Student blogging

In this blog's inaugural post, here, the question was asked about student blogging. I had a chance to do a little research, and came up with a couple of tidbits. First, there is not a Board-level policy or regulation regarding blogging; the closest I could come was this policy (the "PSD-NET TERMS AND CONDITIONS"), which states, in part:

PUBLIC POSTING AREAS (MESSAGE BOARDS/USENET GROUPS)

UseNet messages are posted from systems connected to the Internet around the world, and the PSD-Net system administrators have no control on the content of messages posted from these other systems. To best utilize system resources, the system administrators will determine which UseNet groups are most applicable to the curricular needs of the school district and will carry these groups on the local system. The system administrators, at their sole discretion, may remove messages posted locally that are deemed to be unacceptable or in violation of the Terms and Conditions.

The system administrators, at their sole discretion, further reserve the right to immediately terminate the account of a member who misuses the message boards or UseNet groups.

REAL-TIME/INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS AREAS

The system administrators, at their sole discretion, reserve the right to immediately terminate the account of a member who misuses the real-time conference features (talk/chat/internet relay chat/MUDs/MOOs/etc.). Certain interactive communications may be restricted during certain hours of operation. These restrictions will be posted on the System, and Member agrees to abide by these restrictions.

I also had a chance to briefly chat with District administrators, and the consensus was that it was a site-based decision, to be made by teachers and administrators based on educational value (and, in fact, there was some discussion of the District's internal blogging tool, and the fact that it is used by students in a variety of situations). So, in summary, I don't see a blanket prohibition of student blogging.