Terms of Service

1. About these terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and the School Data Leadership Association (“SDLA,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a California nonprofit corporation. They govern your use of SchoolDataLeadership.org, including public pages, accounts, community areas, and contribution features that link to these Terms (collectively, the “Website”).

Additional policies or guidelines may apply to particular features, including our contributor and posting policies. If a feature-specific policy conflicts with these Terms, the feature-specific policy controls for that feature.

2. Website content and permitted use

Unless otherwise stated, SDLA or its licensors owns the Website and the text, graphics, design, software, and other material published by SDLA. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

You may view, download, and print Website pages for personal, educational, or other noncommercial use, provided that you retain any copyright, attribution, and other notices. This permission does not transfer ownership.

Unless SDLA or the applicable rights holder gives prior written permission, you may not:

• sell, rent, sublicense, or commercially exploit Website material;
• reproduce or redistribute substantial portions of the Website, except material expressly offered for redistribution;
• remove or alter copyright, trademark, attribution, or proprietary notices; or
• misrepresent Website material or SDLA’s name, marks, or content as your own.

Content identified as belonging to a contributor or third party remains subject to that owner’s rights and any license stated with the content.

3. Acceptable use

You may not use the Website to:

• violate any applicable law, regulation, court order, or another person’s rights;
• upload, transmit, or distribute malware, malicious code, or material intended to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to systems or data;
• interfere with the Website’s operation, security, availability, or accessibility;
• attempt to access accounts, systems, data, or restricted areas without authorization;
• send unsolicited commercial messages, advertisements, or promotions;
• harass, threaten, impersonate, defraud, or mislead another person;
• publish confidential information, personal information, or student records without authorization;
• use automated tools to scrape, harvest, or systematically collect Website content or user information without SDLA’s prior written permission; or
• use the Website in a way that creates an unreasonable burden on its infrastructure or other users.

Ordinary indexing by public search engines and accessibility tools used for their intended purpose are not prohibited by the automated-access restriction.

4. Accounts and restricted areas

Some Website features require an account. You are responsible for providing accurate account information, protecting your sign-in credentials, and all activity conducted through your account. Do not share your password or use another person’s account without permission.

Notify SDLA promptly if you suspect unauthorized account use or a security incident. SDLA may restrict, suspend, or disable an account when reasonably necessary to protect the Website, its users, or SDLA; investigate suspected violations; comply with law; or enforce these Terms.

5. User content

“User content” means text, files, images, audio, video, comments, profile information, or other material you submit to the Website. You retain ownership of your original user content.

By submitting user content, you grant SDLA a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, format, adapt for accessibility or presentation, publish, display, and distribute that content as reasonably necessary to operate, maintain, promote, and improve the Website and SDLA’s nonprofit mission. This license continues for as long as the content is published or reasonably retained in backups, records, or archives. It does not prevent you from using or licensing your content elsewhere.

You represent that you have the rights and permissions needed to submit the content and grant this license. User content must not:

• infringe copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, or other rights;
• contain unlawful, defamatory, fraudulent, threatening, or malicious material;
• disclose student records or other protected information without lawful authorization;
• contain undisclosed advertising, spam, or deceptive links; or
• be the subject of a claim or restriction that prevents its lawful publication.

SDLA may review, edit, decline, move, or remove user content, but does not undertake to monitor every submission. Publication does not mean that SDLA endorses or verifies the content.

6. Third-party content and links

The Website may include user submissions, product information, references, and links to third-party websites or services. Third parties control their own content, availability, security, privacy practices, and terms. A link, listing, or reference does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by SDLA. Review third-party information and terms before relying on or using an external service.

7. Disclaimers

SDLA does not warrant that the Website will always be available, secure, error-free, or free of harmful components, or that Website information will remain current or suitable for a particular situation.

Website content is provided for general educational and informational purposes. It is not legal, financial, accounting, cybersecurity, employment, credentialing, or other professional advice. Laws, regulations, agency guidance, software, and local practices change. Consult the responsible agency, your organization’s policies, and qualified professionals before making consequential decisions.

8. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, SDLA and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, contributors, and agents will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages; lost profits, revenue, goodwill, or opportunities; or loss, corruption, or unauthorized disclosure of data arising from or related to the Website or these Terms.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limitations, so portions of this section may not apply to you.

9. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SDLA and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, and agents from claims, damages, liabilities, judgments, costs, and reasonable legal expenses arising from your user content, your misuse of the Website, or your material violation of these Terms or another person’s rights.

10. Enforcement and termination

If you violate these Terms, SDLA may take proportionate action, including removing content, limiting features, suspending or terminating access, blocking abusive traffic, preserving relevant records, or pursuing available legal remedies. SDLA may also cooperate with lawful requests from public authorities.

You may stop using the Website at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination—including ownership, user-content licenses, disclaimers, liability limitations, indemnity, and general provisions—will survive.

11. General provisions

• Changes to these Terms

  SDLA may revise these Terms. Updated Terms apply from the effective date shown at the top of this page. If a change is material, SDLA may provide additional notice through the Website or another reasonable method. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

• Assignment

  You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without SDLA’s prior written consent. SDLA may assign these Terms in connection with a reorganization, merger, transfer of Website operations, or similar transaction.

• Severability

  If a provision is held unlawful or unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted, and the remaining provisions will remain in effect.

• No waiver

  A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later. A waiver must be in writing and applies only to the specific instance stated.

• Entire agreement

  These Terms and any policies expressly incorporated by reference constitute the entire agreement between you and SDLA concerning use of the Website and supersede prior agreements on that subject.

• Governing law

  These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.