Service Level Agreement

Last Updated:  February 16, 2024

This Enterprise Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Gaggle.Net, Inc. (“Gaggle”) Solutions (“Services”) is made in connection with, and is a part of, your (Customer) Gaggle invoice, Customer contract, or Subscription Agreement for Services including, but not limited to: Archiving & Backup, Safety Management, SpeakUp for Safety, After Hours, Mental Health Services, and ReachOut. This SLA establishes the understanding for Gaggle to provide any of these Services to ensure maximum performance and uptime. Compensation for the Services provided under this SLA shall be at the rates and terms set forth in a Gaggle invoice, Customer contract, or Subscription Agreement.

1. Descriptions of Services

Archiving & Backup

Gaggle Archiving & Backup includes the archiving of all Customer email messages up to 50 megabytes (MB) in size, and all cloud-based (Drive) files up to 300 megabytes (MB) in size.

This Service includes full-text indexing, tiered administrator access permissions, granular litigation management, audit logs of access and activity, policy-based data retention, and advanced search, data recovery, and export options. Gaggle shall not be required to archive, and Customer shall not transmit, miscellaneous documents, which are not attachments to specific email communications for the sole purpose of archiving non-email-related documents.

A separate drive-based archiving solution can also be purchased, which provides archiving of cloud-based files subject to certain file size and file type limitations. This service is intended for individual user-based file archiving versus the archiving of data systems.

Upon request, for an additional charge, all email content and cloud-based files archived by Gaggle may be delivered to the Customer.

Safety Management and SpeakUp for Safety Tipline

Gaggle shall monitor email, message communications, documents, and other file types subject to certain file size limitations within third-party services including, but not limited to, those from Google Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.

Gaggle shall not make Safety Management or SpeakUp for Safety tipline available to Customer until Customer has provided Gaggle with the identity of three (3) designated emergency contacts including all emergency contact information. “Designated emergency contact” means the individual(s) designated by you to receive and act upon Gaggle notifications. If applicable, Customer must also provide access to student information system (SIS) data.

If there is a change in any designated emergency contact and/or emergency contact information, you must immediately notify Gaggle of all applicable changes. Your failure to immediately notify Gaggle of any changes to the designated emergency contact information will result in the delay or inability of Gaggle to properly send notifications to your organization.

Web Activity Monitor

Gaggle's Web Browser Extensions are an additional safety layer. The extensions monitor student activity on school-provided devices or in certain optional cases when students log in via their school-issued accounts on non-school computers. The extension is a lightweight add-on that does not interfere with or block activity on the device. The extension monitors content entered into the browser. This includes internet searches, text entered into emails, forms, social media sites, chat boxes, websites, and more. It will not capture Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or financial data. Customers will receive a screen capture from the student browser for user-created incidents. Activity that indicates bullying, suicide ideation, self-harm, and/or threats of violence will result in email notifications and immediate emergency phone calls when warranted.

Web Filter

Gaggle’s Web Filter monitors and blocks access to inappropriate websites and content based on predefined policies set by the Customer. Customers can customize policies to align with their specific needs and guidelines, ensuring a safe and appropriate online environment for students.

After Hours

Gaggle Safety Team Members will alert designated local authorities, who can then determine the appropriate course of action to help ensure student well-being. Possible Student Situation (PSS) incidents occurring after hours, overnight, and on weekends will be handled by the Gaggle Safety Team. Gaggle will reach out to local authorities or social workers to perform a wellness check.

Gaggle will pull data from the district’s Student Information System (SIS) so that we can provide the relevant information to authorities. Files with the student data will need to be uploaded daily via a file transfer (sFTP) for each group.

Mental Health Services

Gaggle shall provide outpatient individual and group therapy or coaching sessions to address a variety of experiences, symptoms, and disorders. These services are evidence-based and individualized to meet student or staff needs addressing symptoms related to mood disorders, substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, self-harm, PTSD, grief and loss, stress, trauma, etc.

School staff identify students for therapy or mental health coaching and Gaggle will reach out to those students’ parents to coordinate the student intake process and obtain informed consent. Gaggle will then match the students with licensed counselors and send a secure HIPAA-compliant video login link for each session.

Students will participate in ongoing 45-minute video sessions for a duration determined by the provider. Therapy sessions will be scheduled at convenient times for students, including evenings and weekends. Students will be able to log on for therapy sessions from home or at school.

All Gaggle Mental Health Services and activities comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

ReachOut

Gaggle will provide crisis response and de-escalation for students 24x7 via call, text, or web chat. Gaggle will provide each customer with a specific local number to connect with a ReachOut crisis counselor. ReachOut is staffed with trained crisis counselors to address youth crisis situations. Crisis response will involve local authorities if a student is deemed to be in a harmful and imminent situation. ReachOut is designed for in the moment response and not to be used as ongoing therapy or counseling services.

2. Service Standards

Gaggle shall regularly maintain and update, as needed, all Services. General maintenance typically shall not result in an interruption of Services (Downtime) except for Scheduled Downtime or Emergency Downtime, which is outside the control of Gaggle.

Gaggle guarantees that its Services shall be available 99.5% of the time in a given month, excluding Scheduled Downtime for maintenance and Emergency Downtime. Downtime exists when a particular Customer is unable to send or receive data from Gaggle servers, the failure is resolvable by Gaggle, and such failure has been clearly and fully communicated in writing to the Gaggle technical support team. Downtime shall be applicable until the server is able to send and receive data as confirmed by Gaggle’s monitoring systems. Maintenance and updates to Services, which may require an interruption of Services, shall be scheduled by Gaggle through notice to Customer of the Scheduled Downtime. Gaggle shall undertake commercially reasonable efforts to arrange Scheduled Downtime for maintenance and updates to be performed during off-peak hours.

When third-party applications are used within Gaggle Services, Gaggle does not have control over these applications. Downtime of these applications is specifically excluded from this SLA.

3. Limitations

This SLA and any applicable Services do not apply to any of the following:

Issues that are due to factors outside of Gaggle’s control including, but not limited to, natural acts of God, acts of any governmental body, war, insurrection, sabotage, armed conflict, embargo, fire, flood, strike or other labor disturbance, interruption of or delay in transportation, unavailability of or interruption or delay in telecommunications or third-party services, virus attacks or hackers, failure of third-party software, or inability to obtain raw materials, supplies, or power used in or equipment needed for the provision of this SLA.

Interruptions that result from Customer and/or a third-party hardware or software and that are not within the primary control of Gaggle.

Issues that result from outages between Gaggle’s Internet Service Provider and Gaggle servers.

>Interruptions relating to Domain Name Server (“DNS”) issues outside the control of Gaggle including DNS propagation or any delays in the registration or transfer of domain names and browser or DNS caching that may make Customer Site appear inaccessible when others can still access Customer Site.

Scheduled Downtime including upgrades and Emergency Downtime, as described in Section 2.

Customer acts or omissions (or acts or omissions of others engaged or authorized by Customer) including, without limitation, custom scripting or coding and any unauthorized, unlawful email practices.

Issues due to any negligence, willful misconduct, or use of the Services in breach of this SLA, Terms & Conditions, and other related documents.

4. Duration

This SLA shall commence on the Service Start (Commencement) Date and ends on the earlier of the Service End (Expiration) Date or at the time of termination in accordance with Section 7.


5. Roles and Responsibilities

The Services under this SLA are provided to Customer pursuant to Tiered Administrator Access Permissions, which Customer will select and assign to its users based on the access and security needs of the Customer’s organization. Users shall only be allowed to access and utilize the Services based on the designated Administrator Access Permission. Customer is responsible to communicate all usernames and passwords to its users. Customer shall control all Customer Tiered Administrator Access Permissions and any changes to those Permissions.

Use of accounts shall be limited to those individuals granted access by the Customer, who is solely responsible for the assignment of accounts and the enforcement of user access security. Gaggle shall use commercially reasonable efforts to advise Customer in identifying any known security breach, but Gaggle shall not be liable to Customer or any user for any inability, failure, or mistake in connection with such assistance. Customer is responsible, at its own cost and expense, to maintain all Customer (Client) Software and Hardware Configurations recommended by Gaggle, which may be updated from time to time. Customer shall report to Gaggle any changes to its Customer (Client) Software and Hardware Configurations.

Customer shall be responsible for monitoring and reporting any problems with its Customer (Client) Software and Hardware Configurations to Gaggle through written or digital format. All Gaggle Services shall only be used in a manner consistent with the appropriate uses associated with the operations and functions of Customer’s organization and shall not be contrary to public policy, the law, and commercially acceptable online etiquette. Failure to comply with these limitations may result in Gaggle suspending or terminating the Services of the violating user or all Customer accounts without notice. Gaggle maintains a ticket system to manage all Customer issues. Gaggle provides customer service between the hours of 6:00 AM and 7:00 PM CT Monday through Friday.

Customers can reach our Customer Service team by email (support@gaggle.net), telephone (800-288-7750), or by accessing a live chat feature within the Gaggle interface and on the Gaggle website. After-hours support is provided through a monitored email account at support@gaggle.net. Gaggle provides additional technical support twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week. Response time commitments are made based on the severity of the issue, ranging from six (6) hours for critical issues to twenty-four (24) hours for informational requests.

6. SLA Claim

If Customer believes Gaggle is in violation of this SLA, Customer should send an email to Gaggle at support@gaggle.net indicating the day(s) and time(s) in which the unavailability of Services occurred. Gaggle will review each claim and respond to the sender of the email within one (1) full business day.

7. Termination

Either party may terminate the Services under this SLA at any time by providing thirty-day (30) written notice of the intent to terminate. Gaggle may also terminate or suspend any and all Services immediately, without prior notice or liability, if Customer breaches any conditions set forth in this SLA or in the Terms & Conditions the Customer accepted by clicking the Accept button prior to accessing Gaggle Services. Gaggle can, at any time, modify or discontinue any of its Services without liability to any user or third party.


8. Notifications

Unless specified otherwise herein: (a) all notices must be in writing and addressed to the attention of the other party’s legal department and primary point of contact; and (b) notice will be deemed given: (i) when verified by written receipt if sent by personal courier, overnight courier, or when received if sent by mail without verification of receipt; or (ii) when verified by automated receipt or electronic logs if sent by facsimile or email.


9. Assignment

Neither party may assign or transfer any part of this SLA without the written consent of the other party, but only if: (a) the assignee agrees in writing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement; and (b) the assigning party remains liable for obligations incurred under the Agreement prior to the assignment. Any other attempt to transfer or assign is void.