Partnership For Success

It Takes A Village

With the advent of the Internet, social media, and 24x7 information access, ensuring our students have the skills to safely and effectively navigate the web in and out of school is a critical component of preparing them for their futures. Union School District is committed to working together with parents to provide safe and informed access for our students. 

Connecting to Wireless

1. At the bottom right, select the time.

2. Select Not Connected . Note: If you see your Wi-Fi network name and a signal strength, your Chromebook is already connected to Wi-Fi.

3. Turn on Wi-Fi.

4. Your Chromebook will automatically look for available networks and show them to you in a list.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INSTRUCTIONS 

Insurance for Devices

Parents of first graders through eighth graders: Insure your student's Chromebook annually. Worth Ave. Group has open enrollment for insuring your student's device for $29 for the 24-25 school year. This is a voluntary program, but the coverage protects your student's issued device from August 1st 2024 through July 31, 2025. Click on the link here. Insurance enrollment window ends on 9/4/24. 

Web Filtering and Internet Access

Internet Protection

The district is using a web filter solution from Securly (http://www.securly.com) to block websites and content that matches predefined content categories. District staff periodically review the web filter logs for violations of the student Responsible Use Policy. This web filter provides Internet filtering on devices when used outside of school, regardless of the network being used. It will also work in combination with a home filtering solution. It is important to recognize that no web filter is capable of blocking all objectionable content all of the time.

Ensuring students are accessing the Internet responsibly both at school and at home requires a combination of "over the shoulder" monitoring, periodically reviewing student Internet activity and educating students on the appropriate use of the Internet. When students are at home, parents/guardians should decide when and how often the take-home device is used. 

Bark for Schools+

Bark for Schools is a student and school safety product that detects potential issues across Google Workspace and Chrome to help protect students online and in real life (https://support.bark.us/hc/en-us/articles/360050031512-Bark-for-Schools). This tool scans emails, chats, and saved files for issues like bullying, online predators, sexual content, suicidal ideation, and more. For more information on Bark’s at Home Parental Control options, please visit https://www.bark.us/learn/bark-home/

If you have questions or concerns regarding the district web filters or other online safety measures on district-owned accounts and devices, send a help-desk ticket at unionsd.incidentiq.com, and please include the student’s name, school, and grade. 

Digital Citizenship

Understanding online safety and privacy is crucial in today’s world. Digital citizenship involves being aware of one’s digital footprint, understanding the risks associated with online activities, and knowing how to protect one’s personal information from cyber threats such as hacking, phishing, and identity theft (learning.com). Students in Kindergarten through 8th grade receive Common Sense Media training three to four times, each school year. 

Parent resources following the lessons are available. Please see Union School District’s Benchmarks for Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy for more information .

Screen Time

How much time children spend using technology during the day is a concern for many parents. Recent studies have differentiated between active screen time and passive screen time, but everyone agrees that setting expectations for overall screen time for children is important to providing a well-rounded learning experience.

• Common Sense Media's Screen Time Resources

• The American Academy of Pediatrics revises guidelines on screen time - Forbes Article

• Forget Screen Time Rules - Lean In To Parenting Your Wired Child, Author Says - NPR Article

• The Surprising, Research-Backed Benefits of Active Screen Time - EdSurge Article

Articles

Information from around the web:

• Article: "Five Myths & Truths about Kids' Internet Safety"

• Article: How do I keep my kids on 'safe sites'?

• Article: "Are Some Types of Screen Time Better than Others?"

The following Board Policies address Student Privacy:

• Student and Family Privacy Rights

• Student Records 

• Student Use of Technology

The following laws relate to Student Privacy:

California Law

Safeguarding Pupil Digital Records (AB 1584): Establishes a new section to the Education Code to provide local educational agencies (including school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools) with control to contract with third parties that provide digital educational software or services, including cloud-based services, for the digital storage, management, and retrieval of pupil records.  Safeguards are required that limit the use of the pupil records, ensuring compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, describing breach disclosure procedures, and more. This bill went into effect on January 1, 2015. 

Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World (SB 568): A new online statute for minors’ rights takes effect on January 1, 2015 that applies to California residents under 18 years of age. The statute prohibits marketing or advertising specified products and services (including alcoholic beverages, firearms, and tobacco) to minors and from knowingly using, disclosing, or compiling a minor’s personal information (or permitting a third party to do so). The statute also permits a minor to request the removal of certain content posted by the minor to various websites. This statute was intended to exceed existing online standards under the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). For example, a minor is defined by the new state law under SB 568 as any person under 18 years of age, whereas COPPA applies only to those under 13 

Pupil Records and Social Media (AB 1442): Restricts a school district, county education office, or charter school that gathers information from an enrolled pupil on social media from using such information for other than contractually obligated purposes, establishes certain prohibitions on the selling or sharing of information, and imposes other requirements related to the destruction of information. This bill goes into effect on January 1, 2015. 

Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SB 1177): Prohibits operators of websites and online services and applications used primarily for K–12 school purposes, and designed and marketed for those purposes, from pursuing targeted advertising to students and their parents or legal guardians. It also prohibits using covered information to build a profile of K–12 students, selling a student’s information, and disclosing certain types of information. The bill also imposes an obligation for operators to maintain reasonable security procedures and practices and to delete information requested by a school or district in certain circumstances. This bill goes into effect on January 1, 2016.

Federal Law

The Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires the district to have technology measures and policies in place to prevent students from accessing harmful materials including obscene and pornographic content. 

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. This agreement allows the school to act as an agent for parents in the collection of information within the school context. The school’s use of student information is solely for education purposes.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of student educational records and gives parents rights to review student records.