Why do we use content filtering?

As a receiver of Federal E-Rate monies, Fremont #1 must by law provide Internet content filtering to all connections made from our school district network, as well from any district-owned devices used offsite.  By law, ALL connections made from within the District to any Internet resource is filtered.  This includes student traffic, staff traffic, and any users on our "visitor" wireless network.  We receive E-Rate funds from the Wyoming State government to procure a content filtering solution.

However, it should be clearly understood that no filtering regimen can be fully effective.  There are times when filtering may not catch a new website, and there are ways to bypass any filtering.  With global access to computers and people, there is a risk that students may access material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting. Students receive instruction, appropriate to their age, regarding strategies to avoid the inadvertent access of inappropriate material and what to do if they accidentally access such material.  Vigilance, care, and guidance should always be used, especially when students are using district resources at home.

Users will not use District resources to view or otherwise gain access to potentially objectionable materials. This includes text materials, video, images, or sound files that may be considered objectionable in an educational setting. If students mistakenly access inappropriate information, they should immediately disclose this access to their teacher or other supervising staff member. If a student finds that other users are visiting offensive or harmful sites, she/he should report such use to her/his supervising teacher.

What content is filtered by the district.

Sites we block and/or filter are divided into three general categories:

• Sites we must block: Federal requirements state that sites categorized as pornography must be blocked for all educational users (students and staff).  In Linewize, we block all adult categories.

• Sites we should block: We choose to block additional categories such as email spam, security and malware, “parked” network domains, and peer-to-peer traffic.  We also choose to block proxy/VPN sites and services that would allow users to bypass content filtering by using a third-party service as a “stand-in” for their Internet requests.  These sites are not required to be blocked, but are considered undesirable for security and monitoring.

• Sites we choose to block: These vary by school level, but are generally considered time-wasters, waste of network bandwidth, and/or undesirable in an educational setting.  These include alcohol, drugs, gambling, “offensive,” some streaming music and video hosting sites, and sites allowing the posting of anonymous comments, chat, and bullying.

How do we accomplish content filtering?

We currently use Linewize for "hybrid" content filtering, meaning we filter through both software and hardware. 

• Software: For student and staff Chromebooks, there is a Linewize extension that monitors and filters all traffic on a Chromebook, even if that Chromebook is used outside of the network boundaries (at home, at the public library, etc).  This is an “active” agent that is installed on every Chromebook and cannot be turned off or removed.

• Hardware: Every device connecting within our network – wired device, secure wireless, or visitor wireless – that generates Internet traffic must pass through our Linewize content filter.  The filtering appliance applies filtering rules depending on what school the traffic came from, the user, and the time of day.  Sites are categorized by Linewize and their database is updated daily.  This is a “passive” filtering that works no matter who owns the device or what kind of device it may be.

We also employ some secondary filtering capabilities:

• • YouTube Safety Mode is turned on for all district accounts.  Safety Mode will not show videos that are from personal accounts and/or not tagged with relevant categories (such as news, education, etc).  FYI, we receive numerous complaints about Safety Mode being overprotective and blocking valid educational content.

  • Also on our visitor wireless network, we use a “DNS scrubber” that will not resolve network addresses for websites in many of the same categories as above.  This is an additional piece that is used just for guest traffic.

  • Our wireless network access points provide a basic level of filtering for devices on our Visitor network, although Visitor traffic is also filtered by the Linewize appliance.

• • Our Windows security software screens for known mailcious and compromised websites

Though not directly content filtering, the District also installs an ad-blocker extension for all students and staff using the Chrome browser (on Chromebooks or Windows PCs).  The ad-blocker will block known malicious and compromised websites.  

Questions

If a student brings their own device, is Internet access to that device filtered?

If a student (or any other guest) is using the school's "visitor" wireless connection, then yes the content is filtered.  

If a staff member or student signs into their school district account on a personal device, the Linewize content filter extension may also be installed (depending on the device).  We do not recommend staff or students using their district account on a personal device.

Does the District filter LGBTQ material?

No.

Are students allowed to "override" the filter?

No.  However, students who possess smartphones with a third-party data plan (i.e. Verizon or Union) have their own connection to the Internet, and thus bypass District protection.

Are staff allowed to "override" the filter?

We currently do not allow personal overrides.  However, we will evaluate and “whitelist” any website that has been incorrectly categorized by Linewize.  This happens from time to time, and we work very positively with teachers when legitimate websites are miscategorized to fix them quickly.

What can I do at home for content filtering on my personal or family device?

The District cannot recommend or endorse specific software or services.  Depending on your computer's OS and your particular needs, there may be a number of options and software you can consider.