K-12 networks are more complex than any single filtering approach can handle. Lightspeed Filter™ is a web filtering platform built specifically for districts. It combines bypass detection, AI monitoring, granular policy management, and multi-mode deployment in one place.
Bypass Detection That Actually Works
Proxy bypass has become the #1 threat on K-12 networks, generating 7x more blocked activity than malware. Most URL-based filters don’t see it coming. Lightspeed Filter does.
- Feature name: Real Time Bypass Detection
- What it does: Detects bypass attempts in real time by analyzing what’s executing in the browser, not just the URL being requested; inspection, scoring, ongoing scanning, and feedback loops catch delayed and dynamic evasion techniques including Ultraviolet, Scramjet, and Rammerhead
- IT benefit: Catches the bypass methods that URL-based filters miss entirely, closing the coverage gap attackers exploit
"We've never been happier with the product. The advancements that have been made lately are stellar. We work in education, and we've hardly seen Lightspeed come up in the content filter bypasses like other products.”
Jacob Vaugn
Yelm Community School
AI Prompt Capture and Reporting
More than 6 in 10 students now use generative AI regularly for schoolwork. Most districts have no idea what’s being asked or answered. AI Prompt Capture changes that.
- Feature name: AI Prompt Capture
- What it does: Provides a read-only, auditable log of student interactions with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot; available on ChromeOS, Windows, and macOS.
- IT benefit: Gives districts visibility into AI interactions without blocking them — turning an unmonitored blind spot into actionable data
"From an administrative standpoint, the dashboard is easy to access, user friendly, intuitive, and easy to follow. When we can look back and come up with the details of this website at this time — it’s powerful data to have."
David Tchozewski
Kenowa Hills (MI) School District
Live User Web Activity Reporting
Troubleshooting filter policy issues used to mean minutes of log-digging. Live User Web Activity brings that down to seconds.
- Feature name: Live User Web Activity
- What it does: Provides real-time web activity reporting from within the cloud-based filter; admins can pinpoint issues, validate policy changes, test custom list updates, and confirm recategorizations instantly — for multiple users at a time, with blocked reason columns and SSL exclusion indicators
- IT benefit: Reduces configuration and troubleshooting time from minutes to seconds, all in one view
"Blocking individual websites for a whole district is a full-time job. Once we had Lightspeed Filter™ implemented, that job became a lot easier."
John Sedwick
Anderson Community Schools Corporation
SmartPlay — Safe YouTube for Every Classroom
YouTube is the #1 accessed app outside Google and Microsoft workplaces in K-12 — but it wasn’t built for education. SmartPlay closes that gap without blocking the platform entirely.
- Feature name: SmartPlay
- What it does: Uses a machine-learning AI database of nearly 200 million crawled YouTube videos to ensure only appropriate content is accessible; IT teams can create custom blocked and allowed channels, vary access by student group, and configure after-school rules — all within Lightspeed Filter
- IT benefit: Brings YouTube under policy control without requiring a separate tool or blocking the platform outright
"The YouTube controls are fantastic, giving my teachers and students access to the educationally focused content they need for learning while keeping them safe on the platform."
Steven Langford
Beaverton School District
Parent Portal — Home Control Without Weakening School Policy
Parents want control over school-issued devices at home. The Lightspeed Parent Portal gives them that — without touching district policy.
- Feature name: Parent Portal
- What it does: Gives families structured authority over home device use — internet access schedules, a custom block list, and expanded category controls — while district filtering policies remain fully enforced during the school day; site-level home control requires no district policy changes
- IT benefit: Satisfies parent demand for home oversight while keeping IT-defined boundaries intact and documented
"We use the Lightspeed filter on our iPads, and so far the experience has been good. Staff and pupils feel safe using the iPads at home and school.”
Elliot Grocott
Saint Bede CE Primary Multi Academy Trust
Policies 2.0 — Faster Management, Fewer Gaps
Complex policy structures slow teams down and create enforcement gaps. Policies 2.0 modernizes the entire experience.
- Feature name: Policies 2.0
- What it does: Introduces easy duplication settings, drag-and-drop prioritization, centralized management, and enhanced list management for a cleaner policy creation experience.
- IT benefit: Reduces the overhead of managing complex rule structures and unlocks access to the platform’s most advanced capabilities
"Lightspeed Filter™ is a great tool for our tech department and our teachers. The filter is easy to use for basic tasks but is comprehensive enough to protect our users at a granular level."
Cara Montrois
Kendall Central School District
Admin Roles — The Right Access for the Right People
Not everyone needs the same level of access. Admin Roles lets IT build a permission structure that matches how their district actually operates.
- Feature name: Admin Roles
- What it does: Provides predefined roles for universal needs and custom roles for specific use cases, each scoped to exactly the organizational level required; permissions cover dashboards, reports, filter rules, and device management following least-privilege principles
- IT benefit: Eliminates the all-or-nothing access problem without requiring the central office IT to field every configuration request
"During the trial, we were looking at other solutions, but we decided to stick with Lightspeed Filter™ because it does everything we need and it’s just been absolutely brilliant."
Dave Munro
United Learning Trust
Flexible Deployment — SmartAgent, SmartShield, Cloud DNS, or Rocket
Every district’s network is different. Lightspeed Filter adapts to yours instead of forcing a single architecture.
- Feature name: Multi-Mode Deployment (SmartAgent, SmartShield, Cloud DNS, Lightspeed Rocket)
- What it does: Covers school-managed devices, BYOD, IoT, and guest traffic without relying on proxies or VPNs; on-device SmartAgent and SmartShield DNS filtering handle agentless traffic with full policy controls; Lightspeed Rocket provides inline hardware for districts that prefer it — all managed from the same interface
- IT benefit: One platform, one policy framework, regardless of deployment mode or device type
"Lightspeed Systems has been an absolute game changer for our school. Their edtech solutions, particularly the Filter, Alert, and Insight, have transformed the way we manage and optimize learning."
Erin Whittington
Hamilton Southeastern School District
Built for CIPA, FERPA, and NIST Compliance
Compliance questions come from boards, parents, and auditors. Lightspeed Filter gives districts the documentation to answer them.
- Feature name: Compliance and Audit Tools
- What it does: Provides built-in CIPA compliance via Cloud DNS filtering, FERPA-aligned data handling, and a security posture built around NIST framework principles; exportable audit trails, long-term data retention, and documented oversight capabilities are included
- IT benefit: Districts can respond to compliance reviews, board questions, and parent concerns with data — not guesswork
"Lightspeed Filter™ has made it easy to keep our staff and students safe, as well as to be in compliance with state laws."
Michael Miller
Cassville R-IV School District
ChatBOB — A Built-In AI Assistant for Policy Management
Policy management shouldn’t require a support ticket. ChatBOB brings conversational AI directly into the filter interface.
- Feature name: ChatBOB
- What it does: A built-in AI assistant that helps admins adjust policies, troubleshoot issues, and navigate configurations through a conversational interface inside the product; summarizes user activity, surfaces proactive insights, and guides configuration changes — accessible to any staff member regardless of experience level
- IT benefit: Reduces friction on complex filter management tasks and makes the platform accessible beyond the core IT team
"Our previous filter went down quite often, and we spent hours on the phone with support trying to problem-solve.... We also had a lot of historical data reporting requests from building and district administrators, and pulling those reports was an arduous task."
Brian Merrill
Central Bucks School District
See Lightspeed Filter™ in Your District
Lightspeed Filter™ is used by K-12 districts across the US and internationally to protect students online, enforce policy across every device type, and give IT teams the visibility and control they need — without adding complexity.
- Who should request a demo: District IT directors, network administrators, and technology coordinators evaluating web filtering software for K-12 environments
- What to expect: A live walkthrough of Lightspeed Filter™ tailored to your district’s network environment, device mix, and compliance requirements
