Technology Policy

Technology has made a significant impact on the world of education and St. Mary High School embraces the resources that such technology provides. The expectation is that students will demonstrate integrity and responsibility in the use of this technology. School policies concerning the use of technology are established to guarantee property rights (e.g., copyright), privacy, and learning.

Computers and internet access are provided to the members of the St. Mary High School community for administrative, academic, and other school-related work. Using the school’s technology is a privilege and is subject to monitoring. Files may be reviewed by the administration without prior notice. Using a personal computer, school computer and/or internet access implies compliance with all rules, regulations, and policies established by the school regarding technology.

St. Mary High School will not be accountable for any civil or criminal action brought against the user as the result of the school’s network and/or internet access. This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted materials or material protected by trade secrets.

Students are granted the use of school computers and the network for the purpose of education. Students should have no expectation of privacy in anything they create, store, send, or receive using the school’s computers, network, and internet access.

These are the provisions of the Technology Use Policy:

• The computer resources of the school are to be used only for school related work.
• Students are responsible for any activity on their files and for materials stored on their files. Files are to be used exclusively for academic work.
• School computers may not be used for any commercial activity, product advertisement, or political lobbying.
• Students may access only those resources for which they have authorization. Accessing drives, folders, or files that are not authorized is strictly prohibited.
• Students may not use any hardware or software designed to breach security, capture passwords, break encryption, or disrupt the operation of the computer.
• Vandalism – whether physical or via software that allows viruses, Trojan horses, etc. – is strictly prohibited and will result in loss of all computer privileges, disciplinary action, and possible referral to police authorities.
• Students may never alter school equipment, computer settings, or configurations.
• Use of the school computers and network for purposes of plagiarism is prohibited. Likewise, they cannot be used for copying or distributing copyrighted materials.
• The use of school computers to send threatening or obscene material is strictly prohibited.
• Students may not download, install, copy, or remove software from school computers.

Violation of the Technology Use Policy may result in consequences ranging from loss of computer privileges for a set period of time to, in serious cases, removal from the school.