District to roll out parental Chromebook monitoring tool after trustees question limits and oversight

The district technology director showed trustees on May 4 a parent-facing extension to the district's existing IBOS ("EyeBoss") content filter that will allow guardians of students to monitor Chromebook activity and schedule offline time outside the school day.

Kendrick Davis, director of technology, said the module provides "real time visibility" into a child's activity, a history of top sites, live URLs and the ability to schedule internet off times for evenings and weekends. "The scheduling does not override the school schedule," Davis said, noting that district instructional hours remain protected.

Parents will require a registration code tied to PowerSchool: Davis said only primary guardians registered in PowerSchool will receive a code to control a student's device. "Aunties, cousins, uncles will not be able to control the device," he said.

Trustees pressed for specifics: could the district set a maximum number of hours students can use the device at home? Davis said the system supports district scheduling but the district does not plan to force a single default home schedule; instead the district will leave the post-instruction schedule to parents. "When we do roll it out, we do not plan on rolling it out past the school district schedule. We want to give parents the freedom to manipulate the time however they want," he said.

Concerns about classroom interruptions surfaced. Board members cautioned that real-time parent monitoring should not result in teachers being asked to interrupt instruction to address parental concerns. Administration emphasized communications protocols and urged parents to use school referral channels rather than calling classrooms in real time.

Rollout and oversight: administration said the district began vetting the parental module in March with advice from the FBI and SLED and will hold a public "lunch and learn" on May 14 where parents can learn how to download and operate the app before summer. The rollout will include guidance on acceptable use and will be optional for parents who want the tool.

Clarifying details from the meeting: Davis said district had used IBOS for seven to eight years as a content filter and the parental module is included at no extra cost to districts that purchased IBOS. The app will run on Apple and Android devices and provides a live activity feed, schedule controls, and event logs for guardians.

What the board asked administrators to do: trustees requested options and cost-effective approaches for surveying parents about Chromebook use (a separate motion) and asked that the district provide materials and training at rollout to reduce classroom disruption and set expectations.

Speakers quoted and paraphrased in this article include district staff and trustees who spoke during the May 4 board meeting.