{"id":21789,"date":"2023-12-22T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lightspeedsystems.com\/resources\/case-studies\/lightspeed-alert-helps-texas-district-identify-and-support-students-at-risk-of-suicide-and-prevents-acts-of-violence\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T06:43:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T10:43:29","slug":"lightspeed-alert-helps-texas-district-identify-and-support-students-at-risk-of-suicide-and-prevents-acts-of-violence","status":"publish","type":"case-study","link":"https:\/\/www.lightspeedsystems.com\/en_au\/resources\/case-studies\/lightspeed-alert-helps-texas-district-identify-and-support-students-at-risk-of-suicide-and-prevents-acts-of-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightspeed Alert Helps Texas District Identify and Support Students at Risk of Suicide and Prevents Acts of Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nOverview
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Supporting students\u2019 mental health has long been a priority for Hays Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) in Kyle, Texas. To be successful, Hays CISD works to strengthen human connections between students and staff to promote online student safety.<\/p>\n

In recent years, it has become harder for teachers and staff to identify students who might be experiencing mental health issues. Hays CISD turned to Lightspeed Alert to help them proactively identify struggling students in an evolving learning environment.<\/p>\n

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\nOpportunity: Greater Visibility Into Student Well-being In A Digital World
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Serving more than 20,000 students across 26 campuses, Hays CISD is a large and growing district that strives to provide unique, personalized educational experiences where every student feels seen and supported.\u00a0However, the rise of student mental health issues and school violence, combined with increased digital interaction, led the district to recognize that its limited ability to monitor student behavior and online student safety was preventing it from identifying students who may be struggling in silence.<\/b><\/p>\n

Prior to adopting Lightspeed Alert, Hays CISD relied on campus counselors, an anonymous tip line, and in-person observations to identify at-risk students in need of mental health support. In middle school campuses, they also used Google email monitoring with Google Admin rules and a word list to flag objectionable content in emails for manual review by IT staff. However, this focused more on obscene content and not on the safety and well-being of students. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really have much of a solution in place to keep up with kids\u2019 mental health issues, other than counselors and our anonymous tip line. That left a gray area where we were relying on kids saying they needed help or reporting that a friend needed help,\u201d recalls John Gonzalez, Network Engineer and part of the team that spearheaded the adoption of Lightspeed Alert.<\/p>\n

As the provider of student devices, including Apple iPads for grades K-1 and Google Chromebooks for grades 2-12, the district had responsibility for the safety and security of students using those devices\u2014on campus and at home. This responsibility became more acute during the pandemic as\u00a0district personnel realized how much they might miss due to their inability to effectively monitor and assess student behavior and online student safety.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cWe wanted to be able to monitor what students were going through, to see if they needed help. Kids may not be showing any signs outwardly, but internally something is going on. We know they are using their devices, either chatting with friends or looking things up, and those things could let us know that they need help,\u201d says Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

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We wanted to be able to monitor what students were going through, to see if they needed help. … We know they are using their devices, either chatting with friends or looking things up, and those things could let us know that they need help.<\/p>\n

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