“Lightspeed Filter just works better in lots of ways,” says Mr. Mansell. “Now I can actually go home and get eight hours of sleep a night.” Mr. Mansell explains that, now that LCSD has adopted Lightspeed Filter, he doesn’t have to worry so much. The filter allows students to access age-appropriate materials—say, an essay about Harper Lee—while also blocking malicious content.

Mr. Mansell also stresses that adopting Lightspeed Filter has been especially beneficial to the district’s social workers in their efforts to better serve students struggling with mental and emotional health. “Our social workers are much happier with this filter,” he says. “It does a better job if a student talks about being depressed or cutting or other forms of self-harm. This filter does a really good job flagging that sort of online activity, which helps us get these students the help and counseling services they need. I really think we’ve saved some lives.”

While demanding less time and fewer resources from the IT team than the district’s previous filter, Lightspeed Systems is helping LCSD better protect its students from dangerous content, maintain their access to critical materials, and help promote public health. “Lightspeed just makes a really good filter,” Mr. Mansell concludes. “I would recommend it to other districts.”