What is a School Board?
A school board is a legislative body of citizens called school directors, who are elected locally andserve as agents of the state legislature. Each board consists of nine members who serve four-year terms of office without pay. School directors,
although locally elected, are really state officials, copartners with the legislature.

How are Policies Created?  Local school boards were created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to carry out the
constitutional mandates of a “thorough and efficient” system of public education andare responsible for developing policies. The policies drive the decision making of the district School boards may also contract the services of the Pennsylvania School Boards' Association or develop their own policies. There are ten categories that most school policies encompass:

• 000 Local Board Procedures
• 100 Programs
• 200 Pupils
• 300 Administrative Employees
• 400 Professional Employees
• 500 Classified Employees
• 600 Finance
• 700 Property
• 800 Operations
• 900 Community

Technology-Related Policies in Upper Merion   

SECTION: OPERATIONS

TITLE: ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS AND NETWORK

ADOPTED: July 7, 2003

This 17 page document is posted on the district website. It clearly defines the tems of the document. It discusses authority and responsibility while on the network and provides guidelines for the students, staff and guests. This includes access to the network and electronic communications systems, parental notification and responsibility, school district limitation of liability, and prohibitions related to general issues, security and acess, and operations. It also includes content guidelines related to what may be electronically published on the school district’s electronic communications systems and network. There is a due process that clearly oulines consequences in the event that any of these guidelines are violated including copyright infringement and plagiarism as well as consequences for inappropriate use.

Purpose of Technology-Related Policies   As students become more tech savy, and have access to certain technologies at home, the need arises for policies that deal with copyright issues relating to current technologies (i.e. what can/cannot be used from the Internet, movies, music, . . .). It is also essential for staff to understand policies when establishing their own home pages which are linked to the district