The Chromebook requires a Google account to be used. The Hillsborough City School District manages and owns all HCSD student and staff Google Apps for Education (GAFE) accounts. The education version of Google Apps provides a self-¬contained environment for students and staff to collaborate and share information and to publish some resources publicly. Google Apps for Education is a web service and may be used from any computer with Internet access.

Through the use of the GAFE tools, students will be able to collaboratively create, edit, and share files for school related projects. The following tools are available to each student and hosted by Google as part of Hillsborough City School District’s GAFE domain:

• Mail: an individual email account for student use managed by HCSD.
• Calendar: an individual calendar providing the ability to organize personal events and shared teacher calendars.
• Drive: word processing, spreadsheet, drawing, and presentation toolset.
• Sites: an individual and collaborative website creation tool.
• Other tools, apps, and extensions will be accessible for student learning possibilities.

Privacy: Student safety is our highest priority.

• School staff and administrators have access to student files and email for monitoring purposes. Students have no expectation of privacy within HCSD Google Apps for Education accounts. 

Limited Personal Use - The intended use of the GAFE tools is for student learning. Google Apps for Education accounts or tools may not be used for:

• Unlawful activities
• Commercial purposes (running a business or trying to make money)
• Personal financial gain (running a web site to sell things)
• Inappropriate sexual or other offensive content
• Threatening another person
• Misrepresentation of the Hillsborough City School District, staff or students. Apps, sites, email, and groups are not public forums. They are extensions of classroom spaces where student free speech rights may be limited. 

Safety

• Students may not post personal contact information about themselves or other people.
• Students agree not to meet with someone they have met online without their parent’s approval and participation.
• Students will tell their teacher or other school employee about any message they receive that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable.
• Students are responsible for the use of their individual accounts. Under no conditions should a student provide his or her password to another person. 

Access Restriction - Due Process:

• Access to Google Apps for Education is considered a privilege accorded at the discretion of the Hillsborough City School District. The District maintains the right to immediately withdraw the access and use of GAFE when there is reason to believe that violations of law or District policies have occurred. In such cases, the alleged violation will be referred to the Principal for further investigation and account restoration, suspension, or termination. As a party of the Agreement with Google, the school also reserves the right to immediately suspend any user account suspected of inappropriate use. Pending review, a user account may be terminated as part of such action. 

Technology use in the Hillsborough City School District is governed by federal laws including:

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):
COPPA applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. By default, advertising is turned off for Hillsborough City School District’s presence in Google Apps for Education. No personal student information is collected for commercial purposes. This permission form 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. --COPPA-- http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.shtm

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
FERPA protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents the rights to review student records. Under FERPA, schools may disclose directory information but parents may request the school not disclose this information. Parents are provided the opportunity annually to opt out of disclosing their student's directory information on the District's enrollment/re-enrollment forms. --FERPA-- http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa

During the school year, your child’s image and/or work may be published on the Internet through the district, school, and teacher websites. The purpose of these publications is to provide the school community with an opportunity to learn more about our school and to showcase their achievements. Additionally, student images or work may be published on HCSD district, school, teacher or Associated Parent Group managed social media pages (including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube).

While the Hillsborough City School District is excited about the possibilities of Internet publishing, we realize that some parents may have concerns about such issues. The District has strict policies forbidding the use of a student’s full name or an image accompanied by a name on any public website, but we may post student work and photographs on the district, school, and/or teacher websites.

If you have any questions, please contact Maureen Sullivan, Director of Technology, at 650-548-4208, or msullivan@hcsdk8.org.