PURPOSE
Buncombe County Schools (BCS) is committed to moving students and staff forward in a 21st century learning environment. As part of this plan, Buncombe County Schools will allow students and staff to bring their own devices (BYOD) during any teaching and learning day. With classroom teacher discretion, students may use their own devices in the classroom. Participants should use personal devices during the instructional day to support their educational activities and maintain academic integrity in all their work at all times. Access for personal reasons is secondary and must not disrupt the learning of others. The current cell phone policy for students remains in effect and supersedes this statement of use.
PLAN
Students and staff may bring their own devices (BYOD) to school during any teaching and learning day. The BYOD wireless network will only provide filtered Internet access. BCS teachers, media assistants and other staff, are not responsible for configuring personal devices to access this network. Users may not access the Buncombe County Schools network via hardwired connection with any personal device. BYOD devices will not have access to the internal BCS network or resources provided by the internal BCS network, including shared drives and printers.
MAINTENANCE and REPAIR
Responsibility for maintenance and repair of privately owned devices rests with the individual owner. Buncombe County Schools (BCS), and its employees, are not responsible for the maintenance and repair of personal devices. Submitted Bolt tickets without proper asset management tags associated with BCS property will not be supported.
SECURITY and DAMAGES
It is the joint responsibility of school personnel and the parent or guardian of each student to educate the student about his/her responsibilities and to establish expectations when using technology. Responsibility to keep privately owned devices safe and secure rests with the individual owner. BYOD participants are prohibited from sharing personal devices, creating “hot spots”, and deliberately tampering with school system property or property of others, including uploading and downloading illegal material or inappropriate content.
Buncombe County Schools (BCS), and its employees, are not liable for any device stolen or damaged while on campus or off-campus at a BCS sponsored event. If a device is stolen or damaged, such incidents will be handled through the local administrative office in the same manner as other personal artifacts that are impacted in similar situations. Any device connecting to the district WiFi network, including the segmented "BCSBYOD" wireless network, is subject to seizure under certain circumstances.
Below are frequently asked questions for Students and for Teachers regarding the BCS plan for BYOD: