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District outlines filtering, monitoring and student-data privacy measures
Summary
IT and legal staff told SCC members that the district uses multiple filtering products, allows parents to request stricter filters at registration, and follows laws on student data privacy; staff referenced a tool called Bark for identifying potentially harmful content.
At the District Community Council meeting, district staff described the suite of tools used to filter and monitor student Chromebook activity and the district’s approach to student-data privacy. Rick Anthony said the district uses products to filter by URL category and age group and mentioned a monitoring tool called Bark that flags potentially harmful or violent content. "Filtering and monitoring - we have multiple products that we use for filtering and blocking what access students can access on these Chromebooks," the CIO said.
Staff said parents can request stricter filtering for their children and that the district maintains a library of approved programs available for parent review. District legal staff emphasized the district follows applicable laws and rules to protect student data and that smaller, classroom-specific apps may not appear on the central library list. The Parent and Family Resource Guide for digital safety is available on the district website to help families navigate options.
Why it matters: parents concerned about content and privacy have options to request more restrictive filtering, but staff warned that filters vary by age and category and that some classroom tools used by teachers may not be in the central library listing.
