional resources they will contact specialists as needed to solve the problems.

Also included in our department are the Instructional Equipment Repair Department (3 Electronic Technicians), the Computer and Printer Repair Department (3 Electronic Repair Technicians), the Television and Audiovisual Production Department, and the Teacher Production Lab. These departments main focus is to support the use of technology in our district.

Technology Support Personnel Duties and Responsibilities

1. Troubleshoot any computer problems that occur on campus and determine if outside assistance is needed. Includes ESE, Headstart, and Title I (with Cheryl).

2. Serve as the contact person for Technology Zone Technicians and the Help Desk.

3. Oversee the distribution of IP numbers and document computer locations and IP numbers on a site map of the school.

4. Serve as liaison with Systems personnel for Send Mail logins, training and troubleshooting.

5. Troubleshoot the local area network.

6. Assist in prioritizing equipment needs for the school

7. Coordinate and conduct technology inservice on campus.

8. Act as the technical advisor to the school’s technology committee and be responsible for keeping the School’s Technology Plan up-to-date.

9. Install and configure system and application software on computers and/or fileservers.

10. Install and configure Internet access software on computers.

11. In liaison with Administrative and Instructional Technology personnel, facilitate the purchase of technology-based equipment for the school, clarifying issues such as where to obtain hardware, subject specific software, compatibility with existing systems, reliability, competitive prices, etc.

12. Tech support for Accelerated Reader.

13. Install new computers, Ethernet, SCSI cards etc. (with caution or help from Data Communication Specialist)

14. Perform other technology support duties as assigned by specific school site. (Maintain Labs, Scanning, Digital Photos, clean internals of computers, supervise tech aides, etc.)

In order for technology to help people in their jobs, they must be trained in its use. After the training there must be resource people who can answer questions and solve problems to keep computer users productive. When instruction is dependent upon technology, the speed with which problems are solved is critical so that student learning is not jeopardized. The Administrative & Instructional Technology Department and its staff of computer support and repair technicians is responsible for this support. Listed below are major elements of that support process.

Support -- Helping people use applications by answering their questions and giving information that facilitates correct operation of hardware and software either on-site or over-the-phone.

Troubleshooting -- Diagnosing malfunctions in the operation of hardware and software.

Maintenance -- Performing routine upgrades and modifications of hardware and software. Performing routine diagnostics and cleaning to assure continued optimum operation.

Repair -- Correcting hardware and software malfunctions.

Microcomputer application development -- Analyzing user needs and configuring off-the-shelf software or writing software to meet those needs. Once an application has been developed it must then be supported.

The complexity of current networking equipment/software and microcomputer hardware/software demands an extremely high skill level of the support staff. These positions are in demand by business and industry and it is imperative that we train and keep qualified individuals in these positions in order to stay operational in both the instructional and administrative areas.

Network management -- The Information Resources department is responsible for network management to the School level. Instructional Technology is responsible for networks in the school and classroom.

Utilizing funding from the No Child Left Behind – Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant the district has almost completed implementation of an Altiris Deployment server at each school and administrative site. This server allows hard disk images of each major computer configuration at a site to be stored on the Altiris server so that when a computer has a problem it can be completely restored to its working state by having a technician remotely re-image the hard disk. This saves a significant amount of time and allows the technician to be anywhere in the district and perform the repair of a computer at any site in the district. The EETT grant also paid for the training of the Zone Techs in how to best use the Altiris system. The Altiris system also keeps an inventory of every computer connected to the District network. This inventory can show the computers make, model, hardware configuration and installed software.

8. STAFF TRAINING PLAN

8.1 Provisions for increasing the use of technology in the classroom and media center by:

· Development and acquisition of new programs and software that promote the integration of technology into everyday curricular needs,

· The integration of technology as a meaningful component within all curriculum training,

· District-level coordination of training and support,

· Ensuring adequate facilities, instructors, materials, equipment and funding for staff development and

· Identification and acquisition of technology based staff training delivery systems that minimize teacher time away from the classroom and delivery of training in the most cost-effective manner.

8.2 A list of sources of ongoing training and technical assistance available to teachers and administrators served by the district, such as State technology offices, intermediate educational support units, regional education training facilities or institutions of higher learning.

TRAINING

Staff training is one of the most important support activities provided. Unless teachers and other staff members receive adequate instruction in the operation of hardware and software they can not effectively teach students and can not efficiently perform their jobs. Training conducted by the Technology Learning Center staff includes three main categories: General Literacy (Initial introduction to the use of computers and software), Specific Literacy (The use of computers and software within a given setting), and Specific Applications -- How to make use of individual computer programs in performing specific jobs. Another training related support activity is the development of Training Materials which include Individualized and group instructional books, audio tapes, computer programs and videotapes. Training is most effective when held on the equipment that will be used on the job. It is preferable that the training take place at the work site. When computers or other technology is not available at the site, the Sivia Center has meeting rooms and PC and MAC computer labs available for training conducted by staff and/or outside consultants.

District wide inservice is coordinated through the Technology Learning Center and the C.R.E.A.T.E. council. Each year the TLC staff and the Council conduct surveys to determine what inservice is needed by teachers and staff. Computer operational skills have been among the top categories for the past 10 years. Once the topics have been selected, contacts in each school help to enroll teachers for workshops using a Web based scheduling program. C.R.E.A.T.E. council funds are allocated to help pay for the requested classes (and substitutes when required). Each participant's learning is evaluated through projects and/or examinations. A schedule of upcoming courses is available each semester on the TLC’s Web page. The Technology Learning Center trains over 650 teachers, administrators and staff each year.

Administrative & Instructional Technology Zone Technicians also provide individual and small group training as they support the use of technology at their assigned school sites. As hardware and software has gotten more complex, operation of networks and sophisticated application programs has become extremely challenging. Many teachers and staff attend formal certification courses through local colleges and commercial training centers in order to acquire the needed skills and knowledge. (see Appendix D for sample TLC flyer)

EETT Grant – Utilizing funding from the No Child Left Behind – Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant the district has subscribed to online training on Microsoft Office and its components (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), Integration of Technology into the curriculum and A+ technical training. Any teacher or staff member can logon to the website and take courses through their web browser from anywhere they have an Internet connection.

The EETT grant has also provided technical training on topics such as Windows Server 2003, Active Directory Server, SQL Server, Macintosh X Server, Wireless Security, etc.

The District’s Master Inservice Plan provides a wide selection of Inservice Components that provide teachers a chance to gain certificate renewal points by attend these classes. Technology Components may be used to renew certificates in any subject area. (see Appendix for examples of Technology Components)

9. PROGRAM EVALUATION

A description of the process for the ongoing evaluation of how the technologies acquired are:

9.1 Being integrated into the school curriculum

9.2 Affecting student achievement and progress toward meeting the educational goals of the Sunshine State Standards.

Each school addresses their use of technology in the instructional process as part of their School Improvement Plan. This includes which Sunshine State Standard(s) will be addressed using technology and how effective is has been in teaching those standards.?

The Administrative and Instructional Technology staff working in cooperation with the Instructional Division provide assistance in the implementation of technology based curriculum and strategies. The true evaluation of the value of technology is in the continued academic improvement and growth of students. In most cases it is impossible to separate the individual effectiveness of technology from the overall teaching process just as it would be impossible to separate the writing instrument, be it pencil or word processor, from the creative product, the short story.

The evaluation of the Qualified Zone Academy Bond Project will be by the completion of the school installation of new replacement hardware, software, and peripheral devices during this school year.

Another element of the evaluation process is the Florida School Technology and Readiness Survey (STaR Chart) which all Alachua County schools are required to complete during the fall each year. The results can be viewed at http://www.starsurvey.net/ login: 01, pw: sanderling. The survey gives Principals an evaluation instrument to assess their school’s use of Technology in five major areas: Technology Administration and Support; Technology Capacity; Educator Competency and Professional Development; Learners and Learning; and Accountability. It also gives information to compare technology utilization within school, the district, and the State. The current focus of the survey is on integration of technology into the classroom. The state sees the use of technology in the classroom as a major strategy in the learning process.

Appendix B

People who gave input that contributed to the preparation of this plan:

Input Provided By

Dan Boyd, Superintendent

Sandra Hollinger, Deputy Superintendent for Instruction

Jim Utley, Chief Technology and Information Services Officer

Sandy Anusavice, Director Secondary Curriculum

Diana Lagotic, Director Elementary Curriculum

Steven Stark, Student Progress Monitoring Portal developer

David Edwards, Dir. Vocational Education

Donna Omer, Director of Project Development

Sheri Logan, Media Specialist Gainesville High

Bunnie James, Teacher, Norton Elementary

Jackie Johnson, Public Information Officer

Jim Moffett, Dir, Administrative & Instructional Technology

Input Sessions included

Technology Support Person Workshop

Appendix C

School Board of Alachua County, Policy

8.72 Acceptable Use Policy for the Exploration
and Utilization of the Internet as a Tool for Learning

Purpose of the rule

The purpose of this rule is to establish a policy for the acceptable use of the Internet as a tool for learning in the School District of Alachua County, Florida (hereinafter referred to as District). In summary, the rule affirms that neither employees nor students may use the Internet to do any action or receive and/or communicate any language that the employee or student could not do in person. Any act or word prohibited by federal, state, and/or local law or regulation (including SBAC Rules) and/or collective bargaining agreement if done by a SBAC employee or student in person is similarly forbidden by this rule to be done by any employee or student by or through the Internet. Additionally, the rule reflects that there is no expectation of privacy in the use of e-mail or Internet communications when such communications occur over SBAC provided equipment by SBAC employees, students, or others.

Purpose of access to the Internet

The purpose of providing students and employees access to the Internet is to promote academic excellence in the District's educational objectives. This computer technology provides resource sharing, innovation and communication that will help launch today's schools into the information age.

I. Resources Available on the Internet

Students and employees of the District have access to the following resources:

A. Electronic mail communication throughout the world;
B. Local, national and world-wide information and news;
C. Correspondence with scientists at research institutions;
D. Access to public domain software of all types;
E. Collaboration with peers on projects and problem solving strategies;
F. Science Learning Network (SLN), Library of Congress, Educational Resource and Information Center (ERIC), Smithsonian Museums, and many university library catalogs.

II. Acceptable Use Policy

Utilization of the Internet by students and employees must be in support of and consistent with the educational objectives of the District. When utilizing the Internet all users must adhere to the provisions of this rule and the standards of conduct established in the SBAC Code of Student Conduct (both elementary and secondary) and the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in the State of Florida.

A. Transmission of any material in violation of local, state, and federal law or regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to copyright material, threatening or obscene material or material protected by trade secret.

1. Obscene material is that material which:

a) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;

b) Depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct as defined in '847.001 (11) Fla. Stat. (1995); and

c) Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

B. Procedures concerning the protest of instructional materials and educational media as they are accessed through the Internet are governed by School Board Policy, Instructional Materials and Resources.

C. School Board Policy, Politics--Participation of Staff, governs the use of the Internet for political activities.

D. Use of the Internet for product advertisement, commercial activities, political campaigning or solicitation is prohibited.

III. Privilege

Accessing the Internet through District equipment is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use, including violation of this rule may result in cancellation of the privilege.

A. School and District administrators are delegated the authority to determine appropriate and acceptable use as provided under this rule.

B. Any user account may be closed, suspended or revoked at any time a school or District administrator determines an account user or holder has used the Internet in an inappropriate or unacceptable manner in violation of this or any other applicable District rule.

C. Inappropriate or unacceptable use is defined as use that violates the District's purpose in providing students and employees access to the Internet and use that violates the SBAC Code of Student Conduct (both elementary and secondary), the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in the State of Florida, or any local, state, or federal law or regulation.

D. Access to the Internet in school as a tool for learning will be automatic. Parents will be advised in writing of their rights to indicate that they do not want their child to access the Internet in school.

IV. Monitoring

The District reserves the right to review any material on user accounts for purposes of maintaining adequate fileserver space. In reviewing and monitoring user accounts for the purpose of determining adequate fileserver space, the District shall respect the privacy rights of user accounts.

V. Network Etiquette

All users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These rules include, but are not limited to the following:

A. Be polite. Do not get abusive in your message to others.

B. Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use profanity, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.

C. Do not engage in activities which are prohibited under local, state or federal law.

D. Do not engage in activities which violate the SBAC Code of Student Conduct (both elementary and secondary), the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in the State of Florida.

E. Do not reveal your personal address and/or telephone number nor that of other students and employees.

F. Note that electronic mail (e-mail) is not guaranteed to be private. People who operate the system do have access to all mail. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities may be reported to the authorities and may result in the loss of user privileges.

G. Do not use the network in such a way that would be disruptive to others.

H. All communications and information accessible via the network should be assumed to be private property.

I. Do not use the network to send or receive messages that discriminate based on gender, race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, political beliefs, marital status, age, sexual orientation, social and family background, linguistic preference, disability or that are inflammatory.

VI. Services

Use of any information obtained via the Internet is at the user's own risk. The District will not be responsible for any damages a user may suffer. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by negligence, errors, or omissions.

The District denies responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services. All users need to consider the source of any information they obtain, and consider how valid that information may be.

VII. Security

Security on any computer network is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users.

A. If a user can identify a security problem on the network, the user must notify a system administrator. The user must not demonstrate the problem to others.

B. Users must not use another individual's account without written permission from that individual. Attempts to log into the system as any other user will result in cancellation of user privileges. Attempts to log in to the Internet as a system administrator may result in the cancellation of user privileges.

C. Any user that has been determined by administrators to have violated this rule may be denied future access to the Internet through the District network.

D. A student or employee with a history of utilizing other computer systems in an inappropriate or unacceptable manner may be denied access to the Internet through the District network.

VIII. Vandalism and Harassment

Vandalism and harassment when utilizing the Internet will result in cancellation of user privileges. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses and the attempt to destroy, harm or modify data of another user.

IX. Procedures for Use

Student users must always get permission from their teachers or facilitators before using the network or accessing any specific file or application. Student users must also follow written and oral classroom instructions.

A. All users have the same right to use the equipment. Therefore, users shall not play games or use the computer resources for non-academic activities when other users require the system for academic purposes. In addition, users shall not waste nor take supplies, such as paper, printer ribbons, and diskettes, that are provided by the District.

B. Teachers are responsible for teaching proper techniques and standards for participation, for guiding student access to appropriate sections of the Internet, and for assuring that students understand that if they misuse the network they will lose their privilege to access the Internet from the classroom environment.

X. Inappropriate Material

On a global network it is impossible to control effectively the content of data and an industrious user may discover inappropriate material. Inappropriate material is that material that is determined inconsistent with the goals, objectives and policies of the educational mission of the District.

Access and use of the Internet is for use as a regular instructional activity. It is the users responsibility not to initiate access to materials that are inconsistent with the goals, objectives and policies of the educational mission of the District.

XI. Disciplinary Actions for Improper Use

The act of accessing the Internet through the District's network signifies that the user will abide by the provisions of this rule.

XII. The internal e-mail system of the School Board is intended for School Board business only. The School Board reserves the right to block access to this system for inappropriate use.

XII. Except for instructional purposes, uses of district computers for purposes of recreational gaming or games is specifically forbidden.

Any user violating this rule, or applicable local, state, or federal law or regulation is subject to loss of network access privileges and any other disciplinary actions, as reflected in the SBAC Code of Student Conduct (both elementary and secondary), the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in the State of Florida, and applicable collective bargaining agreements.

(end of Acceptable Use Policy)

(Excerpt from the Code of Student Conduct)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this Section You Will Find:

STUDENT RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES, RULES

* Attendance

* Respect for Persons and Property

* Student Bus Rules

* Knowledge of Rules of Conduct

* Right to Learn and Participate

* Free Speech, Publications, and Assembly

* Student Rules for Computer Use

* Privacy

* Dress Code

* Non-Discrimination

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT RULES FOR COMPUTER USE

Students are responsible for good behavior on computers at school. Computer

files, including e-mail, are not private. The use of the school's computers

and computer networks, computer software, data files, and intellectual

property is a privilege and is intended for educational purposes only. The

privilege may be revoked or other disciplinary action taken for violation of

any of the following rules. Students may not:

1. Share computer account IDs and passwords, except when authorized.

2. Create, copy, receive, or use data, language or graphics which are obscene, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate at school.

3. Access, change or delete intellectual property belonging to others, including programs or data files not owned by the user, without their expressed permission.

4. Steal or destroy the school's computer hardware or peripherals (printers, mice, monitors, modems, cables, connectors, etc.).

5. Steal or destroy computer software, data files, or intellectual property owned by the school or other persons.

6. Violate or attempt to violate the security of the computer/network systems.

7. Take unauthorized actions which deny access to, disrupt, or destroy the service of the computer/network systems.

8. Make unauthorized or unlawful installation of personal computer software on the school's computers or the computer networks, including, but not limited to, games, virus programs, and applications software. Student-provided software must be used only in accordance with the license agreement.

9. Use computers, computer networks, or computer peripherals (printers, mice, monitors, modems, etc.) to commit a forgery or to create a forged instrument.

10. Use computers, computer networks, computer software, data files or intellectual property in any unauthorized way.

--------------- end of excerpt-------complete text of code of student conduct is available at www2.sbac.edu

Appendix D

Florida Department of Education

DISTRICT TECHNOLOGY PLAN SUBMISSION

DOE OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY USE

Technology Plan Contact Information