by Sara Zimmerman
Update: 3/31/2021 Berkeley High School parents were informed that the monitoring of what websites students visited has been put on indefinite hold. Parents will retain the ability to ban certain websites on school-issued devices.
Students at Berkeley High were alarmed in March 2021 to unexpectedly receive an email from Berkeley High principal Juan Raygoza informing them that, effective immediately, the school had enabled a monitoring app on all school issued chromebooks and devices. The monitoring app provided parents and guardians with access to students’ browsing history, recent top 5 websites, apps, and extensions. The email stated: “Your parents are there to help keep you safe, and the app provides them with what they need to do that. In order to bring you an effective digital learning environment, it’s important to open the lines of communication with the adults who have your best interest at heart.”
Students and parents responded quickly, urging Berkeley High to reevaluate this policy, at a minimum postponing implementation of this change and providing privacy protections regarding students’ past activities. In response, Berkeley High sent an email to at least one parent stating that it was putting elements of the policy on hold for further review, turning off the monitoring features of the app but maintaining the ability for parents and guardians to block specific websites or cut off access to the internet. However, no notice went out to the student population informing them about this change.
