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Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
Chromebook Time Issues
Anyone experiencing time sync issues on chromebooks? I have had multiple students and staff come to me today saying the clocks are several days behind on their chrome devices, This is causing issues with google drive and everything that relies on drive to work. I have not made any network configuration or firewall changes nor have I touched any of our web filter rules. I did add time.google.com to the exceptions list just in case, however, we use NTP on prem and our primary NTP server has the correct time as do all of our windows PCs and the domain controllers. Our DHCP servers send option 42 to all clients with the on prem time server.
https://redd.it/1pnd1c8
@r_k12sysadmin
Chromebook Screenshot Extension
Hey everyone,
We recently implemented a policy that blocks students from recording video on their Chromebooks. However, this same setting also prevents them from taking screenshots, which we would still like to allow.
We’ve explored extensions as a workaround, but most rely on the Chrome API, which is restricted by this setting.
Has anyone encountered this issue and found a solution that enables screenshots without reintroducing video recording capabilities?
Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1pl5fc6
@r_k12sysadmin
How do we block Google AI search results?
Hello,
Teachers have reported that students are using the AI Search button on Google.com instead of performing standard searches, which is allowing them to bypass assignment requirements. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear possible to block this feature or redirect the link at the network or Google Admin level.
Aside from classroom management and teacher oversight, does anyone have alternative solutions or strategies that have worked in your environment?
Thanks.
https://redd.it/1pl1dsz
@r_k12sysadmin
Canvas....!!!
We have been experiencing some weirdness with Canvas in the last couple of days. Lots of teachers have complained that averages are not calculating correctly, that they can't put grades in, that the assignments the created do not show up in the gradebook, although they will show up on the list if you search for them, and that the order of the columns in the gradebook rearranges itself when they add new assignments.
With no phone (please let me know if I am wrong) and only email support, getting help is a slow process which is aggravating to everyone, specially on the last day of the quarter, when we are getting ready for exams this coming week.
The reply to my emails (not a quick response either) asked for more details and a screen recording of issues. When I was recording, suddenly things are working again, so I can't replicate the issues. Only one teacher is still reporting some of this weirdness, related to gradebook's column order.
My questions:
\- anyone else with these kind of issues?
\- what are your experiences with Canvas support like, generally? This episode is making me question a few things...
https://redd.it/1pkx6bh
@r_k12sysadmin
Lightspeed log reader?
Does anyone know how to read / parse lightspeed logs on windows? I'm already in debug + verbose mode.
I gave Gemini samples and it helped, but I don't know enough to correct it.
The goal is to aide in filtering troubleshooting. Ideally in the end I could run PowerShell against a log file and see allowed, blocked and SSL cert errors. The most important being SSL.
The allowed / blocked eventually make it to the web reporting service, but SSL errors do not.
Each entry is multi line and there are sections I'm thinking one may be the traffic and the other the policy lookup. Still trying to figure it out.
However I cannot find anything that indicates ssl errors / pinned certificates.
I got a call yesterday our banking app stopped working and the bank sent an updated allow list. I know from experience I'd need to add an ssl exclusion.
I am hoping to find evidence in the logs showing that is the issue. However the logs read to me as if everything was allowed.
The log reads in part
acl allowing 127.0.0.1:64385 => www.mybannksite.com
Adding the new exclusion worked, I'm just trying to make future troubleshooting easier.
Thanks,
https://redd.it/1pks3yq
@r_k12sysadmin
Blocking .exe installs via GPO
Hello everyone,
I have a lab setup for one of my classes and I was wondering if there is a way to block the students from running and installing .exe files like Minecraft and VPNs etc. I have tried blocking .exe files from executing from their downloads folder only, so it doesn’t interfere with software and preexisting .exe that they need to run for their class.
Thanks!
https://redd.it/1pkibc3
@r_k12sysadmin
ChromeOS - Bypass locked testing browser with screen capture/google lens
Students found a way to use the volume buttons to trigger a screen capture/Google Lens search even inside a locked testing browser.. This allows them to search for answers using the AI capabilities of Google Lens/Search. To fix it, I have disabled Screen Capture and Google Lens in the Google Admin Console.
Students discovered that by using the volume buttons, they could bypass the security features of the locked browser.
1. Trigger: Student presses the volume buttons.
2. They browse to the ChromeOS screen capture tool, taking a screenshot of the test question.
3. After the screenshot is taken, a notification appears offering "Search with Google Lens."
4. Clicking this opens a Google Search/Lens interface (often with AI assistance for interpreting images) over the locked browser window, allowing them to search for the answer while the test is still running.
The fix we implemented is to disable Screen Capture and Google Lens overlay.
1. Log in: Go to the Google Admin Console (admin.google.com).
2. Navigate: Devices > Chrome > Settings > User & browser settings.
3. Select OU: Make sure you select the Organizational Unit (OU) for your students.
4. Action 1: Disable Screen Capture
Search for: Screen capture
Set the policy from "Enable screen capture" to Disable screen capture.
5. Action 2: Disable Google Lens / Contextual Search
Search for: Google Lens
Disable settings like "Google Lens overlay" and "Search with Google Lens context menu item."
https://redd.it/1pk401f
@r_k12sysadmin
Windows 11 LTSC, Pro, Enterprise, or Education?
We’ve been running Windows 10 LTSB/LTSC ever since we moved to Windows 10. For the most part it’s been great — the only real “gotcha” we’ve hit was when our state testing vendor announced they would no longer support versions earlier than 1809. We had to rush a reimage to stay compliant.
Now the state is saying anything below 24H2 won’t be supported, and Windows 10 LTSC tops out at 21H2. Since we’ve shifted the majority of student devices to Chromebooks, I’ve got until April before this becomes a real issue. I’ve already built a 21H2 LTSC image and have been slowly rolling it out; so far no issues.
That said, I’m starting to wonder whether sticking with LTSC is the right move. I’ve looked at Education edition, and I’m considering whether it’s time to bite the bullet and switch to Pro or Enterprise instead. What keeps me on LTSC is how clean it is — no bloatware, no Store apps, fewer things for students to break, and less overhead to manage. We’ve run it for years without problems.
For context: we’re a district with about 3,700 students and 800 staff. Devices are locked down tightly with GPO, and we reimage every 1–2 years depending on what other projects we have going on.
Curious how others are handling the 24H2 testing requirement and whether anyone has made the switch from LTSC to Education/Enterprise because of this. Is it worth it, or should we continue with LTSC and plan for a bigger move later?
https://redd.it/1pj8ii8
@r_k12sysadmin
Ivanti Neurons MDM
Anyone even heard of this?
https://redd.it/1pjb94e
@r_k12sysadmin
All these students only care about two numbers
but they wouldn't even recognize them if I said 110 and 111, such a shame
https://redd.it/1pj7nmp
@r_k12sysadmin
Quick Check: Are Any Schools Blocking Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) or Seeing Malware Issues?
Has anyone’s school or site already blocked Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT), or have you seen any malware or suspicious activity associated with files downloaded from TPT?
We’re reviewing its use across the district, so any feedback or incidents (good or bad) would be helpful.
https://redd.it/1pj64w8
@r_k12sysadmin
Chrome crashing on brand new Mac Minis
Hey guys, this is an issue I have been battling all year. 84 Mac minis, chrome is crashing nonstop.
In the middle of a video it might close out. Never any pattern of when it does so.
You have to open it and hit restore page. Crash logs haven’t done me any good (reading them myself or with AI assistance)
Please, has anyone seen this. I feel incompetent!!
https://redd.it/1pj313y
@r_k12sysadmin
Google 2SV
My district is requiring 2 step verification on all staff Google accounts. Some users are getting a message that says“We want to make sure it's really you trying to complete this action... “
The user I was just working with was on her district-issued Chromebook and om the district wifi. I entered a recovery phone number through the Admin Console, but she still could not enable 2SV.
Has anyone encountered this issue and found a work around?
https://redd.it/1pii32q
@r_k12sysadmin
Worst Repair (So Far) of 2025
https://redd.it/1pih8pv
@r_k12sysadmin
Johnson Controls was here today
https://preview.redd.it/8cwfd81wx66g1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67ec0038c00c15f8740242eddbb4c814fc8af5c1
no heat since saturday! (I am trying to replace this system any recommendations)
https://redd.it/1pi97mw
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Colab Pros and Cons
I know someone recently posted about Google Colab, but it didn't get much traction. Our school district is currently looking at implementing this for high school students. From what I have read, Colab can:
1. Grant full access to Drive. This means malicious code could potentially exfil student data if run.
2. Public notebooks can easily be pasted into a student's notebook and run without any precautions.
3. The lab environment is not isolated meaning all code runs in prod.
4. Colab is not FERPA compliant.
Is there anything else that I can use to push back on this? Unfortunately, there are some teachers in the district that think they know more than the IT department so there will be push back on this, especially since it's a free product.
Thanks in advance.
https://redd.it/1pnd1jf
@r_k12sysadmin
Acadience and Enrollments
So, we have an advanced STEM program run out of an elementary and kids from across our district are enrolled (say about 100 of them). In Acadience, that building shows 100 more students than they should have because of this. We sync Clever to Acadience. In the Clever sharing rules, the sections for this STEM program are not part of our ruleset logic. However, ALO is picking up these kids from Clever because they are "enrolled" at this particular elementary school. We use PowerSchool SIS. I've been around with both ALO support and Clever support and neither one seem to know how to solve this. I don't recall it being an issue in prior years. I feel like ALO should have an advanced escalation where they can filter out things that aren't covered by Clever somehow. Maybe I'm dreaming but this is going to affect our data reviews coming up in the new calendar year. Has anyone run into this? I've tried re-thinking/re-tooling our Clever rules but that seems to have no impact and sometimes causes other problems.
https://redd.it/1pl2eqc
@r_k12sysadmin
For those in Director-level roles—did you pursue a doctorate, and was it worth it?
I’m currently in my second role in K-12 EdTech and hold an MBA. I’m under 30 and debating whether to go back for a doctorate to help position myself for more management-focused career growth.
If you’re in a Director seat (or higher), did you earn a doctorate? What field was it in, and did it actually help your career? Any advice is appreciated!
I currently am in a sysadmin role overseeing a district.
https://redd.it/1pkzqye
@r_k12sysadmin
Are Smart Glasses in your school?
https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/kids-screens-smart-glasses-are-schools-ready-for-wearable-cameras/ and all major podcast platforms
We discuss students and screen time - including Australia’s ban on social media accounts for under 16, a NTIA listening session on excessive screen time in schools, and proposed Missouri legislation limiting K‑5 screen use and tech‑required homework.
The main topic is on the rising issue of wearable smart glasses (Meta/Ray Ban) on campus - privacy, covert recording risks, policy implications, and how districts might respond.
https://redd.it/1pkxp6m
@r_k12sysadmin
Do you have laptop protocols for classrooms?
Is like to institute better classroom management of classroom laptops and could use someplace to start.
https://redd.it/1pkqyzf
@r_k12sysadmin
Moving staff and student to one SSID. Need advice.
We currently have two SSIDS. One for staff, one for students. Both are 802.1x based with W2secure. They talked my director into moving to one ssid and want to push the VLAN info in an attribute at the time of association. That's clear-cut, cool with me.
However, we run different ACLs, client isolation at layer 2, bonjour forwarding, and rate limiting depending on if you are a staff or student. How can I get these attributes pushed down to the AP when the user associates? Or is there a way to configure the wireless profile and tie that to an attribute?
If we can't run the different profiles or push it down, I really dont think this is a good idea.
I need to configure this for Ruckus and Meraki. I'm hoping there is someone else out there with either product that is doing something similar and can help a fellow brother out.
Thanks!!
https://redd.it/1pk9iu8
@r_k12sysadmin
Special ed student needs ruggedized iPad for AAC. Is there a case that can withstand a direct impact to the screen?
https://redd.it/1pk237p
@r_k12sysadmin
SSL Cert lifetimes changing.
I went to renew some certs that I use on appliances/applications that do not support ACME, and I found something that had flown under the radar for me. The CA/Browser Forum voted back in April to reduce certificate life by the following schedule:
March 15, 2026: Maximum validity drops to 200 days
March 15, 2027: Drops again to 100 days
March 15, 2029: Final limit set at 47 days
Also, domain validation life tags along:
March 15, 2026: Domain validation reuse period reduced to 200 days
March 15, 2027: Drops again to
100 days March 15, 2029: Final limit set at 10 days
Basically, we are being forced to automate public certificates over the next few years; so you may want to add that to your evaluation criteria for new appliances/applications.
https://redd.it/1pjavc5
@r_k12sysadmin
What are you doing for non-interactive displays for conference room or signage?
Hi All,
Wondering what you all are using in meeting rooms and other spots where you need a large display but don't need touch or any built-in interactive Android.. etc. Just a big screen with a couple of HDMI in ports, and no inclination to show a commercial for the latest Netflix original on whim of its own.
I imagine there are folks here working in districts with and without a reasonable budget for projects like this. I'm interested in all approaches!
Thank you!
https://redd.it/1pjc82a
@r_k12sysadmin
ID Cards Recomendation
I'm a IT admin at a small k12 in OK. We have bodno software and a pronto printer to print ID cards for students and faculty. But as Bodno is pushing for subscriptions we are looking to get something else.
What are you all using to print your student and faculty ID cards?
https://redd.it/1pj9gxr
@r_k12sysadmin
Alternatives to CDW-G?
Got a pretty decent quote on some Lenovo laptops. Anything over $10k needs school board approval. No problem, sit in next board meeting, get the approval for CDW-G and district issues a PO. Now my rep says the pricing was temporary due to a rebate and the same hardware is $200+ more per unit. Nowhere on the site, on the quote, or in our conversations did he say they were on rebate.
This is the last straw. I am fed up with CDW-G and am looking for a new vendor. Who's your go to?
https://redd.it/1pj5loq
@r_k12sysadmin
The Never Ending Battle....filtering
So we've finally curbed the ghost VPN on the Chromebooks last week(kids found they could import a vpn config file through Chrome://settings and Securly not see it.
This week its OMADA DNS ( just in case you're not aware of it.... https://docs.titaniumnetwork.org/kajigs/omada-dns/ ). We've already remove the ability to connect to any other networks while in range of managened networks, so we are set at school...however, I don't see a way to prevent them from using these dns servers to break securely and admin console updates while away from campus.
It seems Google doesn't have a way or allow you to hard set DNS servers no matter what network your connected to, or prevent you from making manual changes to any network?
How are others dealing with this?
https://redd.it/1pilnk7
@r_k12sysadmin
Has anyone tried to use the Google MDM for iPads?
We use Jamf and have been thinking about giving Googles MDM a try as it is free to us.
I can not find any good videos on how to use it or even answer to simple questions.
We have it set up to allow it manage iPads so far I have given it one to manage. I have put all of our VPP's in it as well.
I have many questions the first is as soon as I start the iPad after a reset google grabs it and when I get to the home screen it just keeps popping up that I need to have an apple account to even do anything like even install basic apple apps. When on JAMF all that stuff just flows in.
Any idea how to stop that and just let the apple apps install.
Heck I even made an appleid but it says it can not make purchases so that did not help.
https://redd.it/1piigvr
@r_k12sysadmin
K12 ISAC for Security info?
Is there not a K12 ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center)? In the past, I was a part of the MS-ISAC, but it looks like the education sector REN-ISAC is only for colleges/universities?
Or do you have a different way of sharing timely info between organizations?
Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1pidq3t
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Admin - Change Viewable Contact Data
Good morning,
Our middle schoolers have figured out that if they go to Google Contacts, they can see each others' student ID numbers in the Directory Profile. Despite my frequent suggestion to force password changes on these students, some students still use it as their password, and all of the students use that number as their lunch code. I'm sure y'all can see what a nightmare this is becoming.
Is there a way to edit what students and staff see when they load a contact? Unfortunately we can't remove the number from their profile, as it's what our account creator and manager tool uses to sync.
https://redd.it/1pi99w5
@r_k12sysadmin
