It is the belief of the Gainesville City School System that the use of telecommunications, including the Internet, in instructional programs is an educational strategy which facilitates communication, innovation, resource sharing, and access to information.  Use of the Internet must be in support of education and research and consistent with the educational mission, goals, and objectives of the school system.

It shall be the policy of the Gainesville City Board of Education that the school system shall have in continuous operation, with respect to any computers belonging to the school having access to the Internet:

1.      A qualifying “technology protection measure,” as that term is defined in Section 1703(b)(1) of the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and  

2.      Procedures or guidelines developed by the superintendent, administrators and/or other appropriate personnel which provide for monitoring the online activities of users and the use of the chosen technology protection measure to protect against access through such computers to visual depictions that are (i) obscene, (ii) child pornography, or (iii) harmful to minors, as those terms are defined in Section 1702(b)(1) and (2) of the Children’s Internet Protection act of 2000.  Such procedures or guidelines shall be designed to:

a.      Provide for monitoring the online activities of users to prevent, to the extent practicable, access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and the World Wide Web;

b.      Promote the safety and security of minors when using electron mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications;

c.      Prevent unauthorized access, including so-called “hacking” and other unauthorized activities by minors online;

d.      Prevent the unauthorized disclosure, use and dissemination of personal identification information regarding minors; and

e.      Restrict minors’ access to materials “harmful to minors,” as that term is defined in Section 1703(b)(2) of the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000.