FAQ

What? & Why?

Why are you making all these changes?

The technology department did a thorough review of our systems, policies and processes over the summer break. We identified places where technology use did not always meet compliance rules. Our reviews also identified places where we could improve service, cybersecurity, communications, or leverage newer technologies. By focusing on what we could do NOW before students return, we took advantage of the time to make changes so as not to impact the classroom time throughout the year.

What are the various laws that ECSD IT has to follow?

FERPA - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

FERPA was enacted by Congress to protect the privacy of students and their parents. The act is designed to ensure that students and parents of students may obtain access to the student's educational records and challenge the content or release of such records to third parties.

COPPA - Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (Federal)

COPPA imposes certain requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age

CIPA - Child Information Protection Act (Federal)

Schools and libraries subject to CIPA may not receive the discounts offered by the E-rate program unless they certify that they have an Internet safety policy that includes technology protection measures. The protection measures must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene; (b) child pornography; or (c) harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors).

HIPPA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Federal)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge.

PPRA - Protection of Pupil Rights Amendments

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) applies to the programs and activities of a state education agency (SEA), local education agency (LEA), or other recipient of funds under any program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. It governs the administration to students of a survey, analysis, or evaluation that concerns one or more of eight protected areas.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that all children with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living.

SDTPA - Student Data Transparency and Privacy Act (Colorado)

Colorado’s Student Data Transparency and Security Act adds to existing laws pertaining to student data privacy and security. It adopts additional duties that the State Board of Education (State Board), Department of Education (CDE), and Local Education Providers (LEPs), a term that includes School Districts, Boards of Cooperative Services, and Charter Schools, must all comply with. The purpose of this law is to increase the transparency and security of all Student Personally Identifiable Information (Student PII) that CDE and LEPs collect and maintain.

CDPA - Colorado Consumer Data Privacy Act (Colorado)

Colorado law outlines the requirements for data breaches, as well as notification guidelines for public and media.

CDSSA - Claire Davis School Safety Act (Colorado)

This Act imposes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity for schools if a school fails to exercise "reasonable care" to protect all students, faculty and staff from "reasonably foreseeable" acts of violence that occurs at school or a school-sponsored activity.

Why are websites getting blocked on our home computer?

  • ECS Owned Devices are managed and filtered 24/7 accordingly regardless of what network they are connected to.

  • Personal Devices are not filtered by ECSD unless they are connected to the ECSD Network or have a Google Chrome Profile with an ECSD account signed in and synced.

    • Google Chrome Profiles

    • ECSD only filters @eagleschools.net and @ecschools.me profiles

    • With profiles, you can keep all your Chrome info separate, like bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings.

Profiles are ideal for:

  • Sharing a computer with multiple people.

  • Keeping your different accounts, like work and personal, separate.


Why is Chrome the only browser that is allowed?

ECSD has chosen to support Chrome as the browser of choice for a couple reasons. Our students all use Chromebooks and the majority of the internet is essentially built on Google architecture. By supporting one browser we can ensure the most simple troubleshooting path.

Starting in Fall 2021, alternative browsers will be blocked on ECSD computers. These include Safari, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer, Brave, Opera, etc. Please coordinate with IT if you need help moving your bookmarks over to Chrome.


What is Multi-Factor Authentication and Why Do I Need It?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an extra layer of security used to make sure that people trying to gain access to an online account are who they say they are. First, a user will enter their username and a password. Then, instead of immediately gaining access, they will be required to provide another piece of information. This second factor could come from one of the following categories:

ECSD employees can use these Directions to setup and use MFA with your ECSD account.

MFA is recommended for all staff but required for Administrators, Principals, Counselors, registrars, and those who handle sensitive information.

Do the Multi-Factor Authentication applications allow for control or monitoring of personal devices?

No, none of the MFA applications, including Authy which is recommended by the ECSD Technology department, allow for control of, nor monitoring of, the device that it is installed on. Rather, these tools are constantly generating new codes that are only valid for about 30 seconds each. When you’re logging into an account and prompted for a code, you can just open your authentication app, grab the most recent code, and paste it in. ECSD Technology department has no connection to your personal device.

Why is iCloud Blocked?

Apple's iCloud is not desired to be an enterprise tool used by professional or business organizations.

This tool should not house school data (and particularly student/parents/grade data).

Additionally, with the 2FA enforced by iCloud, the school district would have no recourse or ability to access this data if a staff member were to be locked out, or to provide data as part of the Student Data and Privacy Transparency Act or the Colorado Open Records Act.

As a result, iCloud is NOT authorized and will be blocked on school devices (phones, ipads, laptops, desktops) once staff have had a chance to migrate and remove sensitive data from the cloud.

What is Mosyle?

Mosyle is a REMOTE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM for our MacOS Devices. It provides the ability for our IT staff to manage computers and all the settings with minimal clicks. This is also provides security protections, device auditing and virus scanning. This software is (or will be) installed on ALL Apple devices across the district.

A couple of the key features it provides are:

  1. If a staff member requests a software, we can remotely push to the device within minutes.

  2. We can lock down computers if they are stolen.

  3. We can do diagnostic troubleshooting to figure out information about the device like IP, mac address, software version and other features. This is inherently tied to our budget to track total numbers of mac devices, their age and when they need to be replaced.

  4. We can run custom commands to update the operating system, scan for malware or viruses (that can exist on macs), and make sure our devices are in compliance.

  5. We can block unauthorized apps like VPNS, malware, viruses, and other illegal software like gambling applications.

Blocked / Unblocked

How do I request to unblock/block a website?

Filter requests can be made via our ECSD HelpDesk, at https://helpdesk.eagleschools.net, if you need a site to be enabled/disabled for instructional or educational purposes.

The Acceptable Use Policy (signed by all staff members) stipulates "Use of the Network must be in support of education, research, and Eagle County School District operations and be consistent with the educational objectives of the School District."

This statement will be used to evaluate all requests for website access throughout the District. Websites used for personal reasons (banking, classifieds, house hunting, shopping, email, etc) do not directly support educational purposes.

What happened to the Chrome apps/extensions that I had in my browser?

As of Monday, June 28th, Chrome apps/extensions ALL must be approved by the Technology Department in order for students AND STAFF to install. To ensure students and staff only install extensions/apps that comply with ALL legal (CIPA, FERPA, COPPA, HIPAA, CDA) security and privacy policies, teachers will need to submit a Tech Support Ticket to request that an app/extension be approved. Approved apps/extensions will then be added to the “For Eagle Schools” section of the Chrome Web Store. We will also analyze current extensions/apps over the summer and remove any from the “For Eagle Schools” section if they are not in compliance.

Because we cannot easily discern which apps/extensions are actively installed AND being used, we have blocked ANY UNAPPROVED apps/extensions as of June 28th. This may result in extensions being removed from your browser automatically, even if they were previously thought to be approved.

Process to approve ALL apps/extensions you would like to use:

  1. To request a Chrome app or extension for approval please submit a Tech Support Ticket at https://helpdesk.eagleschools.net and select the request type "Software/App Request" - "Chromebook/Google App".

  2. Clearly define how this app or extension will be used to support the work in the classroom or of ECSD.

  3. We will conduct security reviews of these requests in the order they are submitted.

  4. Once your request has been processed, you will be notified through the Tech Support Ticket process, and if your app/extension has been approved for use, it will appear here: ECSD Approved Extensions: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/for_your_domain


Can students access social media?

While students do not have access to social media sites there are some specific social media account that are permitted for students. The allowed accounts are as follows;

Eagle County School District

Avon Elementary School –


Brush Creek Elementary School –


Eagle County Charter Academy –


Eagle Valley Elementary School –


Gypsum Elementary School –


Homestake Peak School –


Red Hill Elementary School –


Red Sandstone Elementary School –


Berry Creek Middle School –


Eagle Valley Middle School –


Gypsum Creek Middle School –


Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy –


Battle Mountain High School –


Eagle Valley High School –


Red Canyon High School –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedCanyonHighSchool

Is ECSD blocking ads for students and staff?

In general, all ads will be blocked on ECSD devices and on personal devices using our networks. By removing tracking mechanisms, we remove targeted advertising for both our staff and students.

The Zoom app is disabled on my device, what do I do?

The Zoom app has some significant security issues and thus has been disabled. You can, however, launch Zoom meetings in the browser as needed. Here is a Zoom support article on how to launch Zoom in the browser. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362593-Launching-Zoom-from-a-web-browser


URL Shorteners Disabled/Blocked

Link shorteners (or obfuscators) have become popular across the internet. In many cases they just make the link shorter and easier to type. In other cases, they hide tracking mechanisms. When you look at these links, you really don’t know if they are going to take you where you think it will. These shortened links can hide malicious links, trackers or grant access to your personal information without your permission. If you are on our network or using a school-owned device, you will no longer be able to create or click on any shortened links. Best practices show that you should expand these links prior to navigating.

If there is a shortened link that you need to be able to click on, please use this link expander to directly access the website. Here is a great summary article about URL shorteners.

Schoology / PowerSchool

PARENT: How do I access my student’s information in Schoology?

Details on Parent Access to Schoology can be found on the ECSD Technology website at: https://technology.eagleschools.net/digital-learning/parentsstudents-digital-learning/schoology-parentsstudents. There we have instructional guides and videos in both English and Spanish.

PARENT: How do I check my student’s grades in PowerSchool?

Details on Parent Access to PowerSchool can be found at https://technology.eagleschools.net/digital-learning/parentsstudents-digital-learning/powerschool-parentsstudents. There we have instructional guides and videos in both English and Spanish.

Other

What are my purchasing options for new devices/hardware?

Purchasing information and details can be found on our Purchasing page.

How do students check out items from the public libraries (known as the ONE CARD system)?

How do I take the Praxis test?

According to the Praxis support team, they are recommending that teachers use a personal device (Windows or Mac) on their home network for the Praxis tests.

All staff members should strive to take the Praxis test on a personal device AND off-campus.

In the event you are unable to do so, you MUST schedule your test with ECSD IT, via help desk ticket. This test will be taken at our spring creek campus (a conference room will be reserved for you). This change will ensure you are successful in taking the test. You must schedule this at least a week in advance of your test date AND coordinate with your supervisor for the time off during your testing window.