Video Conferencing Guidelines

The use of video conferencing can help connect teachers to their students while learning from home, and many teachers have begun using this resource to meet with classes, small groups, and individual students.  The District is using two video conferencing platforms: Google Hangouts and Zoom. The District has taken several precautions to ensure the privacy of these video conferences, but we rely on our partnership with parents to ensure these tools are used appropriately by students while they learn from home.  Please help your child to follow these video conferencing guidelines:

• Students' ability to use video conferencing with or without parents' direct supervision is a decision parents need to make based on the age and independence of the child.  For example, while K-2 students may require an adult's direct assistance while using video conferencing tools, older students may be able to use these learning resources independently.

• Parents/guardians should be mindful of the family activities and images that are or heard/seen during a student's use of video conferencing.  Please have your children use these tools in a space that you can monitor, yet private enough for them to minimize distractions.

• Students need to ensure that video conferencing devices are fully charged in advance of the video conference session, and they should know how to turn off the camera or microphone as needed.

• Please remind students to dress and behave appropriately when video conferencing.  The same rules of conduct and behavior that apply to the classroom apply to video conferencing.  Please refer to the District's Code of Conduct to review behavior expectations.

• Students/parents/guardians, are not permitted to take photos, screenshots, or recordings of any video or audio from these video conference sessions. Participants do not have permission to do so and should be aware that this is a violation of the Student Acceptable Use of Technology policy.

• Teachers may choose to record instructional video conferencing sessions and share them with students who cannot attend the live session.  Recordings of sessions will not be publicly available, and will only be shared within a secure resource such as Google Classroom or Seesaw, or as a link in an email to the class or individual students. Students should not share links provided by teachers with anyone. Faculty will announce their intention to record the session giving students/parents/guardians the opportunity to turn off their camera and/or microphone if privacy is of concern.