Chico Unified reviews Chromebook use, monitoring and moves to update technology policies

Chico Unified School District trustees on Sept. 3 reviewed spring 2025 survey results, research on instructional technology and the district’s layered approach to Chromebook management and monitoring, and voted to add a follow-up policy discussion to a future board meeting.

District presenters Tim Carris and John Vincent said surveys of students, parents and teachers show Chromebook engagement increases with grade level and that elementary in-class use most often clustered in the 30–60 minute range, while secondary students reported more daily homework time on devices. "Engagement with Chromebooks increases through the grade levels," Carris summarized, noting that homework is the main driver of secondary Chromebook use.

John Vincent described the district’s security stack as multiple, overlapping layers: Google Admin to restrict logins and enforce settings, GoGuardian for classroom management and activity visibility, an AI-enhanced filtering profile rolled out districtwide for TK–12, and an alerting service (SecurityAware) that notifies counselors — and, in extreme cases, law enforcement — when searches indicate imminent risk. "Google Admin is the base layer," Vincent said. "GoGuardian lets teachers pause devices or restrict sites for assignments; the filtering and SecurityAware alerts add another layer of protection."

Presenters emphasized parental controls available through a parent portal that allows parents to view activity, set schedules and request site blocks or allows. Staff said approximately 60% of parents reported using parental-monitoring tools and that GoGuardian is used consistently by a large share of elementary and middle-school teachers, with use declining at the high-school level.

Trustees pressed staff on three recurring issues: whether one-to-one device distribution is justified at early elementary grades given limited in-class time, whether classroom and home use are being distinguished clearly enough in practice, and whether the district provides age-appropriate curriculum on healthy technology use and digital citizenship. One trustee noted that reported parent survey responses may understate actual at-home non-school usage based on personal observation.

A public commenter raised a separate safety concern reported earlier: that a younger student was shown how to change a birthdate on a device profile to get around filters and access YouTube. Staff acknowledged the incident and said they would follow up.

After discussion, the board voted unanimously to place a technology-policy review and any related adjustments to administrative regulations on a future regular meeting agenda so staff can prepare recommended changes and supporting materials. The board also approved the consent calendar earlier in the meeting by roll call (motion by member Robinson; second by member Olsen) and later moved to adjourn to closed session.

What’s next: staff will prepare policy options and background materials for a future regular meeting (board members suggested October or November). The district said it will continue parent outreach and build resources on the district website about device controls and family education.