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The Chester Union Free School District is committed to providing every student with a comprehensive educational experience which maximizes individual potential. To support the mission of the District, it is imperative that there is a seamless integration of technology which enhances, facilitates, and supports teaching and learning. Our students utilize technology in every aspect of their lives. We must continue to work towards the establishment of a technology infused collaborative learning community. This type of environment will encourage inquiry, creativity and the development of 21st Century skills. Go HAMBOs!

District Technology Overview

Chester Schools was the first K-12 school district in the Hudson Valley, NY to send home 1-to-1 student and teacher Chromebooks starting in 2012-13 and awarded a NYSSBA “Innovative School” competitive award in 2014. The 1-to-1 plan initially covered Grade 8-12 students and teachers. During the 2019-2020 school year, the plan was expanded to cover all K-12 students and teachers. We completed NYS Smart Schools Bond Act projects and reimbursements during the 2018-19 school year. A major focus of our projects addressed upgrades in the area of: district-wide security cameras, network infrastructure upgrades, Newline Boards for K-12 classrooms and the acquisition of additional K-12 Chromebooks. We almost put in place significant upgrades to our network for Cybersecurity during the 2019-2020 school year. The District Technology Committee met several times during the 2021-22 school year to share feedback from a variety of stakeholders, to upgrade our District Technology Plan and make continued improvements based upon growing technology needs around the district. In 2021-22 the Technology Departments shared an updated NYS Digital Equity Survey with all K-12 parents to assess any technology needs in regard to remote learning. The district has provided home Internet access “hotspots” to families in need as part of this plan.

CUFSD Tech Plan 2022-2025 

Student/Parent Support

A key component of instructional technology is the support students, and often their caregivers as well, need in order to do schoolwork successfully at home. Digital equity requires that all students have the same ability to do homework as well as schoolwork. To provide a way for parents and students to have their technology questions answered, Chester HAMBOs Helpdesk was created (link below).

For any/all questions regarding Cybersecurity & Data Privacy please contact: Mr. Edward A. Spence, Director of Technology & Data Management 

PARENT PORTAL

Parent Portal allows you access to your student’s profile via the internet anytime, anywhere. The family-oriented design enables you to view all of your student’s information with one log-in regardless of grade or school assignment.  Parent Portal is a highly secure, internet-based application through which you are able to view district-permitted details of your student’s academic records.
Parent Portal / Schooltool (chesterufsd.org)  

• Parent Portal Instructions
• Sign Up / Information Sheet
• Parent Portal
• Parent Portal - Parent's User Guide

Technical & Informational Notes:

• Parents should not share their password with anyone and should not set their browsers to auto login to the portal. Please see the letter sent home for more information and all rules explained.
• Stepparents or guardians that do not have legal custody of a child will not be granted parent portal right unless a copy of legal documentation is attached to the Acceptance Form.
• Security features of the Parent Portal include:
  > Three unsuccessful login attempts will disable your Parent Portal account.
  > In order to use the portal again, you will need to contact Mr. Ed Spence, who can generate a new temporary password for you.
  > You will be automatically logged off if you leave the Parent Portal web browser open and inactive for a period of time.
  > All attempts at logging into the system are recorded and monitored.
• If you have a third-party firewall installed on your computer, such as McAfee or Norton Symantec, etc., you may need to configure this firewall software to this website. Please contact your software vendor if you encounter problems accessing the website or for further information.
• If you are going through a proxy server, you may also have to enable Secure Socket Layer (SSL) in order for the page to display.

We hope this information is helpful to parents/guardians. Please contact us with any questions or concerns. Thank you.

COMPUTER NETWORK/INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

Internet access is available to students in the Chester School District. Our goal in providing this service to students is to promote educational excellence in the district by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication. An Acceptable Use Contract is a written agreement, signed by students and their parents or guardians, outlining the terms and conditions of Network and Internet use. It specifically sets out acceptable uses, rules of online behavior, and access privileges. (Board Policy 7315)

This document must be reviewed and completed by both Students and parents-guardians and submitted to be on file in the Main Office. Failure to submit the completed form will result in discontinuing internet access through the Chromebook.

Chester UFSD COMPUTER NETWORK/INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE form

Each year, NYSED requires parents in K-12 schools to complete their NYS Digital Equity Survey for each of their students. This survey is very brief with eight short questions. This survey is located in the Chester Schooltool Parent Portal. Please submit as soon as possible for each student. We also created a hard-copy version of this survey and distributed to our school offices and also to the PTA/PTSA. The link below is a link to this hard-copy survey which parents can choose to print out, fill in and return to their child's school main office. Go HAMBOs!

The link below shows step-by-step how to complete and submit the NYS Parent Digital Equity Survey for each of your students in the Chester Schooltool Parent Portal:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11bkjWoA9I-ru5dQskYk1oKpGTl818GFL/view?usp=sharing  

Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security (See Links/Form below)

Chester UFSD is committed to protecting the privacy and security of each and every student’s data. Parents should be aware of the following rights they have concerning their child’s data:

1. A student’s personally identifiable information cannot be sold or released for any commercial purposes.

2. Parents have the right to inspect and review the complete contents of their child’s education record.

3. The confidentiality of a student’s personally identifiable information is protected by existing state and federal laws, and safeguards such as encryption, firewalls, and password protection, must be in place when data is stored or transferred. Third party contractors are required to employ technology, safeguards and practices that align with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework.

4. A complete list of all student data elements collected by the State Education Department is available for public review at:

   • http://www.nysed.gov/data-privacy-security/student-data-inventory

   • or by writing to the

     • Office of Information & Reporting Services
       New York State Education Department, Room 863 EBA
       89 Washington Avenue
       Albany, NY 12234.

5. Parents have the right to file complaints about possible breaches of student data. Parents may submit a complaint regarding a potential breach by the District to Edward A. Spence (contact information linked above). Chester UFSD shall promptly acknowledge any complaints received and commence an investigation into the complaint, while taking the necessary precautions to protect personally identifiable information. Chester UFSD shall provide a response detailing its findings from the investigation no more than sixty (60) days after receipt of the complaint. Complaints pertaining to the State Education Department or one of its third party vendors should be directed in writing to the Chief Privacy Officer, New York State Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234, or email to CPO@mail.nysed.gov.

6. In the event of a data breach or unauthorized disclosure of students’ personally identifiable information, third party contractors are required by law to notify the School District within seven (7) days of discovery of the breach or unauthorized disclosure.

7. If the District enters into a contract with a third party in which student, teacher, or principal data is shared with a third party, supplemental information for each such contract will be appended to this Parents’ Bill of Rights.

8. Parents may access the State Education Department’s Parents’ Bill of Rights at: http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/data-privacy-security/parents-bill-of-rights_2.pdf

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