This summer, the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications instituted a large-scale firewall replacement for South Dakota’s public schools. Content filters, which determine what Web sites are allowed and what sites are blocked in an individual district, were a part of that project.

Some schools have noticed that the content filters are restrictive. In fact, the content filters were purposely set on the restrictive side – with the intention that each school district could relax the content filter to fit its individual needs. This restrictive setting was in response to concerns voiced by districts about “questionable” Web sites that were available through the previous content filter.

So, what does this mean for you? It means that your district has full control for determining which sites your schools can access. The state does not control the content filter. You can make changes to your own content filter -- enabling you to block or permit access to any Internet Web sites.

If your school district needs assistance in making changes to its content filter, please contact the SDN Security Operations Center at 1-877-SDN-24X7 (1-877-736-2497) or support@sdn24x7.com. 

Please share this information with your district’s technology coordinator.