Denver Public Schools uses internet filtering technology to meet the mandates of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000. The goal of CIPA is to protect minors from accessing content on the internet that is pornographic, obscene, or potentially harmful to minors. DPS has also chosen to block categories that show little instructional nor business value or use up significant amounts of the bandwidth of DPS' connection to the internet. The intention of the additional filtering is to improve the internet performance of web sites that clearly provide instructional and business value.
A committee of District staff and educators met to evaluate how DPS is using its internet connection. Reports from the internet filter showed that an average of 10 - 15 percent of web sites visited were either entertainment or games. The decision was made to begin filtering of non-instructional, non-business and streaming media web sites in order to increase the performance of the internet connection. The following websites and categories will be blocked:
- Games
- Internet Auctions
- Personals and Dating
- Streaming Media
If you have instructional need for web sites in these categories please refer to the link below which outlines the instructions for requesting temporary access. A principal may email the DoTS Hotline and request that temporary access be granted to a specified number of machines for instructional or business purposes.