School and Community Network Partnerships School and Community Network Partnerships Strategic partnering for shared Internet access with businesses and organizations in the local community can reduce the costs to the school. A web server for the school might be won if businesses are allowed to post their own homepages. County and city government support can be won if they too can participate in sharing information through the server. School and community networking interests have much in common and these synergies need to be identified and strengthened. Public discussions on a school server, especially those including community members, may contain objectional material such as personally attacking or obscene messages.
Most schools have someone monitor public interaction and delete objectionable messages.
Students themselves tend to be the greatest offenders for posting obscene or inappropriate messages, suggesting they will need guidance on how to become good electronic citizens. Strategic school planning for Internet connectivity has a great deal to do with the community, as those resources shared with the community are those most likely to be supported. Opening Internet-connected computer labs for the community in the evenings is a great way to win support. Local businesses and organizations can most easily be enticed to support technology initiatives that benefit the entire community. The National School Network Testbed at BBN is funded by NSF to research how schools can best integrate networking with their local communities.