March 30th 2023

Subject: Technology and Safety Notification for Parents

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Technology has revolutionized the way we live, work, and interact with one another. It has brought about countless opportunities, making it possible for people to access information from anywhere at any time, learning about any topic with a quick Google search. This kind of accessibility to information, however, can pose a risk to children. 

Pine-Richland School District uses a program called GoGuardian on district-owned devices to help protect our students and as part of our compliance with the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA). GoGuardian currently alerts school counselors when a student searches online for terms or views content related to subjects of self-harm, suicide, violence, weapons, bullying, or illegal substances. The GoGuardian Parent app (available for download for iOS/Android) allows parents access to your child(ren)’s browsing history on district-issued devices. Currently, you may log into this app to view all browsing activity.

GoGuardian’s features have expanded to include a parental notification system. In order to help parents prevent self-harm, suicide, and harm to others, the district will implement the GoGuardian Beacon feature on April 3rd 2023 that will immediately notify parents via email of online activity that is categorized as Active Planning, Suicide Ideation, Self Harm, Help & Support, Suicide Research, Guns & Bombs, Violent Acts or Bullying, that occurs on a district-issued device or on a personal device while using Chrome linked to a Pine-Richland account outside of school hours. 

This email notification will be sent to the parent email address listed in the Sapphire Community Portal and will be sent regardless of a parent’s use of GoGuardian Parent. Notifications will come from beacon-noreply@goguardiannotifications.com.

False positives will occur. Students may perform searches to help complete assignments on cyberbullying, historical events, health, or other topics that could trigger alerts. While we know that false positives will happen, we would rather err on the side of caution rather than miss something concerning. 

Neither Pine-Richland School District nor GoGuardian Beacon can possibly detect every situation. If a safety concern arises, we can work together and will provide safety resources and support to students and families. 

Awareness and reporting are our greatest opportunities to provide security and safety protections. The use of reporting mechanisms is a critical factor in school safety. If you or your child(ren) have any information about a specific incident or any safety-related matter, please contact the tip line at 724-449-TIPS and use the Safe2Say Something application or website.

Please read the GoGuardian Parent FAQs for more information about GoGuardian’s technology. Pine-Richland also offers a number of supports for students and families, including contact information for school counselors and mental health staff, hotlines, and online resources.

Sincerely,

Pine-Richland School District

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Thank you for your collaboration and support over the past several years. Our district has quickly transitioned into a 1:1 style learning environment through a combination of district-owned devices and family-owned devices.  As we implement the continuity of learning models for students, we also continue to evaluate technology applications that can increase the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. 

This communication is focused primarily on parents/guardians of students in grades 1 - 12. It is also relevant for a small number of high school age students using a district-owned device. The purpose of this communication is to describe an application called GoGuardian that is now available for use by schol administrators/teachers/ and parents with students using district-owned Chromebooks.  

To help keep your child safer and more engaged online, we are adding additional services provided by GoGuardian. It may be helpful to know that over 10,000 other schools use GoGuardian to protect 5.5 million students across the world, and the Global Educator Institute has endorsed the GoGuardian Teacher product.

How are we using GoGuardian?

We have chosen GoGuardian Admin and GoGuardian Teacher services to:

• Help protect students against harmful and inappropriate online material

• Help students stay “scholarly” and more focused when learning online

• Helping assess students’ progress towards class assignments

• Facilitating communication between teachers and students during class time

When and how does GoGuardian operate?

GoGuardian’s web-based services operate on our school’s managed Google Suite for Education Chrome accounts (i.e., when a student is logged into a Chromebook with his/her school email address).

What is Classroom Management/Remote screen viewing?

PRSD has enabled teachers to use GoGuardian Teacher with students in their classes only during school hours from 7 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. GoGuardian allows the teacher to monitor student device content remotely. We have used this type of software for many years in our computer labs. It permits the teacher to monitor student on-task work, share web links with the class and provide individual support. GoGuardian is a type of classroom management software that helps teachers keep a better “pulse” on student learning and engagement. 

What are the school’s responsibilities?

The GoGuarding and Fortinet Firewall Content Filters help to protect your child 24/7/365 in accordance with the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA). PRSD selected GoGuardian services to help our students stay safer and more scholarly online. We will work with students during class time to help teach them digital responsibility and safety.  Additionally, we will train teachers about how to operate GoGuardian and about our policies and procedures to help protect student privacy.

What are my parental/guardian and child’s responsibilities?

We ask that students use their school-managed Google accounts and school-managed devices for educational purposes and abide by the Acceptable Use of Technology and Use of Email and Electronic Communications Policies.

When a student is off-campus, parents are responsible for supervising internet access and usage. We encourage you to discuss rules for appropriate internet usage with your child, and reinforce lessons of digital citizenship and safety with him or her.  We also highly encourage you to report any potential cyberbullying or other sensitive issues to your building office.

How does GoGuardian help protect my child’s privacy?

To help your child remain scholarly and safe online, GoGuardian collects certain personally identifiable information about your child.  GoGuardian has consulted with privacy experts, participates in privacy organizations, is a proud signatory of the Student Privacy Pledge, and has been awarded certifications by iKeepSafe for complying with both Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and California student privacy laws.  For more detailed information about GoGuardian, you may visit GoGuardian’s website, Trust & Privacy Center, GoGuardian’s Product Privacy Policy, and the attached COPPA Notice and Disclosure Form.

We are here to answer any questions that you may have.  

Sincerely,

Shawn Stoebener

Director of Technology

Pine-Richland School District 

Student Support Telephone 724-443-1503

Technology Ticket System http://prsd.incidentiq.com