Schools are finding free video conferencing capability a useful and effective means for accomplishing instruction and maintaining community during the government mandated closure caused by the COVID-19 virus.  After research, All Saints Catholic School has made the decision to allow faculty and staff to utilize Zoom, a web-based communication program. We are committed to continuing to provide a quality education to our students in spite of requirements to maintain social distancing. This technology will be a valuable aid and will help to provide a sense of continuity for students.  The Terms of Service and Privacy Policies of Zoom state that users under the age of 16 are permitted to utilize Zoom's services.  Zoom relies on schools to obtain parental permission for students to use their site.

For our students to use these programs and services, the student’s name (first name, last initial) will be provided to Zoom.  Under the federal law entitled Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), All Saints is providing parental notification and obtaining parental consent before collecting personal information (photo/audio/video recordings) of our students.  

The law permits schools like All Saints to consent to the collection (photo/audio/video recording) of personal information on behalf of all of its students, thereby eliminating the need for individual parental consent given directly to ZOOM.  That said, we are asking that student accounts not be created, but rather enter a Zoom meeting by clicking on the link within Google Classroom and entering their first name and last initial.  With a meeting invite, students can join without creating a Zoom account.  All Saints will retain the recordings and text transcripts from these meetings.  The recordings and transcripts will be stored on a secure file server.

Zoom allows for the teacher to control chat features.  Teachers are also able to mute/un-mute participants and prevent them from un-muting themselves as well as disabling screen sharing between users.  

A parent first and last name is accepted as digital signatures below.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or concerns.  Thank you.