Carson City School District Board of Trustees will review proposed changes Tuesday to how the district handles student technology, internet monitoring, personal devices and responsibility for damaged equipment.
The changes to Policy and Regulation 218 would remove several existing rules and replace them with broader guidelines, and the ability for the superintendent or other district administration to set technology standards and procedures.
Officials say the goal is to modernize technology practices and improve security.
Watch the meeting live below:
Excerpt example of some proposed changes:
Student privacy and internet monitoring
One significant change would eliminate an existing regulation requiring parental consent before personally identifiable student information can be used or shared online, with exceptions allowed under federal law. For students 18 or older, the current regulation requires the student’s permission instead.
The district’s detailed definition of personally identifiable information would also be removed.
The district is still required to comply with federal privacy laws, including FERPA, but district policy and regulations would not retain the specific consent language.
The proposal would also remove language assigning parents responsibility for monitoring their children’s internet use outside school.
The replacement regulation requires the district to monitor minors’ online activities and states that its rules apply regardless of physical location when district technology, accounts or services are used. However, it does not specify the extent of monitoring outside school hours or distinguish between school-related and personal activity conducted through district technology.
An existing commitment to filter internet content both on and off campus would also be replaced with requirements based on federal internet safety law.
Specific online safety rules, including warnings against sharing personal information or meeting strangers contacted online without parental permission, would be replaced with broader requirements for digital safety education.
Personal devices and district business
Currently, the use of personal devices must follow district rules when used on school property and cannot interfere with district systems.
The proposed regulation generally prohibits personal devices from replacing or supplementing district technology for teaching, learning or operations without authorization from the district.
Financial responsibility and device returns
The district would also change when students and employees can be charged for lost, damaged or unreturned equipment.
The existing regulation allows students or parents to be charged for damage or loss caused by negligence or intentional misuse. The replacement would apply to students, employees and other authorized users, adding unauthorized modifications, failure to exercise reasonable care and failure to return equipment as possible grounds for financial responsibility.
Meanwhile, existing provisions allowing the district to deduct repair costs from employee paychecks or withhold pay until devices are returned would be removed.
Requirements to file police reports for stolen equipment, along with specific deadlines and procedures for reporting theft and returning devices, would also be eliminated in favor of broader reporting and return requirements.
Another provision requiring parents of students under 18 to protect the district against certain financial claims arising from technology use would be removed entirely.
Data storage and parental options
The proposed regulation would also replace specific rules about where district data can be stored with a general requirement to use district-approved accounts and services.
It would remove the existing requirement that users generally sign or electronically agree to the district’s technology rules before receiving access, instead allowing the district to decide when acknowledgements are required.
Neither the proposed policy nor regulation explains whether parents can refuse district-issued Chromebooks, request paper assignments instead of digital work or opt out of certain student data collection.
District officials describe the changes as an effort to improve technology security, student safety and district oversight while moving some procedures into separate administrative standards.
The revisions are scheduled for discussion only under agenda items 14 and 15. No final vote is scheduled Tuesday.
See the full policy changes in the agenda below:
Additional CCSD Board coverage to follow.
