School System Website/Web Pages Administrative Procedure
NEPN/NSBA Code: IJNDC – R

A. Website Purpose

The purpose of the Yarmouth School Department’s official website is to provide general information about our school system as well as information about educational programs, extracurricular activities, school events, and student and staff achievements. The website is intended to support the educational mission of the schools, to enhance the curriculum and learning opportunities for students and staff, and to provide valuable information to the larger community about our schools. The following guidelines are intended to ensure that the website meets these goals and to establish reasonable controls to protect the privacy of students and staff, to ensure that the website is in compliance with applicable laws, and to ensure that it meets the highest educational and quality standards.

B. Website Structure

The School Department website includes the following components:

  1. System-wide information (including but not limited to Central Office information, School Committee information, Transportation, Facilities and Food Service information);

  2. Individual school information;

  3. Individual department, grade level and/or classroom information (including student work and/or teacher-created work and resources); and

  4. School-sponsored extracurricular organization information.

C. School Department Authority and Webmaster Responsibilities

The School Department reserves the right to edit, delete, or modify any webpage content as it sees fit to comply with the intended purposes of the website and these guidelines. The School Department will maintain a Webmaster account. This account will be accessible by the team responsible for any district and/or school sites. Members of that team shall be responsible for maintaining the School Department’s websites, approving all material to be posted on the site, and monitoring all website activities for compliance with School Committee policies, applicable laws and regulations, and these guidelines. If the Webmaster team is unsure whether particular material is appropriate, they shall consult with the Superintendent, whose decision shall be final. Only authorized school staff shall have password-protected access to place and remove web pages and content.

D. Content, Quality and Subject Matter

  1. The School Department website does not create, nor is it intended to create a public or limited public forum. All materials placed on the website must serve the educational mission of the school and comply with all School Committee policies, administrative procedures and school rules concerning the publication and distribution of school-sponsored materials.

  2. All materials placed on the website must meet academic standards for proper spelling, grammar, content and accuracy.

  3. All materials placed on the website must comply with all School Committee policies, administrative procedures and school rules concerning the acceptable use of technology.

  4. Webpage content must be limited to school-sponsored information and activities. No personal student or staff web pages, chat rooms, or discussion groups are permitted on the website.

E. Confidentiality of Student Information

  1. The website shall be in compliance with all applicable confidentiality laws and regulations.

  2. At no time shall personal information about students (such as home address, telephone number, e-mail address, birth date, social security number, etc.) or information made confidential by state or federal law appear on the website. The website will not include any information that indicates the physical location of students at any given time, other than attendance at a particular school or participation in school activities.

  3. Student photographs may only be published on the website if the student’s parent/guardian has signed the Parent/Guardian Agreement Form to Publish Student Information.

F. Confidentiality of Staff Information

  1. At no time shall personal information about staff appear on the website (including home address, home telephone number, home e-mail address, birth date, social security number, etc.).

  2. Because the School Department website is maintained in part to enhance communication with students and their families, the school e-mail address and/or telephone numbers of staff are published on the website.

G. Copyright

  1. Appropriate permission will be obtained before any copyrighted or trademarked material is used on the website. No copyrighted material may be reproduced, transmitted or stored on the School Department website without obtaining permission from the copyright owner.

  2. Students shall retain the copyright on materials that they create.

  3. An appropriate copyright notice will appear with all copyrighted material published on the website.

  4. Except for the above exceptions, all webpages and materials published on the published on the website are the property of and owned by the School Department.

H. Advertising

The School Department website will not include any advertising, nor will it include any selling activities outside of publicity for school-sponsored and/or approved fundraising activities.

I. Links to External Sites

  1. The School Department website will not include links to any personal websites of students or staff.

  2. The website may include links only to websites that have demonstrated educational value to students, staff and/or the community, as deemed appropriate by the Webmaster.

  3. The website shall include a disclaimer informing users that links are provided as a convenience, and that the School Department does not endorse these sites or have any responsibility for the content of these sites.

J. Additional Requirements

  1. The website shall inform users about how to contact the Webmaster.

  2. The Webmaster will provide appropriate information to school users regarding technical requirements for publishing material on the website.

Adopted: October 23, 2014