Unit 7 - Copyright Policy

Does your school district have a Copyright Policy?

I could not locate a copy of the Copyright Policy for our school. It is my guess that we do not have one. There is mention of copyright in our Acceptable Use policy, but it is hidden under the federal laws and regulations. My guess would be that very few parents go that deep into the policy. We also have a section in the student handbook that discuss plagiarism and cheating.

Does that Copyright Policy need to be updated to reflect technology issues?

This is yet another policy that needs to be created and approved by our school board. Policies are only as good as the approximate time they were created for. All policies, especially technology, need to be looked at regularly to see if they are in compliance of the times. That gray area of when things are not covered or discussed are the times schools can get in trouble or be found powerless.

Does your school district follow copyright laws?

I would like to say that we always follow copyright laws, but know that is not the case. Our school needs to work on finding and maintaining our curriculum cycles. We have teachers that are reproducing copies of stuff that should not be reproduced, but due to its age and inability to get it gets copied. While we try to stop this practice, we are not sitting at the copy machine and policing every copy that gets made. We are working on changing our mascot/school symbol from the Oakland Raider to the ORR in a shield. This is not a change that happens over-night, but we are working on fixing it. There are many other examples of copyright things in our school, but these are some of the more visible and bigger ones.

What are your feelings about copyright laws?

In my opinion, copyright laws are a bit like speed limits. I know they exist and I try to follow them, but sometimes knowingly and unknowingly break them for various reasons. The size of Oldham-Ramona makes it like an old county road that gets patrolled sparingly. Very few companies and organizations are tracking down schools the size of ours to bust them for copyright violations. Schools like Sioux Falls, Harrisburg, and Rapid City are much more likely to get “patrolled”. Like speed limits, we still need to try to follow copyright laws. It is also important for staff and the public to know that you are doing everything you can as administrator to follow the rules and set a good example.