SchoolNow™ Terms and Conditions

General Criteria

The availability of internet access in the school community provides an opportunity for staff, parents, students and others connected to the school community to access information and contribute to the district/school’s presence on the World Wide Web. The district/school mobile apps must relate to general and urgent messaging, curriculum or instructional matters, school-authorized activities, or general district or school information. Staff and students are prohibited from publishing personal content or links to personal web pages as part of the district/school mobile app. Similarly, no individual or outside organization will be permitted to publish personal content as part of the district/school mobile app.

Internet access for the creation of the mobile app is provided by the district and all information must be reviewed by the Director of Information Services or his/her designee prior to publishing it on SchoolNow. Personnel designing information for the mobile app must familiarize themselves with and adhere to district communications standards and procedures. Failure to follow district/school standards or responsibilities may result in disciplinary sanctions in accordance with law and/or the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

The district/school may provide, as necessary, general training on relevant legal considerations and compliance with applicable laws and regulations including copyright, intellectual property, and privacy of student records as well as relevant district procedures to users who are allowed to develop or place material on the district/school mobile app page(s).

 

Message to Students and Parents:  

This Privacy Statement applies to Personal Identifiable Information (PII) collected on the SchoolNow mobile app, including notification systems, social media postings and websites provided and hosted by SchoolNow for your school, school district or other organization (“School”). Schools use SchoolNow to digitally connect school staff to end users, which are primarily parents and guardians. This Privacy Policy pertains only to Personal Identifiable Information that SchoolNow collects from you or that is provided to us by the School or your users in connection with the school’s use of the SchoolNow, where we serve as the supplier that processes this data on the school’s behalf. “Personal Information” is information that can identify a specific individual. 

When you or school staff uses SchoolNow, they use your data to host and provide the overall service to you and the district/school. SchoolNow collects, uses and retains your Personal Identifiable Information as a service provider to the district/school in accordance with our contractual agreements with the district/school. This Privacy Statement explains how SchoolNow processes your Personal Identifiable Information on the district/school’s behalf. 

SchoolNow uses this information to operate, maintain, and provide to you and other users the features of the service, including to provide you with the features of the service selected and controlled by the district/school. We may use this information to communicate with you, such as to send you email messages, push notifications, text messages, and to permit other users of the service to contact you, to improve and develop our product and services, to improve customer service, and for other systems maintenance purposes. 

 

Reviewing, modifying or deleting Student Data

Student Data is controlled by your district/school and SchoolNow processes Student Data on your school’s behalf. If you have any questions about reviewing, modifying, or deleting Personal Identifiable Information of a student, please contact your school directly. Questions we receive regarding Student Data will be referred to your district/school as we require your school’s authorization for SchoolNow to update or delete information contained in school-created accounts. We will promptly respond to all requests from your School to provide access to, correct, or delete Student Data.

iKS_FERPA (3)The district/school has selected SchoolNow, a FERPA-certified organization, as our CMS (Content Management System) in order for our district/school to have a presence on the World Wide Web. Additionally, we may be using their social media Integration and Notification platform for School messaging.  The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), is a U.S. federal law that protects the privacy interest of students and affords parents the right to access and amend their children's education records. Additionally, FERPA provides them with some control of the disclosure of the information in these records. 

FERPA protects Personally Identifiable Information contained in students’ education records from unauthorized disclosure. Consistent with FERPA, SchoolNow will only use education records, as defined under FERPA, for the purpose of providing agreed services to a school, school district or teacher. SchoolNow will never share or sell FERPA­ protected information, or use it for any other purposes, except as otherwise directed or permitted by the district/school. For clarity and without limitation, SchoolNow will not use education records or any other student data to engage in targeted advertising.

 

Data Associated with Social Media Networks

Districts/schools may optionally connect their SchoolNow website to social media channels (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). In doing so, they agree to the terms and conditions of those networks along with these SchoolNow terms and conditions. Schools can request to sever the connection to their social media account by sending an email to the help desk at www.SchoolNow.com. We request up to two (2) business days (Mon-Fri) to handle such requests. You may review our data storage and retention policy by clicking here.

 

Content Standards

  1. Approval for posting content must be obtained from the Director of Information Services or his/her designee. If at any time, the Director of Information Services or his/her designee believes the proposed material does not meet the standards approved by the district/school, it will not be published on the Web. Decisions regarding access to active content or organization will be the responsibility of the Director of Information Services/designee(s).
  2. Content must be sponsored by a member of the district/school faculty, staff or administration who will be responsible for its content, design, currency and maintenance. The sponsor is responsible for ensuring that those constructing and maintaining the content have the necessary technical training and that they fully understand and adhere to district/school policies and regulations. 
  3. Staff or student work should be published only as it relates to a school/classroom authorized project or other school-related activity.
  4. The review of any student-generated content shall be subject to prior district review as would any other school-sponsored student publication.
  5. An authorized teacher, staff member or administrator who is publishing content for himself/herself or for a student will be responsible for the accuracy of links and check for conformance with district/school standards and practices.
  6. The following disclaimer about the content of web pages must be part of individual sites:  “The District has made every reasonable attempt to ensure that our content is educationally sound and do not contain links to questionable material or material that can be deemed in violation of the District’s Standards and Guidelines for Web Page or Digital Publishing Policy and the Acceptable Use Agreement.”
  7. Commercial advertising or marketing on the district/school mobile app (or the use of school-affiliated Web Pages for the pursuit of personal or financial gain) shall be prohibited unless otherwise authorized in accordance with law and/or regulation. Decisions regarding advertising must be consistent with existing District policies and practices on this matter. School-affiliated Mobile app content and Web pages may mention outside organizations only in the context of school programs that have a direct relationship to those organizations.
  8. Mobile app content may include faculty or staff names; however, other personal information about employees including, but not limited to, home telephone numbers, addresses, email addresses, or other identifying information such as names of family members may be published only with the written permission of the employee.
  9. Mobile app content must conform to the standards for appropriate use found in the district/school's Acceptable Use Policy and accompanying Regulations regarding standards of acceptable use; examples of inappropriate behavior; and compliance with applicable laws, privacy, and safety concerns.
  10. All Mobile app content must be approved through the designated process before being posted to the district/school mobile app
  11. All staff and/or students authorized to publish material on the District/school mobile app(s) shall acknowledge receipt of the district/school’s Mobile app/Web Page Standards and agree to comply with same prior to posting any material on the Web.

 

Copyrighted Materials

All employees and students are prohibited from copying materials not specifically allowed by the copyright law, “Fair Use” guidelines,  licenses or contractual agreements, or the permission of the copyright proprietor. Web Page publications must include a statement of copyright when appropriate and indicate that permission has been secured when including copyrighted materials or notice that such publication is in accordance with the “Fair Use” provisions of the Copyright Law.

 

Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials

Pursuant to Section 107 of the Copyright Law (“Fair Use” provisions), the use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research may be permitted under certain circumstances.

However, any appropriation of someone else’s work on the Internet is a potential copyright infringement. “Fair Use” provisions may not apply when a project created by a teacher or student is accessed by others over the Internet. If there is a possibility that school-affiliated Web Page(s), which incorporate copyrighted works under the “Fair Use” provisions, could later result in broader dissemination, it will be necessary to seek the permission of the copyright holder. The complex interplay between copyright law and the “Fair Use” provisions in educational multimedia projects should be considered in development of Web Page publishing standards and reviewed by school counsel prior to District implementation for compliance with applicable law and regulations.

  1. Unless otherwise noted, always assume that work on the web is copyrighted. It is NOT necessary that the copyright symbol — © — be displayed for the work to be protected by copyright laws.
  2. Proper attribution must always be given.
  3. Obtaining permission(s) from the copyright holder(s) (whether text, graphics or music) should occur during the developmental process or project, rather than waiting to seek permission upon completion of the project.

 

Intellectual Property/Works Made for Hire

All works completed by employees as part of their employment shall be considered “works made for hire” as described in the United States Code Annotated, Title 17, Copyrights to the extent permitted by law. This determination includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:

  1.  Work prepared by an employee within the scope of his/her employment, whether tangible or intangible;
  2. Work specifically ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as enumerated in law.

Any work created within the scope of such a relationship will be considered a work made for hire when a regular employment relationship exists.

Work covered under this policy is the property of the district/school, not the creator of such work. The district/school shall own any and all rights to such works, or derivatives thereof unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.

 

Student Work

*Students are the copyright holders of their own original work. The District must receive written permission from both the parent and the student prior to publishing students’ original work on the District/school/classroom websites.

 

Student Free Speech Issues (School-sponsored Publications)

In general, the district/school can exercise editorial control over the style and content of student expression in school-sponsored publications, theatrical productions, and other expressive activities that *students, parents and members of the public might reasonably perceive to bear the imprimatur of the school.

District’s computer network, in accordance with law and applicable collective bargaining agreements. In the case that a violation may constitute a criminal offense, it will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

 

Students

Students posting non-approved or inappropriate material on a school-affiliated website are subject to the imposition of discipline, including possible suspension or revocation of access to the district/school’s computer network, in accordance with applicable due process procedures and the district/school Code of Conduct. In the case that a violation may constitute a criminal offense, it will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

 

Oversight

However, the school’s actions in such a case must be reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns and may not amount to viewpoint discrimination.

 

Consequences for Non-Compliance

Web pages that do not comply with the above criteria are subject to revocation of approval and removal from the district/school/classroom websites.

 

Staff

Faculty or staff posting non-approved or inappropriate material on a school-affiliated website are subject to the imposition of discipline, including possible suspension or revocation of access to the Superintendent of Schools or his/her designee shall have the authority to approve or deny the posting of any proposed Web Pages on school-affiliated websites based upon compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this policy as well as applicable district/school practices and procedures.

* Students must be sponsored and supervised by a member of the teaching staff. Students will not have access to login information for Web Pages.

 

SchoolNow Platform License

Recitals

WHEREAS, Licensor is engaged in the business of providing access to Software and Licensor's application server; WHEREAS, Licensee desires to retain Licensor to perform the services provided for in this agreement. NOW, THEREFORE, Licensor and Licensee agree as follows:

 

Grant of License

Subject to the terms and conditions herein, Licensor hereby grants Licensee a nonexclusive license to (i) access and utilize SchoolNow Hosted Edition (the 'Software') on Licensor's application server over the Internet, and (ii) transmit data related to Licensee's use of the Software over the Internet.

Use and Access

  1. Subject to the restrictions on use as set forth herein, Licensee will have access to the Software and Licensor's application server for the purpose of using the software for its intended purpose and in accordance with the specifications set forth in any documentation relating to the Software provided by Licensor. Such use and access will be continuous on a 24/7 basis except for interruptions by reason of maintenance or downtime beyond Licensor's reasonable control.
  2. ‌Licensee will use the Software only for its internal school operations and will not permit the Software to be used by or for the benefit of anyone other than Licensee. Licensee will not have the right to re-license or sell rights to access and/or use the Licensed Software or to transfer or assign rights to access or use the Software, except as expressly provided herein. Licensee may not modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or create derivative works based upon the Software. Licensee agrees to use the Software in a manner that complies with all applicable laws including intellectual property and copyright laws. Licensor expressly reserves all rights not expressly granted to Licensee herein.
  3. Licensee will not: (i) transmit or share identification or password codes to persons other than authorized users (ii) permit the identification or password codes to be cached in proxy servers and accessed by individuals who are not authorized users, or (iii) permit access to the software through a single identification or password code being made available to multiple users on a network.
  4. Student Submitted Information within Schools. Prior to a student submitting any information within a School environment by accessing SchoolNow for the purpose of using the notification system, the teacher must certify that they have received the appropriate consent by either a) choosing to act as the agent of the parent and consent on the parents' behalf which is commonly referred to as School Consent or b) collect the parental consent directly from the parent.

 

Unlimited Calling, E-mailing and Texting Restriction

Licensee may send unlimited calls, emails and texts during the term of this Agreement to the recipient numbers and email addresses based on the enrollment number provided (qualifying personnel included in service at no extra charge) at the time of sign up or on the renewal date. Calls and texts will be limited to the North American Numbering Plan.  Valid recipients include parents, guardians, students, employees, faculty and administrative staff. Calls, emails, or texts to others outside of this enrollment and qualifying personnel are strictly prohibited. All recipients must opt into communications from your school to be called, emailed, or texted.

Definition of Unlimited Calls

Certain plans are classified as “unlimited,” which means you can send an unlimited number of time-sensitive messages to a relatively static list of members or recipients, provided, however, that messages conform with all FTC and FCC regulations, and are not considered as “spamming” by your recipients. The following results may result in a plan adjustment or account cancellation by Licensor: Frequently changing recipient lists; frequently sending messages that have a high percentage of disconnected numbers; frequent hang-ups by recipients shortly after the call begins; receiving a high percentage of opt-out requests from your recipients.

 

Minimum Age

You are prohibited from using or registering for the SchoolNow system for notifications for individuals under the age of (13) thirteen, or with consent from a parent or guardian. By using or registering for the SchoolNow system, you represent and warrant to Licensor that your users are above the age of thirteen, or have parental consent.

 

Customer Represent and Warrants

Customer Represents and warrants that one (1) user is knowledgeable concerning the restrictions under federal, state and local laws and regulations that may apply to customer’s use of SchoolNow and other automated communication services ordered hereunder, and two (2) each use by the user of SchoolNow shall comply in all respects with all such applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to the type and identity of each call recipient, transmission of a valid caller-ID, customer’s relationship to each call recipient, the call date and time selected by the user and the content and timing of each call. Any unlawful use by the user of SchoolNow Is strictly prohibited. Customer and the person executing this Agreement jointly and severally represents and warrants that such person is fully authorized to execute and deliver the Agreement on behalf of the customer.

 

Price and Payment

  1. Licensee will pay Licensor an annual subscription cost for the license of the Software and access to Licensor's application server. Licensor will invoice the licensee for quantity pricing on the first day of the contract date. Licensor reserves the right to change pricing based on, provider cost changes, additional features, or excessive utilization of the software resources. The Licensor will notify the licensee 30 (thirty) days in advance of any price changes. Upon Licensor providing project related parties and/or Licensor access to the Software and Licensor's application server (e.g. the "product"), the Licensee is formally accepting the SchoolNow "product" as delivered.
  2. ‌The fees for the license of the Software do not include taxes. If Licensor is required to pay or collect any federal, state, local, or value-added tax on any fees charged under this Agreement, or any other similar taxes or duties levied by any governmental authority, excluding taxes levied on Licensor's net income, then such taxes and/or duties will be billed to and paid by Licensee immediately upon receipt of Licensor's invoice and supporting documentation for the taxes or duties charged.

 

Technical Support

Licensor will supply chat and email support to Licensee regarding the Software on a reasonable and necessary basis to Client within business hours – Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm EST, exclusive of holidays. Licensor will provide a listing of detailed hours, holidays, and service availability on their website, and reserves the right to modify when technical support is available.

 

Term and Termination

  1. The term of service shall be in accordance with the length of the contract with voluntary one-year extensions. The parties agree that unless either party provides written (letter, facsimile, email) notice of intent not to extend the contract for an additional year within 30 days of the applicable termination date to the authorized representative contact below, the contract will be extended for a term of one year.
  2. ‌Either party may terminate this agreement for material breach, provided, however, that the terminating party has given the other party at least twenty-one (21) days written notice of and the opportunity to cure the breach. Termination for breach will not preclude the terminating party from exercising any other remedies for breach.

 

Ownership of Intellectual Property

Title to any proprietary rights in the Software or Licensor's website will remain in and be the sole and exclusive property of Licensor. Licensee will be the owner of all content created and posted by Licensee.

 

Confidentiality

  1. Licensee acknowledges that the Software and other data on Licensor's application server embodies logic, design and coding methodology that constitute valuable confidential information that is proprietary to Licensor. Licensee will safeguard the right to access the Software and other software installed on Licensor's application server using the same standard of care that Licensee uses for its own confidential materials.
  2. ‌All data pertaining to Licensee disclosed to Licensor in connection with the performance of this Agreement And residing on Licensor's application server will be held as confidential by Licensor and will not, without the prior written consent of Licensee, be disclosed or be used for any purposes other than the performance of this Agreement. Licensor will safeguard the confidentiality of such data using the same standard of care that Licensor uses for its own confidential materials. This obligation does not apply to data that: (i) is or becomes, through no act or failure to act on the part of Licensor, generally known or available; (ii) is known by Licensor at the time of receiving such information as evidenced by its written records; (iii) is hereafter furnished to Licensor by a third party, as a matter of right and without restriction on disclosure; (iv) is independently developed by Licensor as evidenced by its written and dated records and without any breach of this Agreement; or (v) is the subject of a written permission to disclose provided by Licensee. Further notwithstanding the forgoing, disclosure of data will not be precluded if such disclosure: (i) is in response to a valid order of a court or other governmental body of the United States; (ii) is otherwise required by law; or (iii) is otherwise necessary to establish rights or enforce obligations under this Agreement, but only to the extent that any such disclosure is necessary.

 

Warranty and Disclaimer

Licensor warrants the Software is developed and will be provided in conformity with generally prevailing industry standards. Licensee must report any material deficiencies in the Software to Licensor in writing within thirty (30) days of Licensee's discovery of the defect. Licensor's exclusive remedy for the breach of the above warranty will be for Licensor to provide access to replacement Software within a commercially reasonable time. THIS WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE AND IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY ORAL OR WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS, PROPOSALS OR STATEMENTS MADE ON OR PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT. DEVELOPER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES.

Limitation of Liability, Indemnification

Neither party will be liable to the other for special, indirect or consequential damages incurred or suffered by the other arising as a result of or related to the use of the Software, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, even if the other has been advised of the possibility of such loss or damages. Licensee will indemnify and hold Licensor harmless against any claims incurred by Licensor arising out of or in conjunction with Licensee's breach of this Agreement, as well as all reasonable costs, expenses and attorneys' fees incurred therein. Licensor's total liability under this Agreement with respect to the Software, regardless of cause or theory of recovery, will not exceed the total amount of fees paid by Licensee to Licensor during the twelve-month period immediately preceding the occurrence or act or omission giving rise to the claim. Licensor is not liable for any damages, claims, or costs from loss of access to the software, or loss of licensee data for disconnection for non-payment. ADA-compliant web content is the responsibility of the Licensee and Licensor is not held liable for any related circumstances related to ADA-compliant lawsuits brought forth from the effective date.

Relation of Parties

Nothing in this Agreement will create or imply an agency or employment relationship between the parties, nor will this Agreement be deemed to constitute a joint venture or partnership between the parties.

 

Non-assignment

Neither party will assign this Agreement, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the other party, and such consent will not be unreasonably withheld. This Agreement will inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon the parties hereto, together with their respective legal representatives, successors, and assigns, as permitted herein.

 

Arbitration

Any dispute arising under this Agreement will be subject to binding arbitration by a single Arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association (AAA), in accordance with its relevant industry rules, if any. The parties agree that this Agreement will be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio. The arbitration will be held in Ohio. The Arbitrator will have the authority to grant injunctive relief and specific performance to enforce the terms of this Agreement. Judgment on any award rendered by the Arbitrator may be entered in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

 

Attorneys' Fees

If any litigation or arbitration is necessary to enforce the terms of this Agreement, the prevailing party will be entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Licensor's total liability under this Agreement with respect to the Software, legal fees, or damages regardless of cause or theory of recovery, will not exceed the total amount of fees paid by Licensee to Licensor during the twelve- month period immediately preceding the occurrence or act or omission giving rise to the claim.

 

Severability

If any term of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or contrary to law, it will be modified to the least extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining portions of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.

 

Force Majeure

Neither party will be held responsible for any delay or failure in performance of any part of this Agreement to the extent that such delay is caused by events or circumstances beyond the delayed party's reasonable control.

Waiver and Modification

The waiver by any party of any breach of covenant will not be construed to be a waiver of any succeeding breach or any other covenant. All waivers must be in writing, and signed by the party waiving its rights. This Agreement may be modified only by a written instrument executed by authorized representatives of the parties hereto.

 

Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to its subject matter, and supersedes all prior agreements, proposals, negotiations, representations or communications relating to the subject matter. Both parties acknowledge that they have not been induced to enter into this Agreement by any representations or promises not specifically stated herein.

 

Relevant Documents