Acceptable Use Policy AUP Policy Review: Los Angeles Unified School District

With continuously evolving technologies, it is important for organizations to set up standards that helps mitigate potential liability in regards to staff potentially of using or misusing such technologies. It is obvious that an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a very important policy within modern organizations in order to define what acceptable employee behavior when accessing company resources is. AUP's help provide staff the technological resources that they need, while setting clear limits as to what is off-limits. For the purpose of this evaluation, the Los Angeles Unified School District's AUP in regards to its school computers and networking systems will be analyzed and critiqued in order to provide recommendations for future changes.

Organizations that include technology devices within their operations need to have AUP's second-place to make sure that such devices are not abused or misused in a way that would make the organization liable for misconduct. There is no other environment where this becomes more important than the context of our nation's schools. There is a huge drive to improve the technology used within classrooms and school facilities; yet, at the same time there are issues with how such technologies might be a liability for school districts if misused by either staff or students. For the purpose of this analysis, the AUP policy in regards to computer and network facilities will be examined within the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is one of the largest districts in the country. Essentially, the policy states that "teachers, administrators, and other school personnel should ensure district data systems are used in a responsible, efficient, ethical, and legal manner, and that such use be in support of the districts business and education objectives" (Los Angeles Unified School District, 2012, p 1). The AUP helps provide confidentiality, integrity, and availability within...

The primary objective of this AUP is to provide teaching and administrative staff with the innovative and technological tools needed to make the classrooms the most effective, well at the same time limiting potential risk by setting out the clear limitations in use of such technologies. Staff members can only use computers on the clock if it is part of their lesson planning or execution. Yet, they're allowed use the computer facilities on their off periods for limited private use. Separate AUP standards help keep kids working on their schoolwork, instead of being distracted by third-party websites, or even potentially risking the entire network through their online activity. Students are restricted to the use of computers only for activities that augment their learning experience. Both students and staff are restricted from breaking any state or federal laws, including the transmitting of pornography or any other scene material through school-based computers, along with any other crimes that carry punishment under the laws. Additionally, the selling or purchasing of illegal items where the unauthorized use of others' e-mail addresses is also forbidden. Using school computers for any sort of financial benefit or gain is also prohibited in LAUSD's AUP policy.
However, even in the most recent adaptations to the AUP policy made in 2012, there still some missing elements to the policy that would help strengthen and increase its overall success in minimizing misuse of school networks and computers. The AUP policy was adopted in May of 2012, yet oddly enough this adaptation did not include anything regarding social media. Social networking and social media has become the latest trend, with both staff and students most likely participating in one way or another. However, the AUP does not directly define how social media can and should be used on school property. According to King (2012), "social media has many benefits: social media postings violate the law or district policies…