Using the World Wide Web to communicate with students and parents is a valuable tool.  Managing the process, however, can be problematic.  The following guidelines have been gathered to set the stage for Web development work by faculty and staff .  These guidelines are not all-inclusive and are subject to change.  If you have any questions regarding them, please contact the Director of Technology.

Classroom or team websites are hosted on our own Web server.  All Web sites created to support the mission of the school system may be hosted either on our Web server or an external internet service provider (ISP).

Roles and Responsibilities:

• The School Committee and Superintendent have ultimate authority over all content, links, and access rights.
• The Director of Technology shall maintain this guidelines document and act on behalf of the School Committee and Superintendent for the daily operation of the Web site.  The Director will provide access rights and development assistance for staff and provide policy recommendations to the administration.
• School Principals will approve/disapprove of any or all content for their school’s Web site.
• The Webmaster will implement changes to the design, content, structure, security as determined by the Director of Technology

Content of Web Site

• All content and links contained in the Belmont Public Schools Web site should support the mission of the system.  
• Links to personal sites of staff or students are not allowed without specific approval from the Director of Technology.
• All links to external educational resources should be fully examined for appropriateness of content and educational value.  Such resources may, if more than informational in nature be subject to the scrutiny of the “Educational Software Review Criteria.”  Advertising on sites linked from the Web site should be avoided when possible and scrutinized when unavoidable.  Consult with the Director of Technology if advertising of external resource sites is a possible issue.

Privacy and Safety

• The Belmont Public Schools hosts Websites for each school. Occasionally we wish to post a picture of a particular school activity such as a science project, a play, artwork, sporting event, or other activity. This may involve posting a picture showing a student or group of students or a sample of a student’s work. If a student’s picture or work is used, these are the guidelines we follow:
  • Only first names shall be used if referencing student pictures or scanned classroom work.
  • Personal information will not be published
  • Documents will not include information that indicates the physical location of a student at a given time other than attendance at a particular school or participation in an activity.

See the “Publicity Guidelines and Opt-Out Form .”

Please return this form to your child’s teacher only if you do NOT want this information to be released for publication during the school year.

BPS Publicity Guidelines and Opt-Out Form

Copyright Law

• Copyright laws shall be observed for all materials posted on the Web site.  Permission must be obtained for any copyrighted material (pictures, worksheets, etc.) and footnoted on the appropriate Web page.
• All content created for the Belmont Public Schools Web site, unless under prior copyright, is the property of the Belmont Public Schools.
• Although students may employ “fair use” rules to incorporate copyrighted material in their school projects, such projects cannot be posted to the Web site without obtaining permission from the author of each piece if copyrighted material.

Technical Standards

• Content posted on the Web site shall reflect the high professional standards of the school system.  Spelling, grammar, design and color scheme, links, accessibility, and navigation are items considered for scrutiny.  Assistance in this regard is available from the Webmaster.

Web server usage

• The FTP portal is available for quick and easy uploading to the web server.
• A virtual (FTP) folder will be created, disk space and bandwidth will be provided on the web server for any BPS teacher or group of teachers who created a classroom or team web site.
• In order to create an individual account for a secure access to the virtual folder, teachers should contact the webmaster at webmaster@belmont.k12.ma.us. The FTP and handouts folder will be created and confirmation letter with instructions will be send.
• Security protection, automated log analysis and regular back-up will be provided.
• Technical support and training is available from the Webmaster.