6250-P – Technology Use, Including Cellular/Long Distance Telephone, Procedure
1) For purposes of economy, employees will generally try to use landlines for long-distance and local calls if urgency, travel plans, and/or confidentiality allow.
2) NWESD 189-provided cellular telephones or other mobile cellular devices (MCDs) are intended to be used to enhance efficiency of program operation and to ensure the safety of students and staff. If a less costly form of communication is readily available, safe, and convenient, every effort will be made for NWESD 189 employees to use the alternative form. An MCD is defined as a digital device that is subscribed to either a cellular voice, cellular data, or texting plan.
3) The Superintendent, or designee, will determine which NWESD 189 positions warrant cellular telephone/MCD access/compensation.
4) Any NWESD 189 supervisor/manager may request cellular telephone/MCD access/compensation for any position under his/her responsibilities. Such request(s) shall include service delivery rationale. The Superintendent, or designee, will make the final determination.
5) The base cost of the cellular telephone/MCD service plan selected as appropriate for the NWESD 189 position will be paid by the NWESD 189 programs associated with the related device. Costs incurred in excess of the plan are assumed to be personal and shall be reimbursed by the staff member unless documentation is provided to verify the costs are work related. Costs incurred in excess of the plan include, but are not limited to, minutes used exceeding plan limits, texting and photo sharing fees. Any personal use causing overall costs to exceed plan limits will be reimbursed by the employee.
6) Any NWESD 189 employee assigned to a position with cellular telephone/MCD access/compensation may request cellular plan enhancements based upon actual work-related cellular use in excess of the plan provided over three (3) consecutive months by submitting such a request through his/her supervisor/manager along with documentation indicating the need for additional enhancements. The Superintendent, or designee, will make the final determination.
7) Any NWESD 189 employee assigned to a position with cellular telephone/MCD access/compensation will be responsible for the timely reimbursement of any additional NWESD 189 cellular telephone/MCD service charges as a result of personal use. Should such costs be incurred, the employee will be responsible for making payment to the NWESD 189 for full reimbursement within the same pay period. Further, each employee will, as a prerequisite condition of receiving a NWESD 189 provided cellular telephone/MCD, authorize payroll reduction for reimbursement of such costs (Form 6250-F1, Cellular Telephone/Mobile Cellular Device Use Agreement). However, the NWESD 189 may choose to collect by other reimbursement method(s).
8) Any NWESD 189 employee assigned to a position with cellular telephone/MCD access/compensation may be required to identify all incoming and outgoing transmissions as either a) work-related, or b) personal to permit verification that the service plan provided is appropriate for the requirements of the position. The guidelines are:
A) If a position warrants only electronic data transmission (e.g., remote email) the minimum cellular service plan available to provide data transmission connectivity will be provided. In these cases, the ratio of work-related to personal cellular telephone transmissions shall not be a consideration—providing no additional costs are incurred by the NWESD 189.
If such a review/analysis indicates costs in addition to the base rate have been incurred, the employee will be responsible for reimbursement pursuant to the procedures delineated in item #7.
B) For other positions, the average work-related minutes required for the position will be confirmed/determined through analysis of at least three (3) monthly statements.
The plan determined appropriate for the position will be the least expensive option that provides one hundred ten percent (110%) of the average work-related requirement.
Adjustments to the service plan provided will be made, upward or downward, as a result of such review/analysis when such revision does not result in additional unreasonable fees (for early agreement termination).
If such a review/analysis indicates costs in addition to the base rate have been incurred, the employee will be responsible for reimbursement pursuant to the procedures delineated in item #7.
9) NWESD 189 employees recognize that cellular transmissions are not secure and will take every precaution and discretion in relaying confidential or sensitive information.
10) NWESD 189 employees recognize the need to protect the cellular equipment from loss, vandalism, theft, and air-time theft. If a telephone is lost, stolen, or damaged, or if there is any indication that there is a theft of air-time, it is the responsibility of the employee to immediately contact Technology Services and the business office and have the service canceled to prevent use by others, as the value of costs will be reported as compensation to the employee. The employee may be responsible for the replacement of lost or stolen equipment.
11) The NWESD 189 reserves the right to review and monitor the use of all NWESD 189-provided cellular telephone/MCDs. The business office may at any time share employee telephone usage records as they are considered public records by law.
12) Posting to social networks (e.g., blogs, Wikis, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and/or picture sharing) that contains information related to NWESD-189 business are subject to disclosure through a public records request, and as such are prohibited on NWESD 189-provided and personal technology (including personal computers, cellular telephones/MCDs, etc.) due to the limited ability to access such records. The only exceptions are:
A) social network postings on official NWESD 189-sanctioned accounts.
B) social network or wiki webpages managed and maintained by NWESD 189 Technology Services (TS) or the Communications Specialist, with responsibility for maintaining content subject to records retention policies. Specifically, the following information should not be removed from the wiki:
• Documents related to impending, anticipated or existing litigation.
• Documents related to impending or existing public records requests.
C) texting for NWESD 189 business on a NWESD 189 MCD that retains the texts as a public record or transferred and saved in NWESD 189 electronic files To the greatest extent possible employees are strongly encouraged to utilize NWESD email as an alternative to texting.
13) Each NWESD 189 employee assigned or having occasion to use a cellular telephone/MCD to carry out his/her duties as an employee will sign a Cellular Telephone/MCD Use Agreement (see Form 6250-F1).
14) NWESD 189-provided cellular telephones/MCDs are to be returned to the employee’s supervisor/manager upon termination of employment. Any service fees for the departing employee will be reconciled, with any appropriate reimbursement provided. If the service number is immediately re-assigned to another NWESD 189 employee, the new employee will not be responsible for any charges identified through this reconciliation process.
15) Failure to follow policy and guidelines may cause revocation of cellular telephone/MCD use privileges.
Presented to Board: 09/27/00
Revised: 12/19/01
Revised: 08/28/02
Revised: 11/17/08
Revised: 01/26/11
Revised: 08/24/11
Revised: 02/22/12
Revised: 04/25/12
Revised: 09/27/12
Revised: 08/28/13
Revised: 06/28/17
Revised: 08/25/21
Date Revised: 8/25/21