YouTube hosts many educational videos to support teaching and learning, as well as many videos that do not. Baltimore City Schools has taken the following steps to ensure staff and students are safe and can access appropriate content.

• The City Schools network restricts which YouTube videos are available to staff and students in City Schools.

  • Strict Restricted Access is in place for students and staff who are not logged into their Google accounts.

• Enabled teacher accounts to approve videos for City Schools students.

  • Staff and students who are signed into their City Schools Google accounts can access additional content approved by teachers which is not available in the Strict Restricted Access category.

Beginning July 1, 2026

As part of a shift to decrease screen time and prioritize technology use as an instructional tool, City Schools will be implementing the following measures starting on July 1, 2026 for the 26-27 School Year:

• K-2nd grade: YouTube access will be disabled for students. 

• 3rd-5th grade: YouTube access will be disabled, however students will still be able to watch YouTube videos that are posted in a Google Classroom section or inserted into Google Slide decks. 

• 6th-12th grade: Access to limited YouTube content, based on age appropriateness and teacher approval, will continue to be available with a restricted time frame of 6:01 am through 11:59 pm.

Staff sign into Google with their City Schools Google accounts in order to access additional content in YouTube . Staff who are members of the Classroom Teachers group can approve videos in YouTube that are deemed appropriate for students and serve an educational value related to their content.  Classroom Teachers group membership comes from going to classroom.google.com and selecting the Teacher option at the time of their first entry into this tool. Teachers are approved within 24-48 hours typically.

Grade 6-12 students sign into Google with their City Schools Google accounts in order to access additional content in YouTube approved by teachers. 

Teachers can use GoGuardian to create Scenes which allow teachers to build allow and block lists of websites. GoGuardian Training can be found HERE.