Lightspeed Systems

The duality of digital tools is clear. On one hand, they unlock opportunities for learning and innovation. On the other, they expose students to distractions, online risks, and privacy challenges. This calls for guardrails to regulate responsible and balanced use.Lightspeed Systems offers the ideal solution to strike that balance.

For over 25 years, Lightspeed Systems has been at the forefront of this mission, serving approximately 23 million students globally. By equipping schools with powerful, easy-to-use tools, the company enables administrators and teachers to create secure, focused, and effective learning environments.

“As cyber threats against educational institutions continue to escalate, and mental health concerns around students continue to rise. we recognize that K-12 schools are increasingly looking for trusted partners. Our industry experience has been crucial in driving the continuous evolution of our technology, enabling us to provide safety and security solutions that offer unparalleled visibility and control,” says Amy Bennett, Chief of Staff.

While there may be other solutions offering similar features, Lightspeed Systems stands apart through it’s expertise, support, and the depth and breadth of its offerings. For example, Lightspeed delivers full compatibility across all devices and operating systems, recognizing that schools have a mix of devices and they cannot afford to overlook any aspect of student safety.

Smart Tools: Navigating the Digital Maze

Schools today work hard to provide a safe, secure, and focused learning space, but tight budgets and limited time can make it a tough task. Their resources are stretched thin, with small teams managing enormous responsibilities. As an integrated platform, Lightspeed Systems equips schools with smart tools that include effective web filtering, student wellbeing monitoring, classroom and device management, and edtech usage, budgeting, and compliance insights.

One of its flagship products is Lightspeed Alert — a proactive student safety tool that monitors what students are typing or browsing on school district-owned devices. The system uses a combination of AI tools and human reviewers to identify potential risks or crises in real-time.

The team of safety specialists brings expertise from education, law enforcement, and child psychology, along with additional training in threat assessment and suicide prevention. For example, if a student searches for content related to self-harm, the system flags it for immediate review. The team then assesses whether it is hyperbole or an actual crisis, ensuring timely and appropriate intervention.

Once issues are identified, the company contacts the school district, alerts relevant individuals and helps them reach the student. This gives schools visibility into potential problems they might not have noticed, allowing them to intervene before it becomes a critical situation.

Lightspeed Alert has identified around 160,000 self-harm incidents in the past 12 months. For instance, when Hays Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) implemented the tool, the school was able to identify and support two students at risk of suicide and prevent three instances of violence within just a few weeks.

The company also helps schools manage web content and prevent exposure to harmful sites through Lightspeed Filter — a tool that blocks inappropriate content (according to school-based settings) as well as unknown or new URLs with ease, protecting students from potential risks. When a new site emerges that has not been identified by the company itself, it is likely to be either inappropriate or a security threat. As soon as a student visits the site, Lightspeed Systems’ database is powered by automated robots and the team categorizes it, enabling schools to block the site and prevent it from proxies, phishing, or hacking.

Balancing Security and Learning in the App-Driven Classroom

Lightspeed Insight is another crucial product in the company’s portfolio, designed to provide visibility into all the apps circulating within a school district. Teachers use hundreds of apps that might not have gone through proper security or privacy vetting, which puts school networks and student data at risk.

Every student deserves a safe, distraction-free space to learn. At Lightspeed, we’re not just building tools—we’re building trust, giving schools the power to protect students online while empowering them to succeed in today’s digital world

“Our solution identifies these ‘rogue’ apps, providing administrators with a comprehensive view of what is being used. We pull in third-party data about the security and privacy of each app to ensure they are safe and appropriate to use,” says Bennett.

Lightspeed Insight allows administrators to track who is using the apps, which grades or classes are involved and how these apps are being used both at school and at home. This high-level visibility allows schools to block risky apps and manage their software licenses and ROI. During the COVID pandemic, schools were in a trial-and-error phase, adopting various apps to meet academic goals. Lightspeed Insight clears the clutter, ensuring that every app or device is thoroughly vetted, compliant and beneficial to student learning.

Since the rush to use apps has taken a toll on students’ focus, distractions like social media, games, and other non-educational content have become hard to ignore. Here, Lightspeed Classroom gives teachers the power to refocus students with screen visibility and device controls that limit browsing only essential sites and apps during class. It’s a simple yet effective way to block distractions like YouTube or games and keep students locked in on learning.

Managing Privacy, Protecting Futures

Beyond keeping students focused, districts must navigate the growing list of state and local regulations, making edtech compliance an essential priority. Lightspeed Insight saves district leaders 2-3 hours per app reviewed for data privacy compliance not only with third-party data privacy vetting tools, but automated privacy policy scanning and a growing list of tools that categorize apps based on their compliance with state-specific data privacy laws. Lightspeed Insight is also the only tool to help districts expedite accessibility compliance review.

Today, Lightspeed Systems serves as the backbone for 26 of the 50 largest school districts in the U.S., delivering comprehensive cybersecurity solutions. This demonstrates the scalability and reliability behind its products, supporting a large number of students across major districts. The company remains committed to adapting to the evolving needs of education, delivering tailored solutions for every school.

“Every student deserves a safe, distraction-free space to learn. At Lightspeed, we’re not just building tools—we’re building trust, giving schools the power to protect students online while empowering them to succeed in today’s digital world,” shares Bennett.

Where technology and gadgets often draw students into distractions, Lightspeed Systems keeps them secure, focused and protected from cyber risks—regardless of the device or location where learning takes place. Its cutting-edge, time-saving tools ensure students remain on the path to success, empowering schools with the resources they need for a progressive and secure future.