What does it mean for school districts?

Protecting Children in the 21st Century ActSigned into law by Congress in October 2008

Extension of Child Internet Protection Act of 2000 (CIPA), which required filtering of inappropriate materials for students

Adds an additional Internet Safety Policy requirement that districts educate students about appropriate online behavior

School board must adopt policy in compliance with new requirement prior to July 1, 2012 for district to remain eligible for E-Rate funding

What is E-Rate?Federal program run by the FCCProvides rebates and discounts to assist schools

in obtaining affordable telecommunications and Internet access

Rebates for eligible products and services range from 20% to 90%, based on poverty levels (ASD average is 45-50%)

Eligible products and services include: Phone lines Cell phone service Internet access Website hosting Networking hardware

New E-Rate Requirements:School board must have Internet Safety Policy

in place to certify district compliance with:Limiting access to inappropriate materials,

including:Depictions and images of obscene materialPornographyInformation harmful to minors (drugs, weapons,

etc.)Prevention of inappropriate network usage,

including:HackingUnauthorized disclosure and use of information

about students

New E-Rate Requirements (continued):Education, supervision, and monitoring of

student computer use

District must educate all students in the areas of:

Internet Safety

Interacting with others on social networking websites or chat rooms

Cyber-bullying awareness and response

District must provide ongoing supervision and monitoring of student computer use

Good news: We already do most of these things!Limiting access to inappropriate materials

Both ASD and State of Delaware have Internet filters in place to filter inappropriate content

Prevention of inappropriate network usage District has Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) in place

All students must read and have parents sign AUP before they are granted computer access

Education, supervision, and monitoring of student computer use

State of Delaware funds iSafe curriculum for all schools

Good news: We already do most of these things!Education, supervision, and monitoring of student

computer use (continued) All elementary and middle schools already include iSafe

curriculum in Technology Education classes. Topics covered include:

Cyber-bullying Internet safety Social networking Online personal safety Online behavior & etiquette Cyber citizenship

Student computer use is visually monitored by building staff, and remotely monitored by Technology Services staff periodically

All Internet and network activity is logged and can be reviewed whenever necessary by Technology Services.

What’s at stake?Appoquinimink receives nearly $70,000 each

year in discounts and rebates for school phone lines, cell phone service, and school websites

The State of Delaware also receives annual E-Rate rebates of approximately $65,000 to offset the cost of Internet access in Appoquinimink schools

Funding lost if board policy not adopted before July 1, 2012: $135,000 annually

Next Steps:Achieve 100% compliance with education

requirement Require high schools to include iSafe curriculum in

Technology / Business Education courses

Consider adding language in board policy to cover these requirements

Questions?