State provided filtering solution

All district owned devices contain a filtering agent by the name of Lightspeed provided to the district by the Kentucky Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology. Per state and federal regulations, all district devices must contain a filter that blocks pornography and gambling. However, all district devices are filtered against additional content based on their building level. Elementary devices have the strictest filtering rules, then the middle school, then high school. YouTube is not blocked at any level due to the high volume of instructional materials that are available for teaching and learning. However, Lightspeed does filter YouTube content as well. The installed Lightspeed filter works exactly the same at home as it does at school.

While Teachers are required, and parents are highly encouraged, to provide reasonable monitoring of device usage despite the installed filter. This is due to the fact that no commercially available filtering agent is 100% accurate and inappropriate content can slip past filters on occasion. Additionally, filtering software cannot detect off-task behavior.

Although there is no strict definition of "reasonable" when it comes to monitoring, it does not mean constant surveillance but usually incorporates different strategies. Common strategies include strategic placement of the device where it must be kept for a student to use it; time limits for work that allow for certain "progress-checks" along the way; and, routine prompting (such as, "what have you learned or practices since I last asked?"). It is also appropriate to have the child put the device away or remove it from the child to prevent excessive screen time.

Additional filtering solutions

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to monitoring device usage. Best practices are dependent upon the individual child and their age and maturity.

If you choose to add additional filtering solutions for tighter controls, ensure you are investing  your time into something you can setup on your home network that manages any device connected to your home wifi (including district devices). You may already have controls on your home router or through your current internet service provider that would not require any additional time or purchase. You would need to check with your provider or the documentation that came with your router to find that information.

Please note that if you do opt for a home filtering solution, you will NOT have the ability to install any third-party software or apps on the district device.  All district devices are managed by the district's management solution so some options that might work on a personal device would not work on a district device.

The district does not endorse any of the home networking solutions listed below, nor can the technology department troubleshoot or support any of them should you choose to use them. All support would have to come from the vendor you choose to work with. However, some popular options are identified below for those who may be interested in adding additional filtering on your home network.  

POPULAR HOME NETWORK FILTERING OPTIONS

• OpenDNS Home ( https://signup.opendns.com/homefree/)

• Bark Home ( https://www.bark.us/learn/bark-home/)

• Circle Home ( https://meetcircle.com/)