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Board hears rollout of Custodio parent app to let families manage Chromebook use
Summary
District staff described Custodio (by Linewize), a parent-facing app that lets parents view student activity and set device time and content filters at home; staff reported initial uptake of roughly 11% of families and said parents can opt in at no cost.
The Richland School District on Sept. 9 reviewed the district’s rollout of Custodio, a family-focused digital safety application provided by Linewize that allows parents to view student device activity and set home-based screen-time and content limits for district Chromebooks and one additional personal device.
Len, a district technology staffer, described Custodio’s features and early adoption numbers, saying district outreach (ParentSquare and social-media blasts plus flyers to secondary principals) helped raise family sign-ups from about 5% at the start of the year to roughly 11% within a week and a half. He said the app provides activity reports that let parents see what children search for and how much they use their devices at home.
How it works: Parents register with a school-associated email and add a child’s device by entering the student’s date of birth; the district’s rollout includes QR-code support and staff assistance for families needing help. Staff explained the district sets default time restrictions by grade (middle school and below have district time restrictions; high school does not), but parents can make stricter cutoffs at home using Custodio. Staff noted the district cannot centrally extend district-controlled cutoffs beyond the 10 p.m. district limit; parents can set earlier times through the app.
Board questions and concerns: Board members sought clarity about grade-based defaults and whether the vendor supports individualized scheduling; staff said the district configures group-based defaults for scalability and manageability and that Custodio can adjust some restrictions but cannot override district-level cutoffs. Katrina encouraged parents to sign up and noted there is no cost to parents for the district-provided license.
Next steps: Staff said they will continue periodic outreach (quarterly pushes tied to school breaks) and provide additional help resources; they also plan to monitor uptake and consult principals and parent feedback to adjust default settings if needed.
Representative quote: “It gives us a well-being application so the parents can keep an eye on what their children are searching,” Len said, describing the district’s goals for the rollout.
