To promote academic integrity and support teachers, school districts nationwide have begun outfitting their IT departments with GoGuardian, a software tool designed to help educators monitor students’ online activity. The Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) is among the more than 14,000 schools and districts nationwide implementing this system. In addition to allowing teachers to monitor students’ screens in real-time, the software filters content and keeps detailed summaries of students’ activities. However, when policies are vague and training is inconsistent, it can infringe on students’ right to privacy.
In a controlled classroom environment, GoGuardian has its benefits. Throughout the class period or during tests, teachers can ensure students are staying focused and using their devices properly. Yet as of January 2025, while signed into a TUHSD account, students’ browsers are open for surveillance, even if on a personal computer, on their home WiFi, after school hours. According to a January Bark survey, 53 percent of students have “experienced or heard about GoGuardian being used outside of school hours or off-campus.” Junior Gia Meyers is one of the many who have witnessed this phenomenon, having her tab closed by a teacher despite being in another state.

“I was in [Las] Vegas for a softball tournament and doing my homework because I had free time. I was watching Netflix on the side after I finished my homework, and [my teacher] closed my tab. I was all the way in [Las] Vegas,” Meyers said.
Many others shared similar accounts of their screens being monitored at home, with teachers closing tabs or locking browsers. Stories like these highlight a severe infringement on the rights of students, and it must come to an end.
According to their website, GoGuardian has a setting that easily allows IT departments to restrict supervision after school hours. “GoGuardian administrators can decide whether to filter and monitor students differently after school hours and on the weekends.” Kent Middle School currently uses this exact setting, keeping teachers or administrators from watching students’ screens once the school day ends.
After an interview with Bark, it seems as though TUHSD may have realized their previous mistake and enabled this setting so teachers can no longer monitor students after school hours. Yet, they are still able to monitor students at home, on personal computers, during school hours; students with excused absences are being unfairly watched and restricted. The GoGuardian website states that “students who are absent can be excluded from your classroom session with the ‘Exclude’ command;” however, the district does not enable this feature.
Currently, TUHSD has no published policy on its website addressing online screen monitoring software, setting no limits on when teachers and administrators can track students’ devices. When venturing to the “Privacy Policy” tab on their website, it comes up blank. If GoGuardian continues to be used in our district, TUHSD must create a clear policy. Deploying surveillance software on students without posting a policy setting guidelines and regulations is unethical.
Teachers must receive thorough training on the software, including when and how to use it. While TUHSD Senior Director of IT Rose Chavira claims teachers have been trained on the software, every teacher the Bark talked to stated that they had received no such instruction. The district has deployed this powerful technology without informing the community, listing a clear policy or training its staff on proper usage.
While using a school-issued Chromebook, students are notified when a teacher enables GoGuardian to surveil their screen. However, this feature does not work on personal computers, leaving many unaware that teachers are monitoring their screens. This is another crucial violation of privacy; teachers should inform the class when their browser is being surveilled, which could easily be put into place through teacher training. During training, teachers should also be mandated to use the “Exclude” command to protect the privacy of absent students.
The Bark agrees that GoGuardian has a place within the classroom, helping teachers keep students on task and engaged. However, the district must provide adequate training for teachers, create a coherent privacy policy on its website and only surveil students in class. If you want more information on this, view our feature on pages 12 and 13.