Internet Filtering and School Staff

[Maureen Moris]

We are currently writing a staff internet use policy.  

LightSpeed is brand new to my school (about 2 months old) I am still in the process of setting it up.   I have been asked to get input on how other schools are handling filtering for staff.  

Same as students?

Open times before and after school?

A timed (10-15 minute) bypass they can use?

Totally open internet use?

Basically open more than students with a some areas blocked?

What do you block from staff?  

(Chat, blogging, twitter, facebook, shopping, video, music streaming, personal email sites, etc ...) 

[Brian Norman]

We use Lightspeed and flexibility of configuration (not to mention the email archiving) are fantastic.

Absolutely not, staff have much greater priviledges for surfing then students.
Students have more access to games before and after school.
Totally open... sounds like a good way to lose your erate funding.
Staff are more open then students, but I still block them from porn, gambling and such.
For staff some categories I block (like security) I give them the override option so they can still open a site if needed.

I hope that helps.
Brian

[Maureen Moris]

thanks for your input

Do you have any written staff policies in addition to the filtering you do?
Do you give staff access to the social networking sites and personal email they seem to be the big questions?
Porn, gambling and lots more are currently being blocked here ... we are not closing sites, we are in the process of deciding what is okay to open up.



Brian Norman said:

We use Lightspeed and flexibility of configuration (not to mention the email archiving) are fantastic.

Absolutely not, staff have much greater priviledges for surfing then students.
Students have more access to games before and after school.
Totally open... sounds like a good way to lose your erate funding.
Staff are more open then students, but I still block them from porn, gambling and such.
For staff some categories I block (like security) I give them the override option so they can still open a site if needed.

I hope that helps.
Brian

[Brian Norman]

I believe we have a staff policy internet usage somewhere.
Yes, staff have access to social networks and personal email.

[Dianne C. Tillman]

We give staff much more access than students. Staff have access to web mail sites (gmail, yahoo and hotmail), facebook, twitter and youtube to name a few. It is my understanding as well that total access would be a violation of CIPA. There is no override given to staff. I have had basically no complaints since starting to use Lightspeed. If a teacher needs a site unblocked for school use, it is unblocked.

[Mary Mehsikomer]

For CIPA, and consequently E-rate, you need to make sure you are blocking graphic images or other material taht is considered child pornography or otherwise harmful to minors. You are allowed to open access for adults for bona fide research purposes. It is up to you locally to decide what a bona-fide research purpose would be - CIPA does not define that.

Brian and Dianne are quite correct that totally open Internet would be a violation of CIPA and could get us in trouble in terms of E-rate.