The South Orangetown Central School District is committed to protecting the privacy of our students when engaging in online learning. As districts across the country have moved completely to this type of learning, there are data privacy and security concerns that we are all continuing to address. One of the concerns that recently came to our attention involves Zoom, a video conferencing platform used nationwide for live lessons. Zoom Bombing incidents caused by an individual enters a Zoom video conference and intentionally disrupts the live session. To date, we have had one incident during a Tappan Zee High School videoconference and the perpetrator was immediately removed from the videoconference by the teacher.

A Zoom security feature, Virtual Waiting Room, has been implemented so that teachers can pre-screen participants before admitting them to a live session. Students who use fake Zoom profile names or images will not be admitted to these sessions.

The Zoom platform provides students with a unique opportunity to see their teachers and classmates. During this period of social isolation, we believe that this is a valuable tool for supporting a successful distance learning program. We will continue to promote best practices among our staff to safeguard the privacy of our students and teachers and are closely monitoring the use of all video conferencing technologies deployed for distance learning.

Please be advised that all students are expected to participate to the best of their ability in distance learning as provided by the South Orangetown Central School District during the COVID-19 related school closure. Students participating in live sessions are subject to applicable District policies including, but not limited to Policy 5300 Code of Conduct and Policy 4526 Computer Use in Instruction, all of which can be accessed via BoardDocs.