Terms and Conditions of Use


General

The Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. (“TASB”) website, social media pages, and online applications that TASB makes available to you (together the “Site”) are available for use under these Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms”). As used in these Terms, “TASB” shall also include its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Public, LLC, and all affiliated entities to which TASB or its subsidiary provides website services on this Site (e.g., TASB Legal Assistance Fund, TASB Risk Management Fund, The Local Government Purchasing Cooperative, TASB Energy Cooperative, Lone Star Investment Pool, and TASB Benefits Cooperative).

Your use of the Site constitutes acceptance of these Terms. Please read these Terms carefully. If you do not accept these Terms, your use of this Site is not authorized by TASB.

These Terms apply to the use of any resources available through the Site including message boards, forums, published content, and secured material through myTASB or other password-protected areas of the Site, the TASB Store, TASB social media pages, and any and all online applications made available to you. These Terms apply to your use of the Site in any manner, including by individuals acting for themselves or on behalf of an organization.

The collection and use of personal information on the Site is addressed in the Privacy Policy.

Use of Content; Submissions

The Site is copyright-protected. Unless otherwise stated, copyright or similar rights are reserved for all material presented on the Site, including but not limited to audio and video clips, graphics, and links. TASB authorizes you to view and download material made available to you from our Site, provided the information is for your personal use (or broader use if expressly allowed by the material itself). Unauthorized use of materials may violate copyright laws. All copyright and other proprietary notices in the original material must be retained on any copy you make of the original material. You may not sell, distribute, or publish any content you obtain from this Site without permission.

You shall not submit any material or content to the Site that is subject to or may infringe the intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third parties. You grant TASB a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, copy, modify, display, archive, store, publish, transmit, distribute, and reproduce, and to create derivative works from, any and all content or information you post, upload, provide, or create using the Site.

Rules of Conduct

You agree to use the Site for lawful purposes only. You may not use this Site to transmit any content that TASB deems as abusive, vulgar, obscene, hateful, fraudulent, unlawful, threatening, harassing, or defamatory. Content includes, but is in no way limited to, content that is viewable by others on the Site, comments, and artwork. Any use of, or conduct relating to, this Site that is not authorized by these Terms is prohibited. Please see the “Prohibited Conduct” section for specific prohibitions.

Links to External Websites

As a convenience to our visitors, the Site has links to external websites that are owned and operated by third parties. TASB makes no representation whatsoever regarding the content of any other websites that you may access from this Site. When linking to an external website, please understand that it is independent from TASB and we have no control over the content on that website. A link to a non-TASB website does not mean that we endorse or accept any responsibility for its content or use. TASB does not guarantee the availability or accuracy of content on any website linking to our Site. It is the user’s responsibility to check each website for its own privacy statement and terms of use.  Users rely on the data on such websites entirely at their own risk.

Live Chat

A live chat feature may be available to you in some areas of the Site. If you choose to access this feature, information that you provide may be processed and/or stored by the third-party provider of this feature, subject to the privacy practices of the provider. By participating in a chat session, you consent to the policies of the provider of the chat services and permit the provider to process and/or store the information you provide during the chat session.

The TASB Store

For your convenience, TASB provides a number of materials available for purchase through the TASB Store. The offerings available through the TASB Store are provided subject to these Terms. Please note that when you make a purchase through the TASB Store, you will be re-directed to a third-party purchase and payment processing website to complete your purchase.

Password-Protected Portions of the Site

Certain portions of the Site are provided on a login-and-password-only basis to Site registrants. All login credentials and passwords shall be treated as strictly confidential and for use only by the registrant. Each registrant is responsible for any activity on the Site that is accomplished through the use of their login credentials and password. Please request a change of password immediately if you become aware of any security compromise concerning your password.

Social Media

TASB maintains social media sites on or through services such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Your use of each of TASB’s pages or offerings through each of those services is subject to these Terms, as well as the terms and policies covering each of those respective services. Information you post to any social media site may be published or used in accordance with the site’s terms and policies.

Availability and Services

TASB’s goal is for continuous access, 24 hours per day, to our Site. However, there may be times when the Site is unavailable due to routine maintenance. Maintenance times are selected after identifying peak usage times to avoid the Site being down during those periods. Certain portions of our Site are regularly available only between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 a.m. Central Time. TASB reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue the Site or any features or components of the Site, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice, for any reason. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that TASB, in its sole discretion, may terminate your access to the Site if TASB believes that you have violated the letter or spirit of these Terms. You agree that any termination of your access to the Site or any deletion of information may be effected without prior notice.

Accessibility

We have made attempts to meet the guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative. However, we are at this time unable to guarantee that tasb.org will be compatible with all web browsers designed to assist individuals with special needs. We will make every effort to meet these guidelines in the future.

Reliance on Materials/Offerings

A number of educational materials and offerings are available through the Site, including information about training, legal and legislative issues, and recent developments that TASB believes may be of interest to our membership (including through the TASB Store). All such materials available through the Site are provided for convenience, informational purposes, and educational purposes only. None of such materials are intended to constitute legal advice. TASB is not responsible for fulfilling or processing the training or certification requirements of any user of the Site.

IP Addresses

We collect IP addresses (the Internet address of a computer) and analyze this data for trends and statistics about page viewing frequency and sequence to improve our Site and the services we offer. We may, in some circumstances, link your IP address to personally identifiable information about you, and, if necessary, an IP address, including yours, can and will be used to identify anyone responsible for threatening the integrity or security of the Site or our computer systems and information networks.

Cookies

TASB uses cookies (text files placed on your hard drive by a web server) to monitor Site usage and to help personalize your browsing experience.

You may have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you usually can modify your browser settings to decline them. Alternately, you may be able to modify your browser settings to notify you each time a cookie is tendered, allowing you to accept or decline cookies on an individual basis. If you choose to decline cookies, however, you may not have access to the full functionality of the Site.

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property

Any trademarks, logos, or service marks displayed on this Site are the property of or licensed by TASB. Any unauthorized use or misuse of this intellectual property or unauthorized use of content on the Site will be subject to all appropriate remedies, including appropriate legal action.

Changes

Please review the Terms periodically, as we may update them from time to time.

Prohibited Conduct

In connection with your use of the Site you may not:

  • deliver content that contains software viruses or any other code, files, or programs designed to damage or disrupt any software, hardware, or equipment;
  • post, upload, or create any content that contains copyrighted material without the right to do so;
  • upload any content containing an image, likeness, or audio or visual recording of an individual without permission to do so;
  • post, upload, or create any content that violates any privacy rights of any individual; or
  • harm or harass any individual.

In addition, you may not:

  • attempt to modify or alter the Site;
  • attempt to use the Site other than for its intended purposes;
  • attempt (including through the use of any device, software, or routine) to interfere with the proper functioning of the Site;
  • attempt to circumvent a technological measure that controls or impacts access to the Site;
  • take any action that imposes, as determined within TASB’s sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large or otherwise overly burdensome load on the infrastructure or networks utilized by the Site;
  • violate any applicable law or regulation in connection with the use of the Site; or
  • copy or distribute any content from the Site in any manner (including, but not limited to through the use of any manual process, device, or any robot, spider, or other automatic process), other than permissible copying from an account through the use of report or copying functionality provided by the Site and may not share, publish, or distribute any content from the Site other than as explicitly allowed by TASB.

Limitations of Liability

TASB does not guarantee that the Site or any services provided through the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free. Content and services are provided on an “as is,” as-available basis. TASB does not guarantee that any file available for downloading is free of viruses or similar contamination or destructive features.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

(A) TASB, ITS SUBSIDIARY AND AFFILIATED ENTITIES, INCLUDING THEIR RESPECTIVE BOARD MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND ASSIGNS, SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING UNDER THESE TERMS OR ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR WITH ANY TASB CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE OF DATA, LACK OR LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, WHETHER THE CLAIM FOR SUCH DAMAGES IS BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR STRICT LIABILITY), OR OTHERWISE (EVEN IF TASB OR ITS APPLICABLE THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES); AND

(B) THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF ANY KIND ARISING UNDER OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, THE PRODUCTS, OR TASB CONTENT SHALL BE ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($100.00). THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION, WHETHER ARISING FROM BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY; MOREOVER, THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING A FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.

DMCA Compliance / Take Down Rights

Consistent with our commitment to the protection of intellectual property rights, in connection with any content or material posted by users of or visitors to the Site (“User Materials”), we comply with the protections and notice and take-down provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any User Material infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the DMCA by providing our copyright agent with the following information in writing:

  • identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed or, if multiple copyrighted works on the Site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works;
  • identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit TASB to locate the material;
  • information reasonably sufficient to permit TASB to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address;
  • a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  • a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; and
  • a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notifications of claimed infringement should be sent to TASB's designated copyright agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement,

Attn: Chief Communications Officer
Texas Association of School Boards, Inc.
P.O. Box 400
Austin, Texas, 78767-0400
webmaster@tasb.org

Miscellaneous

The laws of the State of Texas, excluding its conflicts of law rules, shall govern these Terms, and you hereby irrevocably agree that all claims or disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms shall be heard exclusively by any of the federal or state courts of competent jurisdiction located in the State of Texas, County of Travis, and you waive any objection to personal jurisdiction or the propriety or convenience of venue in such courts.

These Terms are the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all other communications or representations or agreements (whether oral, written, or otherwise) relating thereto. The failure of TASB to require performance of any provision of these Terms in no manner shall affect its right at a later time to enforce the same. No waiver by TASB of any breach of these Terms, whether by conduct or otherwise, in any one or more instances, shall be deemed to be or construed as a further or continuing waiver of any other such breach, or a waiver of any other breach of these Terms.

If any provision of these Terms shall to any extent be held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the validity, legality, and enforceability of the remaining provisions of these Terms shall in no way be affected or impaired thereby and each such provision of these Terms shall be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law. In such case, these Terms shall be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to correct any invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability, while preserving to the maximum extent the rights and commercial expectations of the parties hereto, as expressed herein. The section headings in these Terms are for convenience only and shall have no legal or contractual effect.

BY USING THE SITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS.

v.09.19