Students do almost everything online now. They submit assignments, message teachers, join group chats, use learning platforms, and sometimes share more personal information than they realize.
That makes digital safety a school responsibility, but not a responsibility the principal can handle alone. Teachers, families, students, technology staff, vendors, and the district all have a part to play.
This questionnaire is designed to help a high school principal think honestly about future student digital safety policies. The Answers are written as practical starting points. They should be adapted to the school’s district rules, state requirements, technology systems, and student community.
The U.S. Department of Education encourages schools to evaluate online educational services carefully, understand what information is collected, use appropriate agreements, train staff, and explain privacy practices clearly to families. FERPA also does not prescribe one specific set of cybersecurity controls, so schools need policies and safeguards suited to their own risks.
Important note: This is a planning questionnaire, not legal advice. A school should review its policy with the district’s legal counsel, privacy officer, technology team, and applicable state education authorities.
How to use this questionnaire
A principal can use these questions during:
- A school leadership meeting.
- A student safety committee meeting.
- A parent advisory session.
- A technology policy review.
- A staff training day.
- A school improvement planning meeting.
- A vendor review or contract discussion.
Do not rush through every question. The most useful Answers will usually come from real examples: a student account that was compromised, a parent who did not understand an app’s data practices, or a teacher who was unsure how to report a suspicious message.
30 Questionnaire Questions with Answers
1. What does digital safety mean in our school?
Answer:
To me, digital safety means more than blocking inappropriate websites. It means protecting students’ personal information, helping them recognize harmful behavior, keeping school accounts secure, and making sure students know where to go when something goes wrong.
It also means creating a school culture where students can report a problem without feeling embarrassed or punished for asking for help.
2. What are the biggest digital risks our students face right now?
Answer:
The risks we see most often include phishing messages, stolen passwords, cyberbullying, unsafe social-media behavior, inappropriate sharing of images, scams, online harassment, and exposure to content that is not suitable for their age.
We also need to think about less visible risks, such as third-party apps collecting student information or students using the same password for school and personal accounts.
3. How will we identify new digital risks in the future?
Answer:
We need a process for reviewing new risks regularly rather than waiting for an incident. Our technology staff, teachers, counselors, students, and families may notice different warning signs.
We should review incident reports, listen to student concerns, monitor vendor updates, and schedule a formal policy review at least once a year. A policy that worked two years ago may not be enough today.
4. Who is responsible for student digital safety?
Answer:
The principal is responsible for making sure the school has clear expectations and follows district policy, but digital safety cannot sit with one person.
The technology team manages many technical controls. Teachers guide students during class. Counselors respond to harm and harassment. Families support safe habits at home. Students also need to understand how their choices affect themselves and others.
5. How will students learn about digital safety?
Answer:
We should not give students one short presentation at the beginning of the school year and assume the work is finished.
Digital safety should appear throughout the year in age-appropriate lessons. Students should practice identifying phishing, creating strong passwords, protecting private information, responding to cyberbullying, and checking whether online information is reliable.
The lessons should use realistic situations, not only warnings. Students are more likely to remember what to do when they have had a chance to discuss and practice it.
6. How will we teach students to protect their personal information?
Answer:
Students should understand that personal information includes more than a home address. It can include usernames, passwords, photos, location data, schedules, family information, voice recordings, health information, and details that can identify another student.
We should teach students to pause before sharing, check who will receive the information, and ask whether the app or website really needs it.
7. What is our policy for passwords and account security?
Answer:
Students should use strong, unique passwords for school accounts and should never share them with friends. Where possible, we should use multi-factor authentication and provide a simple recovery process.
We also need to avoid blaming students when they report that an account may have been compromised. The priority should be securing the account quickly and understanding what happened.
8. Will the school use multi-factor authentication?
Answer:
We should use multi-factor authentication wherever it is practical, especially for staff accounts, administrators, and systems containing sensitive information.
For students, we need to balance security with access. We should consider age, device availability, accessibility, and whether families can realistically support the process. A security measure only works if people can use it consistently.
9. How will staff report a suspected cyber incident?
Answer:
Every staff member should know exactly where to report a suspicious email, stolen device, account compromise, threatening message, or accidental disclosure of student information.
The reporting process should be short and easy to find. Staff should not have to search through a long manual while an incident is happening.
10. What happens after a student reports online harassment?
Answer:
We should listen first and avoid dismissing the concern as “just an online argument.” We need to preserve relevant evidence, check on the student’s immediate safety, notify the appropriate staff, and follow district procedures.
The response should protect the student without spreading private information unnecessarily. We also need to consider whether the behavior affects the school environment even if it occurred outside school hours.
11. How will students report digital safety concerns privately?
Answer:
Students should have more than one reporting option. They may speak with a trusted staff member, use a secure reporting form, contact a counselor, or ask a parent or guardian to report on their behalf.
We should explain what will happen after a report is made. Students are more likely to speak up when they believe the school will take them seriously and handle the information carefully.
12. How will the school respond to cyberbullying?
Answer:
Our response should focus on safety, facts, accountability, and support. We should not immediately assume that every screenshot tells the complete story, but we also should not ignore repeated harmful behavior.
We need to document what happened, speak with the students involved, involve families when appropriate, provide support, and apply the school’s conduct policy fairly.
13. What is our policy on student use of artificial intelligence?
Answer:
We need a clear policy that explains acceptable and unacceptable use. Students should know when AI tools can support brainstorming, editing, research, or practice, and when using them would be dishonest or against assignment rules.
We also need to discuss privacy. Students should not enter private student information, confidential school records, or another person’s personal details into an AI tool without authorization.
14. How will teachers use technology safely in class?
Answer:
Teachers should use school-approved platforms whenever possible. Before adopting a new application, they should know what information it collects, how accounts are created, how data is stored, and how students can stop using the service.
Teachers should not be expected to understand every technical or legal issue alone. The school needs a clear approval process and a person or team available to help.
15. How will we approve third-party education apps?
Answer:
We should review an app before students are asked to use it. The review should cover data collection, privacy practices, security, advertising, account creation, accessibility, age suitability, data retention, breach response, and deletion procedures.
The U.S. Department of Education recommends that schools have procedures for evaluating and approving online educational services, including attention to contracts and privacy responsibilities.
16. What information are vendors allowed to collect?
Answer:
A vendor should collect only the information needed to provide the approved educational service. We should be cautious about collecting extra information simply because the platform makes it possible.
The agreement should explain what is collected, how it is used, who can access it, whether it is shared, how long it is kept, and what happens when the school stops using the service.
17. How will parents and guardians be informed?
Answer:
Privacy information should not be hidden in a long technical document that few families can understand. We should explain, in plain language, which tools students use and what information those tools handle.
Families should know whom to contact with questions. We should also provide translations or accessible formats when needed.
18. How will student data be deleted or returned?
Answer:
Every vendor agreement should address what happens to student information when the contract ends. The school should know whether data will be returned, deleted, archived, or transferred.
We should not assume that closing an account automatically removes all copies. The school needs written confirmation and a process for checking compliance.
19. How will the school protect student records?
Answer:
We need administrative, technical, and practical safeguards. That includes access controls, secure accounts, staff training, device protection, backups, clear retention rules, and regular review of who can see sensitive information.
We should also remember that security is not only the technology department’s job. A staff member sending information to the wrong email address can create a serious privacy problem.
20. Who can access student information?
Answer:
Access should be based on a genuine school need, not convenience. A teacher may need information about students in their class, while another employee may not need access to the same records.
We should review access regularly, especially when employees change roles or leave the school. Former accounts should not remain active.
21. What is our plan for a data breach?
Answer:
The school needs a written incident-response plan. It should identify who investigates, who contacts the district, who communicates with families, how evidence is preserved, and when law enforcement or other agencies may need to be contacted.
Staff should know what to do immediately, such as reporting the incident and avoiding actions that could destroy evidence. The plan should be tested before an emergency occurs.
22. How will the school handle lost or stolen devices?
Answer:
We should require prompt reporting without making staff or students afraid to speak up. The technology team should be able to disable accounts, remove access, or remotely protect the device when possible.
The response should also consider what information was stored on the device and whether anyone else may have accessed it.
23. How will we protect students using personal devices?
Answer:
Students may use personal phones, tablets, or laptops for schoolwork, but expectations should be clear. We need rules about school networks, recording, photographing, account access, and sharing other students’ information.
We should also make sure students who do not have reliable devices or internet access are not unfairly excluded.
24. How will accessibility be included in digital safety policies?
Answer:
A safety policy should work for students with different disabilities, languages, learning needs, and technology access.
For example, a reporting system should not depend only on reading small text, watching a video, or typing a long explanation. We need accessible formats and reasonable support so every student can understand the rules and report concerns.
25. How will the school involve students in policy decisions?
Answer:
Students are often the first to notice how technology is actually being used. They know which platforms create problems, which rules are confusing, and which reporting systems people avoid.
We should include student representatives in discussions, conduct anonymous surveys, and invite feedback before finalizing major changes. Listening does not mean giving students responsibility for adult decisions; it means using their experience intelligently.
26. How will families help with digital safety at home?
Answer:
We should give families practical guidance instead of simply telling them to monitor everything. Parents and guardians can learn about privacy settings, account security, reporting tools, and conversations that help teenagers ask for help.
The school should recognize that families have different schedules, devices, languages, and levels of technical confidence. Support should be respectful rather than judgmental.
27. How will teachers and staff be trained?
Answer:
Training should be regular, short, and connected to real work. Staff need to know how to recognize phishing, handle student information, report incidents, use approved tools, and respond when a student shares a digital safety concern.
We should also provide reminders when systems or policies change. One annual training session is not enough if the technology changes every few months.
28. How will we measure whether the policy is working?
Answer:
We can track training completion, reporting times, repeated incidents, password-related problems, vendor reviews, student awareness, and family feedback.
Numbers will not tell the whole story. We should also ask students and staff whether they understand the policy and feel comfortable reporting a concern.
29. When will the policy be reviewed?
Answer:
The policy should be reviewed on a planned schedule and after a serious incident, major technology change, or legal update.
At minimum, we should review it annually with the technology team, counselors, teachers, district administrators, families, and student representatives. The Department of Education’s privacy checklist also recommends periodically reviewing and updating data-use policies and training staff on them.
30. What kind of digital-safety culture do we want to build?
Answer:
I want students to understand that safety is not about fear or punishment. It is about making good decisions, respecting other people, protecting personal information, and asking for help early.
We will not prevent every online problem. That would not be honest. But we can make sure students know what to do, adults respond calmly, and no student feels alone when something goes wrong.
Practical policy checklist
After discussing the questionnaire, the school can turn the Answers into an action plan:
- Name the person responsible for digital-safety coordination.
- List every online service currently used by students.
- Review vendor privacy and security practices.
- Record what student information each service collects.
- Create a simple incident-reporting process.
- Provide student, staff, and family training.
- Review account access and former employee accounts.
- Establish a lost-device response procedure.
- Create an AI-use policy.
- Review accessibility and device-access needs.
- Test the data-breach response plan.
- Schedule an annual policy review.
CISA identifies K–12 schools as needing practical cybersecurity guidance, and the U.S. Department of Education describes online safety as a shared responsibility involving students, families, and school personnel.
Final thoughts
A strong digital-safety policy is not the one with the most pages. It is the one a student can understand, a teacher can follow, and a family can find when something serious happens.
The best policy will also leave room for real life. Students will make mistakes. Staff will occasionally click the wrong link. New apps will appear. A school that responds with clear expectations, patient education, and consistent support will be much better prepared than one that relies only on restrictions.
The goal is not to remove technology from students’ lives. It is to help them use it with more confidence, care, and judgment.
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