17
Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
NYS CBT Testing Down?
We are getting lots of errors on the Nextera Secure Browser, Our local RIC's status page is showing All Good. Anyone else testing today and experiencing issues? Various issues, but at the login screen lots of "Something went wrong, try again"
https://redd.it/1jucl92
@r_k12sysadmin
Episode 208 - Live from CoSN 2025!
https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/episode-208-live-from-cosn-2025/ and all major podcast platforms
We travel to the Emerald City this week to hang out with the great folks at CoSN! This podcast episode, recorded live at the CoSN conference in Seattle, offers interviews with participants, organizers, and presenters. Topics centered around the human aspect of AI, cybersecurity, and some amazing innovations from school districts around the county!
https://redd.it/1jtv4d4
@r_k12sysadmin
Cafetorium Setup
Hello peeps,
We are rethinking our audiovisual setup for the cafeteria, which doubles as our midsize auditorium.
The current setup is a good size projection area (from a laser projector) centered on a stage that takes the mid section of a long wall. This leaves the guests who sit on the sides, especially those closer to the front, at a funny angle to really see whatever is being presented.
We want to improve the experience, so I am wondering what kinds of setups you have, or you would look into if you were in our situation. My first tendency is to get a couple of flat panels from classrooms when needed, but I think we want something more permanent.
So, big TVs, more projectors, LED walls ,... How do you guys deal with you auditorium needs?
Thanks in advance
https://redd.it/1jtqodw
@r_k12sysadmin
Respondus - Using Read&Write Screen Reader - Screen Greys Out
Is anyone else using Respondus LockDown browser? We're having trouble using Read&Write on PC with it – it is supposed to let us use the screen reader. When we select the screenshot reader tool, we get a grey screen and can't select any actual content on nor see the exam. Has anyone else experienced this? Did you find a workaround? I've tried this on a few machines, so I'm thinking it's a config side thing we're missing.
https://redd.it/1jscor9
@r_k12sysadmin
Cheap Android or Chromebox for interactive whiteboard / projector?
Has anyone experimented with building a cheap general purpose Android or Chromebox for use with interactive whiteboards and projectors, that allows people to use the display without an external laptop or tablet?
Our budget is very tight, so I am looking for something that can vaguely compare with the built-in Android options of the $3000+ interactive displays but work with a basic 1080p projector and a 15 year old SmartBoard SB680.
Apparently it is possible to run Android on a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, which may work for this purpose, permanently plugged into HDMI and a USB port on the touchscreen.
Though this may not work if the projector, display, or interactive touch device doesn't have support for multiple separate USB touch interface connections. I don't know if it's possible for a Raspberry Pi to serve as a USB passthrough touch interface, for an external device such as a laptop.
https://redd.it/1jrijww
@r_k12sysadmin
Well, this is a first with a student Chromebook
I've never come across this issue before and would love some feedback. We have a few students where certain google searches will automatically trigger the results page to open the first result. Someone noticed it when a student searched for "Michelle Obama" it seemed to bring up the go guardian restriction page. Upon investigating, I noticed that Michelle Obama's instagram is the top result for that search. (We have social media blocked).
Other searches are fine with no issue. I have cleared cache/cookies and history. I have reset Chrome and also wiped the device and re enrolled the student and I am still coming across the issue. Has anyone experienced this issue before?
EDIT: I have realized that this is ONLY happening when the top result is a webpage blocked by Go Guardian. very strange.
https://redd.it/1jrfroz
@r_k12sysadmin
End of life policy/procedure for student Chromebooks
Hello fellow K12 staff! I was wondering if some of my counterparts on this sub wouldn't mind sharing how your district handles classifying "old" Chromebooks as obsolete and then retiring them. Currently we keep devices in circulation as along as they are still receiving updates. Once a device is no longer receiving updates we will mark that asset for decommission and retire/recycle it. I have been asked to reach out to other districts to see what they do because we have started to receive complaints from a staff member (Who can't be ignored due to the position they hold) that those devices could still be used for something and we are discarding "perfectly good" technology. I have explained security concerns as well as not being able to guarantee that those devices will continue to work as expected when they are not updated. In any case I would appreciate any input, thanks!
https://redd.it/1jrduve
@r_k12sysadmin
Prometheans ActivSuite aka Androidless Panel - what's your opinion?
Hi everybody! So, we have Promethean ActivPanels (and also other vendors) in some of our schools.
Promethean has recently announced their new ActivPanel 10 which comes ... without an OS. Instead, they have a software called ActivSuite, where one can use the Promethean Apps like Whiteboard (ExplainEverything), ScreenShare, etc. The ActivSuite can be installed on any device, either on an OPS (Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, Android14) or on a device connected via HDMI.
This means, the Panel itself has no longer an OS (Android), but rather a minimal firmware to integrate the buttons of the Panel into the ActivSuite.
I think, this new approach is awesome. I was never happy to have some old Android 8 running around (even If Promethean provided their own maintained version). Our staff was confused to have the Panel OS and a Windows OPS, so it is even simpler now. The administration of the Panels were never a fun job to do, so I am happy with that.
Apparently, this new change will be also be available for older models like the AP9 and (as I heard) AP7.
So, you see, I am happy and enthusiastic and I cannot wait to see it in action.
What is your opinion about this?
https://redd.it/1jr3r01
@r_k12sysadmin
Campus Internet Speed
At my k-12 private school we pay for Cox business 500mbps fiber. We own around 1700 iPads and 930 of these are deployed to high school. Next week high school has ACT/PreACT and state testing. Personally, I don't think our internet is fast enough, it never has been, when kids are all using Canvas at the same time, it bottlenecks pretty quickly. We are thinking about pulling the trigger and upgrading to 1gig internet. All of our infra is gigabit. I just wanted to ask moreover, what speeds you guys pay for and get on your campuses and what yall would recommend.
https://redd.it/1jqyfus
@r_k12sysadmin
How to Best Protect Outdoor Access Points
https://redd.it/1jqo7qt
@r_k12sysadmin
blocking File:// in web browsers
Got a question for those who have blocked file://* in their school web browsers.
Has it affected students ability to upload documents for assignments at all?
https://redd.it/1jqph8a
@r_k12sysadmin
Infinite Campus Ad Hoc Filter Designer
I'm trying to create this filter and got it mostly done. Except it's pulling multiple instances of students due the phone number. Is there a way to filter out so there is only one instance of that student? I have their student as well.
https://redd.it/1jqn2q6
@r_k12sysadmin
Tech and Maintenance Dept
Does anyone else find that the tech and maintenance departments butt heads? Specifically, I see the leaders of these groups not getting along. It could be about small items or major projects. I've seen some "loudest person in the room" is better conflicts between the two result in no steps forward.
Usually the department staff get along very well and support one another.
https://redd.it/1jqhy8j
@r_k12sysadmin
PrinterLogic Issues
Does anyone here use PrinterLogic for cloud, printer management?
The biggest complaint that I've been getting from my end-users is the long period of time it takes between pressing print and the document being sent to the printer over the cloud. Is there anything that I should be looking at on my network that could be creating this type of bottleneck or slowing this down?
https://redd.it/1jq2tzu
@r_k12sysadmin
Blocked PHET simulation loading
Hello! We have a PHET simulation that has stopped loading in for students on chromebooks. (it works for teachers on chromebooks) https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/cheerpj/electric-hockey/latest/electric-hockey.html?simulation=electric-hockey We have isolated that the cause is not GoGuardian and believe it's something in GAC. Anyone experience this? Any ideas?
https://redd.it/1jptl8m
@r_k12sysadmin
Security Watch - 4/4/25
On K12TechPro, we've launched a weekly cyber threat intelligence and vulnerability newsletter with NTP and K12TechPro. We'll post the "public" news to k12sysadmin from each newsletter. For the full "k12 techs only" portion (no middle schoolers, bad guys, vendors, etc. allowed), log into k12techpro.com and visit the Cybersecurity Hub.
VMware Licensing Shake-Up
Broadcom is making sweeping changes to VMware’s licensing model starting April 10th. The
minimum core requirement per CPU jumps from 16 to 72 cores, dramatically increasing costs for
servers with fewer cores. On top of that, delayed license renewals will incur a steep 20% penalty.
These updates are expected to hit small and mid-sized businesses hardest, and could drive a shift
toward alternative virtualization platforms.
New High-Severity Vulnerability in VMware Tools
A newly discovered vulnerability in VMware Tools for Windows (CVE-2025-22230) allows low privileged users in a guest VM to perform high-privilege operations. With a CVSS score of 7.8, and
no workarounds available, this vulnerability highlights ongoing security issues, as VMware
continues to address multiple zero-days and critical flaws. Immediate patching is strongly advised.
Massive Oracle Data Breach Raises Eyebrows
Oracle may be in the midst of one of the largest breaches of 2025, with a hacker—alias
“rose87168”—claiming to have exfiltrated credentials and sensitive data for around 6 million users.
Oracle denies the breach, but publicly available evidence and rising backlash tell another story. If
you use Oracle services, rotating credentials now is a smart move.
Chrome Zero-Day Exploited in the Wild
Google confirmed a Chrome zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-2783) being exploited by a group
called ForumTroll. The exploit uses Chrome’s Mojo IPC component to escape the browser sandbox
and execute remote code. So far, it’s been used in targeted attacks against Russian users via
phishing emails. Users are urged to update Chrome and reinforce security training immediately.
Stay informed, stay patched, and stay ahead of the threats.
https://redd.it/1jtxbsl
@r_k12sysadmin
Will the Lenovo 14e Chromebook 8GB N200 cut it for teachers?
I am about to make the final decision to order 30+ of these machines. I have a demo right in front of me, and I am impressed by the build quality.
I am a bit torn on the N200. The device seems to be holding up alright. I tried pushing limits, by opening a ton of tabs like Gsuit apps and youtube. I know it isnt a very powerful processocer, but most teachers dont need anything crazy. The art teachers won't be moved to Chromebook anyways.
We do have an option to add i3 to these machines, but that will add about $50 more per unit from my understanding. So $1600+ more to the order.
Any thoughts?
https://redd.it/1jtstoe
@r_k12sysadmin
Old Chromebooks - An Immediate Update Is Required
First off, I just work here, and I've been tasked with managing this embarrassing mess, and I have no authority to refresh our fleet.
We have grades 1-2 running on 2017-manufactured Dell Chromebook 11's, maxed out at v93. I've been screaming from the rooftops for a few years now that we MUST refresh our hardware, but again, I just work here.
Now, these devices are all popping up with "An immediate update is require" messages. We're unable to "update" via the device's GUI, and it requires us to flash the device with a USB recovery key one by one. After "updating" these devices, they remain on v93. Now, after flashing hundreds of devices manually a few weeks ago, it's starting to occur again.
I've taken steps in the appropriate device OU's in GAC to disallow auto-updates as well as extended auto-updates for these devices. From what I've found online, it may not matter and Google may force "immediate updates are required" simply because of how old the version of ChromeOS is. Google's support chat has been less than helpful, and unable to provide us with any guidance or reasoning as to why this now keeps happening.
Has any one else here faced a similar issue? Any ideas on how to get the bleeding to stop?
https://redd.it/1jtowb6
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Workspace Term Process
We currently do not any have a real process in place for when Teachers/Staff leave and I'm trying to put one together.
I was curious what process everyone else uses. What do you do with their email and drive files and stuff? Any tips and tricks or handy GAM commands?
TIA
https://redd.it/1jrheqa
@r_k12sysadmin
Generative AI in Google search results is triggering Securly filtering. Anyway to disable it in the admin console?
It seems something has changed in the new 134 chrome update and now Google's generative Ai is throwing up block pages for simple searches. For instance: if a student searches "what are houses in the water on stilts called" I get a block page because gemini seems to be querying quora which is blocked by category. This doesn't happen on older chrome/chromebook versions.
I'm going to call Securly today, but is there any way around this through the admin console? Pretty insane to me that an "experimental" feature is turned on for everyone in an enterprise setting without a way to switch it off in mass.
https://redd.it/1jrfaoo
@r_k12sysadmin
Jesus take the wheel!
Just had to work with tech support for software for a digital sign. the company told me "you know, we don't support windows 11".
"so what DO you support?"
"Windows 7,8, and 10"
"you do realize 7 and 8 are long expired and 10 is about to expire?"
"yeah, we recommend you don't have your computer on the internet"
SMH
finally I had to give him remote access to control my computer. His name is Jesus. So I got this message
"Jesus would like to control your screen"
I had to fight not to yell "Jesus... take the wheel!"
https://redd.it/1jrepf5
@r_k12sysadmin
FreshService Labels
Trying to set up label printing from Inventory. What tips/tricks have you found helpful?
https://redd.it/1jrd6t1
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Workspace - all admins locked out
I made a big mistake today when enforcing 2FV in Google Workspace and I locked out all admin accounts, including my own. I am trying to regain access but we purchased via a reseller, who purchased via TD Synnex, so Google's account assist channel is telling me to contact TD Synnex.
I've reached out to our reseller in hopes they can assist, but does anyone here have a way to get Google on the line when you're unable to log in to your account?
** For those who are wondering, I enforced 2FV for the Teachers OU and for the OU containing all of our admins, and I set the enforcement time to 0 so it went into effect immediately and all teacher and admin accounts are locked out. Big mistake on my part.
https://redd.it/1jqzpbi
@r_k12sysadmin
Georgia Network Administrator Position-Jefferson
Teachgeorgia.org
It is under "other"
Please don't shoot the messenger here....
https://redd.it/1jqx5r1
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Additional Services and Parental Consent
How are your districts handling this? My understanding was that COPPA allowed districts to consent to 3rd party services on behalf of a parent in many cases. However recent conversations in a MN state email list have made me question whether we are compliant or not, specifically with youtube. Currently we have it enabled for all students as our teachers heavily use it.
https://redd.it/1jqr0ua
@r_k12sysadmin
New Bark Filter Issue!!! No in-line images in Google Forms! Attached are the with and without. Only the Banner will display.
https://redd.it/1jqo5gv
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Chrome bugs
https://redd.it/1jqk33f
@r_k12sysadmin
Document Camera Freezing on Win 11
We will be upgrading our campuses to Win 11 this summer, and for now have been installing Win 11 on a select group of teachers as a trial run. (currently using 11 Pro) A few are reporting back that their document cameras keep freezing. We are using Hovercam Solo8 Plus doc cameras, and the Flex 11 Software. Has anyone else been experiencing this, and if so- besides going back to Win 11, do you know of a fix?
Edit- steps we have tried- swapped the cameras, the cable, uninstalled and reinstalled flex 11, same with drivers, and checked the power manager settings in device manager.
https://redd.it/1jpqmvm
@r_k12sysadmin
Hide Brother Printer from Macs/Chromebooks
I am trying to hide my brother printer from being visible to end users via bonjour and I've disabled IPP and air print and MDNS but the printer is still visible. What else should I be disabling in order to hide the printer?
I want to force the users to have to either come to me to have a printer manually added via IP or only use the printers that are pushed out via PrinterLogic.
https://redd.it/1jq2xrj
@r_k12sysadmin
Locking Down Windows 10/11 Student Computer with GPO
We have a computer lab that we thought we had locked down fairly well, but we just discovered that are able to install games through XBox Gamepass and maybe the Microsoft Store.
Anyone know if there is a GPO to block Xbox and MS Store?
Any other GPO recommendations should be enabled?
https://redd.it/1jpwbef
@r_k12sysadmin