Over the summer, a new server, Light speed Systems, was installed for the school district. The server now filters out selected non-educational websites both at home and in school.

“As a district we decided to have the filter settings the way they are based on feedback that mostly came to administration from parents,” said Director of Technology Mr. Ken Jordan.

The new server was put in place because of the old server’s failure to filter correct categories. The Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit, who was in charge of the server last year, is not sure why their filter was not working.

Last year, with the old server, loopholes existed for blocked websites. For example students could get around some blocked sites, including Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube, by putting an “s” after the http in the website’s URL. Now, with Lightspeed Systems, there is no way to get past these blocks.

Of the blocked sites, Spotify is a notable example.

“Spotify lets us listen to music while we do individual work,” junior Dylan

Niedbalski said. “We should be allowed to go on Spotify.”

According to assistant principal Mr. Jason Lilly, the new server prohibits students from accessing any site that is not deemed to be appropriate for school.

“In actuality, all sites were blocked except for those that we have ‘unblocked’ because of their educational value,” Mr. Jason Lilly said. “[Spotify] specifically was discussed and at this time is not being recognized as having educational value.”

However, there is a process to get sites unblocked. It has been announced that if a student feels that he/or she needs to use a website that is blocked, the student will tell the teacher, and the teacher will inform the principal, Mrs. Christine Siegfried.

YouTube and Twitter used to be blocked both at home and at school, but are now unblocked, as many teachers utilize YouTube and Twitter for assignments, homework notifications, and other educational purposes.

“There are certain things that may still be blocked or unblocked,” Coordinator of Network and Informational Services Mr. Erik Malmberg said. “Staff and students’ filter categories are constantly being updated and changed based on curriculum needs.”