AUP/FERPA

The curriculum goals of the Edgewood Independent School District call for integrating technology into our instructional programs and classroom practice. Therefore, students' access to and use of electronic resources, including the Internet, is age and grade-appropriate and increases gradually from year to year. Use of the Internet by students at any grade is required to be related directly to specific curriculum objectives.

The use of the internet and electronic resources requires personal responsibility on the part of the user. To insure responsible use, all students are required to have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) agreement signed by the parent/guardian and the student upon entry into the Edgewood School District. Noncompliance can result in the removal of computer privileges and other disciplinary measures.

AUP/FERPA Documents

AUP FERPA Guide

The spreadsheet is divided into two sections.
Column G is AUP. Column G can only be "Y"=yes, "N"=no or blank. Yes means the parent gives the school permission to allow the student to use the computer connected to the internet. "No" means the parent does not allow the student to use the computer. Teachers must provide alternative activities for these students. Blank means the AUP has not been returned to the school.

Column H-N is the FERPA section.
The first FERPA column (H) show the date the student entered the school for this year. This is important because the law allows us to have an auto-opt-in for FERPA. This means that if a parent does not return the FERPA form within 10 days of the child entering school, then all other columns for FERPA becomes "yes". Typically, dataclerks do not have to enter the "yes" designations... just the "no" designations. So any blank in the other remaining 6 FERPA columns = "yes".... provided the date column is at least 10 days in the past.

Column I is District Publications... "Yes" or blank = a student's picture and name can appear in a district publication such as a yearbook, newsletter, panorama picture. A "no" means the picture and name cannot be included in this type of publication.

Column J&K are for High Schools. Elementary and Middle Schools do not have to worry about Colleges or the Military

Column L is for publications outside the district such as the newspaper, local, or national magazines and their ePublishing outlets. These are human-interest type articles. "Yes" or blank = a student's picture and name can appear in local or national publications.

Column M is for private requestors. This is two-fold. 1) A private a requestor is an outside organization such as the Lion's Club. A "yes" or a blank = we are allowed to release names, addresses, phone numbers and other directory information to private requestors. A "no" means we cannot release the directory information to private requestors. (this usually happens at the Central Office level) 2) A private requestor is also a third-party company that provides Apps or web portals. A "yes" = students are allowed to use apps and go to web portals that collect information on them (usually requires a student to log in to use). A "no" =student is not allowed to use website or apps that require logins. EXEMPTION: sites and apps from companies that EISD has a contract with are exempt because we have an agreement in place, so the site or app is considered part of the curriculum. Examples are DreamBox, iStation, eStar/mStar, etc.

Column N is for web publications and social media... this sounds a lot like the other publications, but they are for public consumption. Web publications in this context is the district's web, campus web, and teacher web. Social Media in this context means district-approved social media outlets. The types of items published would include pictures, names, writing samples, art work, presentations, videos, slides, audio clips, etc... to be published on the campus, district, and teacher websites or social media platform. A "yes" or a blank = we can publish these types of items on social media or on our teacher, campus, or district web, a "no" = we cannot publish these types of items.

AUP/FERPA Q&A

  • Is the AUP/FERPA spreadsheet upgdated with Gradebook?
    Yes... the spreadsheet I send to the principals comes from ITCCS... same as the TxGradebook. Each teacher has access to each of their student's information as Ms. Jett shared, but the spreadsheet puts it all in one easy report so principals will know which students have/have not submitted their AUP signature sheet. The report can be filtered by any column including home room teacher.

  • Teachers are asking in regards to e-mail Ms. Jett sent them about restrictions in Gradebook and whether students could use the computer/iPad versus using it for Istation, Dreambox, etc. Once a student has returned their AUP and it is marked by the parent that the student has permission to use the internet, then students can use any computer, iPad or any other device that can browse the internet.
    Once the school has the AUP returned, then those students are allowed to use all programs and Apps that are considered part of district curriculum. This includes iStation, Dreambox, eStar/mStar etc. and other activities such as research, searches, and class activities.

  • In Gradebook if Permission Granted was under District AUP Policy, then they can use computer/tablet. Correct... they can use any internet device for all district curriculum programs and Apps... including activities such as research, searches, and class activities.... but not limited to these activities. The FERPA document allows parents to choose how schools are allowed to use student's private information. The graphic I sent out yesterday shows what each column means.

  • In Gradebook if No was under Private Requester, then they could not use apps, software, internet. This is a yes/no answer... but I'll elaborate. If the parent said "Yes" on the AUP... then students can use internet connected computers for any reason, so long as it is associated with the actual curriculum. This is limited only by the Private Requester section of FERPA. What this means, if a student has a "No" in Private Requester is that teachers can not use 3rd party web sites or use 3rd party Apps that collect personal information about the student as part of the lesson. (In this situation, 3rd party means a program, portal, or App that Edgewood does not have a legal agreement in place to use. Therefore, it is not part of the Edgewood, curriculum).
    Students are still allowed to use internet connected computers and they are allowed to access all Edgewood adopted curriculum such as iStation and DreamBox, and do research, etc... but the teacher cannot have his/her students go to sites that collect information as part of the teacher's lesson since we do not have a legal agreement in place with those companies.
    **Of course, students can choose to go to 3rd part sites if they want... but teachers cannot make them access 3rd party sites unless the parents have either selected "yes" in Private Requester, or did not select anything and the student has been enrolled longer than 10 days. (under FERPA, a lack of response = "yes" after 10 days.)