2000 5210

Personnel

WFL/EB

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL GROWTH/STAFF DEVELOPMENT

The Board of Education believes that staff development through attendance at conferences, training programs, workshops, professional meetings, and other in-service activities is an essential element in the development of quality educational programs and sound personnel practices. The District Superintendent or his/her designee is authorized to approve attendance at conferences.

The Board of Education encourages personnel to increase their competencies by continuing their training and experience through graduate study, in-service programs, and other appropriate educational activities.

As part of the annual review of assumptions, directions, and objectives and the annual review of accomplishments with the Board of Education, the Superintendent and his/her senior staff shall include a report on staff development activities designed to improve the performance of BOCES staff and, therefore, the delivery of BOCES services to its component districts.

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

2000 5220

Personnel

SUBJECT: EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL RECORDS AND RELEASE OF INFORMATION

Personnel Records

Administrative regulations will be developed to implement the terms of this policy to maintain a personnel file for each teacher, administrator and support staff member employed by the BOCES.

Regulations and procedures will be developed addressing the inspection by BOCES’ employees of their personnel files.

Release of Personnel Information

All steps should be taken to protect the privacy of the employees of the Board of Cooperative Educational Services. To ensure the individual's privacy, directory or confidential information should not be shared with a third party except in the following situations:

a) When members of the Board need information from the employee's personnel record to aid them in performing their legal responsibilities in such matters as appointments, assignments, promotions, demotions, remuneration, discipline, dismissal or to aid in the development and implementation of personnel policies.

b) When the employee grants permission.

Procedures for obtaining consent for release of records to third parties shall be developed by the administration.

Release of Information Concerning Former Employees

The BOCES shall not release information concerning the employment records, personnel file or past performance of a former employee, unless such information is required to be disclosed by law. Only the initial and final dates of employment and the position held shall be provided through a written response to a written request. The former employee may authorize the release of any additional information.

8 New York Code of Rules and Regulations

(NYCRR), Part 84

Public Officers Law Section 87

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

2000 5230

Personnel

WFL/EB

SUBJECT: NEGOTIATIONS

Legal Status

The legal status for negotiations is the Public Employee's Fair Employment Law (Taylor Law), Article 14 of the Civil Service Law.

Organizations recognized for the purposes of collective bargaining include:

  1. Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES Educators Association.
  2. Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES Association of School Support Personnel.

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

2000 5240

Personnel

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL STAFF CONSULTING ACTIVITIES

The Board acknowledges that a professional employee may be invited to speak, lead a seminar, act as a consultant or become involved in other professional activities outside of the BOCES. The employee may be excused from his/her BOCES duties at the discretion of the District Superintendent/designee and may be required to request a personal/vacation day.

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

2000 5250

Personnel

SUBJECT: JURY DUTY

A BOCES employee called for jury duty shall receive his/her full day's pay from the BOCES plus mileage from the State. No BOCES employee shall be entitled to receive the court authorized per diem allowance for any regularly scheduled workday on which jury duty is rendered if on such a day his/her BOCES wages are not withheld on account of such service.

Judiciary Law Section 521(b)

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

2000 5260

Personne

WFL

SUBJECT: ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET AND LEARNING ACCESS KNOWLEDGE EDUCATION NETWORK (LAKENET)

The Genesee Valley Wayne-Finger Lakes Educational Technology Service (EduTech), a department within the Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES, provides educational resources which support the instructional, research, and administrative computing needs of both the Wayne-Finger Lakes and Genesee Valley BOCES and their member districts. EduTech seeks to foster intellectual exchange, create efficient and productive approaches to collaborative activity and to support teaching and curriculum and professional development activities of educators through one such educational resource - Learning Access Knowledge Education Network (LAKENet).

All activity on LAKENet shall be in support of the LAKENet mission and consistent with the goals of the Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES and the Genesee Valley BOCES. A Regional Steering Committee comprised of superintendent representatives and both BOCES district superintendents provide direction and oversight to the development of LAKENet. Within this framework EduTech is the provider of LAKENet services.

LAKENet Mission Statement

LAKENet is a cooperative educational network. Its mission is to provide technological resources to help learners meet educational standards and to facilitate and strengthen instruction and learning. It supports professional and personal development for individuals in the educational community. It enables more efficient management of educational administration and programs. Its resources are developed to be cost-effective and fairly and equitably provided to its members.

Purpose of Policy

The purpose of this policy is to:

  1. Define the users of LAKENet.
  2. Define acceptable standards for use of LAKENet.
  3. Provide a LAKENet Internet Use Form to be signed by the Chief School Officers, or designated official of the instructional user.

Policy Statement

EduTech expects all members of its community to use electronic communications in a responsible manner. EduTech may restrict the use of its computers and network systems for electronic communications, in response to complaints presenting evidence of violations of other EduTech policies, or state or federal laws. Specifically, EduTech reserves the right to limit access to its networks, and to remove or limit access to materials posted on computers that can be accessed through LAKENet. It further reserves the right to provide or restrict access based on security, instructional impact, cost effectiveness, system performance and the needs of consortia members.

Reason for Policy

EduTech seeks to enforce its policies regarding harassment, safety and rights of individuals; to protect the BOCES and its components against seriously damaging or legal consequences; to prevent the posting of proprietary software or the posting of electronic copies of literary works in disregard of copyright restrictions or contractual obligations; to safeguard the integrity of computers, networks, and data, either at EduTech or within the wide area network; and to ensure that use of electronic communications complies with the provisions of these policies and those of districts for maintaining the educational environment.

Entities Affected by this Policy

  1. Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES
  2. Genesee Valley BOCES
  3. Consortium of school districts that comprise LAKENet
  4. Consortium of public libraries attached to LAKENet.

Users

Institutional Users

Organizations using LAKENet must have a written agreement on file with EduTech acknowledging that they agree to the policy and have their own policy that is consistent with EduTech AUP.

Individual Users

All individuals using LAKENet agree to abide by the rules set forth in their school district’s or, if applicable, their public library’s Acceptable Use Policy for network and Internet access.

Access

LAKENet is an educational network. The network provides access to the Internet and LAKENet Intranet for K-12 school districts of the Genesee Valley BOCES and Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES. Access for public libraries and other public school districts is available upon application to the Director of EduTech and approval by the Steering Committee.

The current policy regarding standards for access and use of applications on LAKENet are contained in Appendix A. Each institution may restrict availability or access to any services listed in the Appendix.

Sponsorships

Credit and thanks is given to the sponsor, without endorsement. EduTech reserves the right to restrict sponsorships. Sponsorships can include links, logo’s and banners that conform to mutually agreed upon design specifications. Sponsorships may not include advertisements for products, events, or redemptions.

Publishing

EduTech assumes no responsibility for district-hosted web sites.

Opinions expressed and the accuracy of information or links posted by individuals using LAKENet does not necessarily represent the views, opinions or endorsements of EduTech and its members.

Procedures

Policy Specifics

  1. EduTech reserves the right to limit access to its networks when applicable written BOCES policies or codes, contractual obligation, or state or federal laws are violated.
  2. EduTech reserves the right to remove or limit access to material posted on BOCES owned computers when applicable BOCES policies or codes, contractual obligations, or state or federal laws are violated.
  3. When suspected policy violations have occurred and the reporting process has been followed, EduTech may monitor and/or restrict material residing on computers or networks connected to or made available through LAKENet.

Policy Violations

Examples of violations of this policy would involve the use of electronic communications to:

  1. Harass, threaten, or otherwise cause harm to a specific individual(s), whether by direct or indirect reference.
  2. Impede, interfere with, impair, or otherwise cause harm to the activities of others.
  3. Download or post to BOCES computers, or transport across BOCES networks, material that is illegal, proprietary, in violation of BOCES contractual agreements, or otherwise is damaging to the BOCES.
  4. Use of network for illegal or commercial purposes.
  5. Harass or threaten classes of individuals.
  6. Additional examples are listed in Appendix B.

Reporting Violations

  1. If you believe that a violation of this policy has occurred, contact the Director of EduTech, or BOCES LAKENet network administrator responsible for the system or network involved.
  2. There may be situations in which an individual’s health or safety appears to be in jeopardy; contact the local school district authorities and/or local Public Safety authorities.

Process for Adjudicating Violation Reports

EduTech expects districts not to violate the requirements and provisions of this policy. Violations by individual users will be immediately referred to the local district or library to be dealt with within their local AUP. If a violation is reported, the following procedure will be followed.

  1. A written report of the nature of the violation relative to this policy will be provided to the Director of EduTech by the person or institution making the allegations.
  2. As a first stage, the Director of EduTech will meet with and share the violation report with the Superintendent of Schools or Director of the Public Library that has been cited within 10 working days or the Director of the Public Library that has been cited. If resolution is found at this discussion level and the Director is satisfied that the institution is in compliance, or will become in compliance within 2 days, the process would finish here.
  3. If a satisfactory resolution is not reached, the matter will be referred to the Regional Steering Committee by the Director of EduTech. The institution will be required to present a written response to the alleged violations. The Director of EduTech will provide a written report containing the issues and alleged violations.

These reports from both parties must be received by the Steering committee within 10 days of the first stage meeting. The Steering Committee will hear the matter promptly and render a decision.

Appendix A

The matrix below reflects the current state of access and tools relative to LAKENet. The x’s reflect the possible access by user category allowed by EduTech. Each institution may restrict availability or access to any services listed below.

Access

to

District

Instructional

Staff

Non-Instructional

School/

Admin.

Board

Committee

Students

Home

Schools

Community

DocuShare

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

E-Mail

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

Video Conf.

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

WWW

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X(4)

Web-site hosting

X

               

Filtration

X

               

Chat

X

X

X

X

X(1)

X

X

X

 

Remote Dial-In

X

X

X

X

X

X

X(2)

X(3) (during school hours)

 

Web-based instruction

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X(4)

  1. Concern regarding Open Meeting Laws must be addressed in local District AUP.
  2. Remote dial-in to District by students excludes Internet access. Access within the Intranet for students through remote dial-in is a local choice issue and needs additional technical review.
  3. Total access for home schoolers is available during District school hours, after hours see letter #b. Homebound students may access for extended periods upon application to EduTech.
  4. Access to the Internet only from schools or public libraries.

Access to

Public Library Staff

Public Library Patron

DocuShare

X

 

E-Mail

X

 

Video Conference

X

 

WWW

X

X

Web-site hosting

X

 

Filtration

X

 

Chat

X

 

Remote Dial-In

X

 

Web-based instruction

X

 

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

2000 5261

Personnel

WFL

SUBJECT: INDIVIDUAL USER ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET AND LEARNING ACCESS KNOWLEDGE EDUCATION NETWORK (LAKENET)

The Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES provides educational resources which support the instructional, research, and administrative computing needs of its employees and students. The Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES seeks to foster intellectual exchange, create efficient and productive approaches to collaborative activity and to support teaching and learning throughout the entire organization. Through its Learning Access Knowledge Education Network (LAKENet) and through its internal networks the BOCES provides electronic communications and Internet access for educational or administrative purposes.

LAKENet Mission Statement

LAKENet is a cooperative educational network. Its mission is to provide technological resources to help learners meet educational standards and to facilitate and strengthen instruction and learning. It supports professional and personal development for individuals in the educational community. It enables more efficient management of educational administration and programs. Its resources are developed to be cost-effective and fairly and equitably provided to its members.

Purpose of Policy

The purpose of this policy is to:

  1. Define the users of LAKENet.
  2. Define acceptable standards for use of LAKENet and internal networks.
  3. Provide an Internet and LAKENet Individual User Application and Agreement Form.

Policy Statement

The Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES expects all member of its community to use electronic communications in a responsible manner. BOCES may restrict the use of its computers and network systems for electronic communications, in response to complaints presenting evidence of violations of its policies, or state or federal laws. Specifically, BOCES reserves the right to limit access to its networks, and to remove or limit access to materials posted on computers that can be accessed through LAKENet. It further reserves the right to provide or restrict access based on security, instructional impact, cost effectiveness, system performance.

Reason for Policy

BOCES seeks to enforce its policies regarding harassment, safety and rights of individuals; to protect the BOCES and its components against seriously damaging or legal consequences; to prevent the posting of proprietary software or the posting of electronic copies of literary works in disregard of copyright restrictions or contractual obligations; to safeguard the integrity of computers, networks, and data; and to ensure that use of electronic communications complies with the provisions of these policies.

Persons Affected by this Policy

  1. Students, employees and school officials of the Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES
  2. Members of the community who may be involved in BOCES committee work where network access is necessary for them to participate and share information.

Users

Individual Users

All individuals using LAKENet must have a signed written statement on file with BOCES acknowledging their agreement to abide by the rules set forth in this policy.

Publishing

Users of electronic resources provided by BOCES shall not use materials which may violate copyright, privacy, involve harassment, or defamation or may be construed as obscene. Opinions expressed and the accuracy of information or links posted by individuals using these electronic resources and communications does not necessarily represent the views, opinions or endorsements of BOCES.

Procedures

Policy Specifics

  1. BOCES reserves the right to limit access to its networks when applicable written BOCES policies or codes, contractual obligation, or state or federal laws are violated.
  2. BOCES reserves the right to remove or limit access to material posted on computers or servers when applicable BOCES policies or codes, contractual obligations, or state or federal laws are violated.
  3. When suspected policy violations have occurred and the reporting process has been followed, BOCES may monitor and/or restrict material residing on computers or networks connected to or made available through LAKENet.

Policy Violations

Examples of violations of this policy would involve the use of electronic communications to:

  1. Harass, threaten, or otherwise cause harm to a specific individual(s), whether by direct or indirect reference.
  2. Impede, interfere with, impair, or otherwise cause harm to the activities of others.
  3. Download or post to BOCES computers, or transport across BOCES networks, material that is illegal, proprietary, in violation of BOCES contractual agreements, or otherwise is damaging to the BOCES.
  4. Use of network for illegal or commercial purposes.
  5. Harass or threaten classes of individuals.
  6. Additional examples are listed in Appendix A.

Reporting Violations

  1. If you are an employee of Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES and believe that a violation of this policy has occurred, contact your immediate supervisor.
  2. If you are a student and believe that a violation of this policy has occurred, contact your teacher or your building principal.

  1. If you are a community member and believe a violation has occurred, please contact the Director of EduTech.

APPENDIX A

Examples of Violations to this Policy

Violations Targeted at a Specific Individual(s)

  1. Sending repeated and unwanted (harassing) communication by electronic mail or other electronic communications.
  2. Sending repeated and unwanted (harassing) communication by electronic mail or other electronic communications that is sexual in nature.
  3. Sending repeated and unwanted (harassing) communication by electronic mail or other electronic communications that is motivated by race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
  4. Posting or otherwise disseminating personal or sensitive information about an individual(s).

Violations Causing Harm to the Activities of Others

  1. Propagating electronic chain mail.
  2. Interfering with freedom of expression of others by "jamming" or "bombing" electronic mailboxes.
  3. Forging, fraudulently altering, or willfully falsifying electronic mail headers, electronic directory information, or other electronic information generated as, maintained as, or otherwise identified as BOCES/District records in support of electronic communications.
  4. Using electronic communications to forge an academic document.
  5. Using electronic communications to hoard, damage, or otherwise interfere with academic resources accessible electronically.
  6. Using electronic communications to steal another individual’s works, or otherwise misrepresent one’s own work.
  7. Using electronic communications to collude on examinations, papers or any other academic work.
  8. Using electronic communications to fabricate research data.

Violations Involving Illegal, Proprietary, or Damaging Material

  1. Electronically distributing or posting copyrighted material in violation of license restrictions or other contractual agreements.
  2. Launching a computer worm, computer virus or other rogue program.
  3. Downloading or posting illegal, proprietary or damaging material to a BOCES/District computer.
  4. Transporting illegal, proprietary or damaging material across BOCES networks.
  5. The posting of pornographic, obscene or indecent materials.

Violations Targeted at Transmission Classes of Individuals

Posting hate speech regarding a group’s race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.