Board refers device-use guardrails and off-site filtering to policy committee after tech-refresh discussion

Farmington School Board members discussed follow-up steps after approving a district technology refresh, focusing on acceptable-use language, device take-home rules and off-site filtering for iPads and MacBooks.

Board Chair Christensen opened the topic and said the earlier decision kept the 1:1 device ratio but that the current conversation should address practices and policy to mitigate concerns about use outside school buildings. "If the issue is about kids having access to technology, for me the answer is I don't think it's necessarily the right thing to put all of the ownership of those issues into the classroom," Chair Christensen said.

District staff and board members reviewed technical and policy options. Jason and Andrew (district technology staff) provided a summary to the board that cataloged current network and device management tools and possible additional controls. Director Huska reported that turning to managed Apple IDs and a cloud-based off-site filtering service would cost an ongoing subscription, and that staff estimate about $15,000 per year to provide filtering comparable to on-site controls. "We don't currently do any off-site filtering with our devices, but we can do that through cloud filtering, and so for about $15,000, we can set it up so that our devices filter the way they do in our buildings," a staff presenter said.

Board members raised operational questions — for example, whether filters would apply to adult devices as well, how exceptions would be handled for classroom projects or FFA/4‑H activities, and whether the policy would be framed as procedures or codified policy. "I don't want the exception to the rule to become the standard operating procedure," a board member said, urging clear start/end expectations for device take-home practices.

Why this matters: families and staff expressed concerns about student access to social media and non-educational content on district devices; the board wants consistent, enforceable guardrails that work on- and off-site and that are feasible to implement before and during the device refresh rollout.

Board action and next steps: the board directed the policy committee to draft recommended changes to the district's acceptable-use policy and to return a skeleton framework at the committee's June meeting and further discussion at the July board meeting. Staff noted some measures would require ongoing operating funds or capital/tech operating support and recommended the committee evaluate funding options when drafting the recommendations.