School Chromebooks

1. Ask the school five questions

   Both of you together · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   Nothing here is visible from the outside. Schools can change guest mode, personal accounts, after-hours rules, and parent access. GoGuardian calls after-hours rules At Home Mode. Securly calls them a take-home policy. You can usually make a parent app stricter, not looser.

   1. Ask whether the filter runs at home, and whether the at-home rules are different.
   2. Ask whether monitoring is on at home, who sees alerts, and during which hours.
   3. Ask whether guest mode is off, and whether your child can sign in with a personal account.
   4. Ask whether there is a parent app, and what you can see or control.
   5. Ask what happens with a school hotspot, and whether the filter covers it.
   GoGuardian At Home Mode

2. Know the school's Chromebook defaults

   In a browser · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   These are Google Admin console settings. You can't see them. When someone signs in as a guest, the organization's policies are not applied. For K–12 EDU domains, the default is to disable guest mode. Device off hours are a schedule when guest browsing and sign-in restrictions don't apply. Google's example is after school, when users can browse in guest mode or sign in with an account other than their school account. Powerwash (factory reset) defaults to Allow. Schools can block it. After a wipe, the device re-enrolls into the school's management by default. For K–12 EDU domains, the default is always use Safe Search, and the default is disallow incognito mode. Sign-in restrictions, device-off hours, a device restriction schedule, and secondary-account limits are the school's choice. Google doesn't give one K–12 default for those in the pages we read. User policies apply whenever the user signs in to Chrome with their managed account on any device, so a school account in Chrome at home can bring the school's browser rules into that profile.

   1. Ask whether guest mode stays off at all hours, including device off hours.
   2. Ask whether powerwash is blocked. If the Chromebook asks to be set up again, tell the school. It should re-enroll.
   3. If your child can open an Incognito window on the school account, ask the school why. The K–12 default is to disallow it.
   Set Chrome policies for users or browsers (Google)

3. Use the parent app only for what that vendor allows

   On your phone · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   With GoGuardian At Home Mode off, which is the default, school rules apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on and off campus. With it on, a separate at-home policy applies, or filtering can be turned off at home. Monitor at Home can be on or off. If GoGuardian Parent is enabled, you may see top sites, activity including blocked sites, screen time, and the last 30 days, and out of school hours you may block domains or pause internet. Guardians cannot allow sites the school has blocked. Securly uses the school's take-home policy, or the school policy if there is none. Parent rules apply only after you activate your account. The default control level is No Control. Full Control can mean the school's allow and block lists will not apply off campus, including at a cafe. Lightspeed says enforcement remains intact off network, parents can be more restrictive, never less, and the parent portal is included with the district license. Costs to parents for GoGuardian and Securly aren't stated. They are school-provided when the school turns them on.

   1. Accept the school's invite and sign in with the email they have on file.
   2. Turn on pause schedules for bedtime if the app lets you.
   3. On Securly, ask which control level the school chose before you assume you can change categories.
   Securly Home control levels

4. Cover personal devices and don't assume a hotspot is filtered

   On your kid's device · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   The school filter is strong on the school device and weak or absent everywhere else. GoGuardian says its parent controls have no guaranteed functionality on personally owned, unmanaged student devices. If your child signs in to their school account as a separate user on a personal Chromebook, Google says Family Link parental controls will not apply to that user account, and when your child is on a school account, only the school can monitor that activity. To keep your controls, add the school account as a secondary account inside the Family Link account. A parent must give permission. That needs ChromeOS 89 or later. School administrators determine which Google services their users can access on the school account. Federal CIPA rules require schools that take E-Rate funding to filter and, for schools, to monitor minors' online activity. Since Feb 20, 2026, E-Rate no longer pays for school Wi-Fi hotspots used off campus. The FCC reversed its July 2024 hotspot rules in an order adopted Sep 30, 2025. Don't assume those CIPA filtering rules cover a loaned hotspot. Ask the district. We couldn't confirm how a home router filter and a school filter agent interact. Rely on the school filter for the school device and your own controls for everything else.

   1. Put personal phones and tablets on Screen Time or Family Link, and use your router for the house.
   2. On a personal Chromebook, add the school account inside the Family Link user. Don't add it as its own sign-in user if you want Family Link to apply.
   3. Ask the district about any loaned hotspot. Don't assume it is filtered.
   Add a school account for a Family Link user (Google)

5. Use your FERPA rights for school records

   In a browser · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   FERPA gives parents rights over their child's education records. Schools must let you inspect and review them within a reasonable period of time, but not more than 45 calendar days after your request. You can ask the school to amend records you believe are inaccurate or misleading. Schools may share records with contractors, such as software vendors, under the school official exception, if the vendor is under the school's direct control and uses the data only for the stated purpose. When a student turns 18, or attends college at any age, FERPA rights transfer to the student. Complaints go to the Student Privacy Policy Office within 180 days. Whether filter logs and monitoring alerts count as education records depends on how your school keeps them. No Department of Education guidance we found names these tools. Ask the district.

   1. Send a written request if you want to see monitoring records.
   2. Ask the district whether filter logs are education records before you assume FERPA covers them.
   3. File a complaint within 180 days if you need the Student Privacy Policy Office.
   A parent guide to FERPA (US Department of Education)

6. Set house rules the school will not enforce

   Both of you together · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   School controls protect the school device on the school account. They don't follow your child to personal devices, parents usually can't loosen them, and they differ by district. Guest mode, a personal Google account, a personal phone, proxies, powerwash, and a borrowed login are the patterns to watch. Lightspeed says it detects tunneling methods and proxy libraries. Report suspected bypasses to the school. The school sees activity by account, not by which child is holding the device.

   1. Keep the school device for schoolwork, and charge it outside the bedroom if you want that rule.
   2. Tell your child the school may see browsing at home.
   3. If activity doesn't show in the parent app, ask whether guest mode or a personal account is allowed.
   Set ChromeOS device policies (Google)

How we check lists what was left off School Chromebooks.