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Parents urge District 211 to strengthen student-device cybersecurity after access found on guest Wi‑Fi
Summary
A Schaumburg parent told the board that her daughter accessed social media and contacted unknown adults via a district-issued iPad using the school's guest Wi‑Fi; parents asked the board for stronger digital safeguards and clarification of district policies and blocked-content controls.
During public comment, a Schaumburg parent, Margaret Slavich, told the Township HSD 211 Board of Education that her daughter was able to access social media and contact unknown adults using a district-issued iPad while connected to the school’s guest Wi‑Fi.
“I am here with some concerns regarding the safety of the children at Schaumburg High School,” Margaret Slavich said. She told the board the school’s technology staff told the family there is “no program” for cybersecurity monitoring and that the district’s expectation is “see something, say something” rather than automated detection.
Slavich said school staff later set her daughter’s iPad to a higher security level that limits it to academic use, but she told the board she had expected protections tied to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the E-rate program to block content that is obscene or harmful to minors. “I was under the impression through the Children’s Internet Protection Act that they would not be able to access things that are obscene … and that it would block access by minors to inappropriate … matter on the Internet. However, this was not the case,” Slavich said.
Slavich said the incident is under investigation by a school detective, and she urged the district to consider a cybersecurity system and to notify parents if devices had access to inappropriate content. She also said a previously required freshman digital citizenship course is “outdated” and “not something that happens anymore.”
Board response and next steps: Superintendent Dr. Small acknowledged the comment period and the board president later said a presentation on cybersecurity and device monitoring is already scheduled for the next board meeting. A district staff member confirmed the technology department met with the family, adjusted the student device security level, and is discussing next steps with district administration.
Why it matters: Parents said the incident revealed gaps between their expectations of filtering and what the district’s guest Wi‑Fi allowed. The parent cited CIPA and E‑rate as the basis for expecting blocking of obscene or harmful content; the district has said it will present a cybersecurity update at the next board meeting.
Provenance: The family’s remarks occurred during the public comment portion of the meeting; the board scheduled an informational presentation on cybersecurity for the next meeting.
