Digital Learning Agreement

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In an effort to provide continuous learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Emily/
St. Thomas Becket Religious Education is offering virtual instructional sessions to students via a remote learning platform until it is safe to return to in-person instruction.

As we navigate this new reality, we understand that we are working as partners with families.  We appreciate your patience and aim to reciprocate as we all work toward the goal of helping your children grow in the faith.

St. Emily / St. Thomas Becket will utilize third party remote meeting applications or platforms, such as Google Classroom, Flipgrid and Zoom, along with various add-ons and extensions, for live classroom teaching and/or in-person recorded instruction, and asynchronous learning as part of our remote learning plan.

PRIVACY ISSUES
The use of livestream and/or recorded in-person lessons during in-person instruction carries potential privacy concerns for students:

1. Audio/Visual. Students working remotely will be logging into the remote meeting platforms and engaging with their teacher and classmates. The students working remotely, and their parents and others present where the students are working, will have the ability to see and hear their teacher and other students if the instructional services are livestreamed and/or recorded in a classroom setting or provided in a virtual classroom/group setting on the remote meeting platform.
2. Data Privacy. In addition, for students participating remotely in a virtual classroom, group, or individual sessions, the remote meeting platform may maintain, utilize, or disclose student information for its own purposes in line with its terms of service. We strongly encourage parents and guardians to review the terms of service for each of these applications or platforms so that you may make a fully informed decision on each instance of consent requested by the application or platform.

If required by the application or platform, the School may provide student directory information (for example, student or parent name and email address) or other education record information to the third party application or platform for the sole purpose of providing the Sessions pursuant to the “school official” disclosure provision of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). In accordance with regular FERPA processes, parents and guardians may opt-out of the release of student directory information to third parties. Further, although schools have the general authority to release education records to third party vendors under the FERPA “school official” exception for the limited purposes of the service to be provided, ensuring vendor adherence to all standards during the use of virtual technology involving parent/guardian direct consent to the vendor’s terms and conditions is more complex during this period of virtual instruction related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, during this period of virtual instruction, parents/guardians will be allowed to withhold consent for release of education records to the third party vendors for these virtual education applications and services, with the understanding that this may result in their students being unable to participate in the virtual education program. If you opt-out of allowing your student’s information to be provided to these applications or platforms or refuse to accept their terms, the virtual instruction will not be made available to your child.

If you opt out of these applications or platforms, and we are not able to provide remote instruction, we will refund your tuition and assist you in determining a better fit for your student.  

PRIVACY PRECAUTIONS
To facilitate student and staff safety and privacy, St. Emily / St. Thomas Becket has adopted the following requirements for all Religious Ed Class Sessions:

• Catechists have the ability to admit or deny participants in the Sessions. Parents will receive a direct link sent via email to a parent email.
• Where the provision of a direct link is not possible, students will be required to enter their name (first and last) and a password specific to that class. Catechists have been instructed to deny admission to names that are not listed on their class rosters.
• Parents or guardians will be given the class specific password through the address provided to us.
• Catechists will enable features and monitor activity to prevent students and unauthorized users who access the Sessions from sharing their computer screens during the Sessions.

 
FAMILY AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
St. Emily / St. Thomas Becket expects all students and their parents or guardians to comply with following requirements during all Sessions:

• Please review the Lesson Plan you were sent by the catechist.  Ensure that your student is prepared for the work and has completed the response to the prior lesson.
• Prior to joining a Session, ensure that your student is in a private location and that his or her device is not visible to the public.
• Please be attentive to the background environment. Students should not participate in Sessions in an area where personal or private information and images could be shared.
• Please minimize all background noise and activity during the Session. We want these Sessions to maximize student learning.
• Remind students to use the “raise your hand” feature and wait to be recognized by the catechist before speaking during Sessions.
• Students should employ good digital citizenship by keeping their face in view of the camera and by keeping their sound muted unless asked by the catechist to speak.
• Students should be sitting at a table or desk, not reclining on a bed or sofa.
• They should be dressed appropriately for class.
• They should have the necessary items and materials necessary to participate with them as class begins.
• Please remind your student that any misconduct during the Session will be subject to the appropriate consequences, including being removed from the session and the parents/guardians being informed.
• Recording, copying, reproducing, displaying, or distributing any of the Sessions in any manner by students or parents or guardians is prohibited.
• Students who do not have their cameras on and whole face in the camera frame during class will be marked as absent, per our Absence   Policy.