Community Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you for being part of the Illinois School Board Association’s (IASB’s) online community. The purpose of the community is to network with colleagues through the sharing of successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, IASB has established terms and conditions for participation, which include the rules, discussion group etiquette, and legal terms described below.
By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these terms and conditions of use. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in discussions on topics of interest in your professional or elected role within public education. Any questions about this community should be directed to community@iasb.com.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important terms and conditions. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, IASB reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these terms and conditions.
Open Meetings Act and Public Record Reminders to School Board Members
The Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/) requires school boards to discuss district business only at properly noticed board meetings. Other than during a properly noticed board meeting, a majority or more of a board-quorum (or in the case of a five-person board, a quorum or more) may not engage in contemporaneous interactive communication, which includes electronic communication, to discuss district business. IASB does not monitor this community for OMA compliance or investigate claims of OMA violations. Members are responsible for their own compliance with OMA requirements.
The Local Records Act (50 ILCS 205/) requires school boards to preserve public records, including email messages, if: (1) they are evidence of the District’s organization, function, policies, procedures, or activities, (2) they contain informational data appropriate for preservation, or (3) their retention is required by State or federal law. Public records pertaining to the transaction of public business may also be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/). IASB does not act as a repository for school board or school district records. Participation in IASB’s online community does not create an agency relationship between any board and IASB for purposes of record retention, storage, organization, dissemination, destruction, or maintenance. IASB is not a public body and will not, on behalf of a board or district, be responsible for preserving records or responding to requests for public records under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act or any court order or subpoena.
The Rules
Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to all members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
Respect the purpose of the community, which is to network with colleagues through the sharing of successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals. Stay on topic and share your experiences with the group in a respectful way.
Use caution when discussing products or services. Information posted in the community is subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. All defamatory, abusive, harassing, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.
When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.
Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating “noise.”
Discussion Group Etiquette
State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
In replies to the entire community list include shared experiences, constructive feedback, and follow-up questions. Send messages such as “thanks for the information” or “me, too” to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the “Reply to Sender” link in every message.
Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings.
Legal Terms
This site is provided as a service for the members of IASB. IASB is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. IASB disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by IASB or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall IASB be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Do not post any defamatory, abusive, harassing, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants IASB and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
IASB does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of IASB, IASB will take all appropriate action.
IASB reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these terms and conditions.
Privacy Policy
Any personal information you provide to IASB including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of IASB except as noted below.
With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:
Our Service Providers – We may share your personal information with companies that perform services on our behalf; for example, the company that hosts this community. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.
Business Transfers – Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.
Government and Legal Disclosures – IASB may disclose the personal information it collects through this Site, when IASB, in good faith, believes disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of IASB, its users, or others.
External Sites – IASB is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.
Cookies – A “cookie” is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc.). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by third party content providers such as news feeds.
Remember the risks whenever you use the Internet. While IASB takes reasonable measures to protect your personal information, IASB cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to IASB and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition, other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of IASB, and therefore IASB disclaims any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies. For any other information please contact us at community@iasb.com.