Fulton County Schools

The challenge: Safety at scale in a large, tech-forward district

Ensuring online safety for 85,000 students across a sprawling, geographically diverse district is no small feat.

"When you think about monitoring roughly 85,000 students, it's daunting. And so working through the daunting part and arriving at what really is best for students was the crux of those conversations that we had," shares Dr. Chris Matthews, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services.

Going beyond one-size-fits-all web filtering

In a district as complex as Fulton County, broad category block lists just don't cut it.

IT needed to drill down to specific URLs, build custom categories, and provide investigative reporting into student activity. Traditional URL filtering alone wasn't enough to keep up with today's risks. Even with SafeSearch settings, thumbnail images slip past some filters; and content on approved domains is not always age-appropriate for all student levels.

Spotting students in need the moment it matters

Filtering can't see what a student is typing, searching, or writing — and that's often where the first signs of self-harm or distress show up. With 85,000+ students on devices at school and home, Fulton needed an always-on layer that could catch warning signs and equip their staff to intervene in real time, without overburdening the district's safety teams.

Giving teachers real control in the classroom

Teachers were feeling the weight of student device use. One of the district's top-ranked teachers told Hoke Wilcox that even her strong classroom management skills simply couldn't keep up with the impact of devices in class. The district needed to give teachers real control over the digital classroom, without pulling focus from actual teaching and learning.

Bringing parents into the picture

With students taking devices home, the district recognized a responsibility to extend safety beyond the school building to parents and families at home. They needed tools to give parents a meaningful role in their child's digital life, not just a view-only one.

The solution: One partner, a suite of safety solutions built for the whole district

Rather than managing multiple vendors and fragmented tools, the district leverages Linewize to serve every stakeholder without adding complexity for busy IT admins, teachers, counselors, and parents.

Fulton County worked with Linewize to deploy a suite of safety tools:

• Linewize Filter + Content-aware Module: Granular content filtering with page-level awareness to catch what traditional filters miss, and custom category creation tailored to the district's needs.

• Classwize: Real-time classroom management that integrates directly with the Filter, giving teachers autonomy to manage the digital classroom without routing every request through IT.

• Linewize Monitor: 24/7 threat detection, sending real-time alerts to the right staff the moment a student's online activity signals they may be at risk.

• Qustodio Parent App: A parent-facing app giving families direct visibility into their child's device activity, turning student safety into a true community partnership.

Choosing integration over complexity

Managing separate vendors for filtering, monitoring, classroom management, and parent engagement wasn't sustainable. Having a cohesive suite of tools to address every layer of student safety was central to the decision to go with Linewize.

Support that's always within reach

For the Fulton team, what sets Linewize apart isn't just the tech; it's the people behind it. Robert Clough, Network Admin, says a strength is the fast response to support requests — whether via phone call, email, or chat message. The Linewize team comes alongside the district to work through challenges together.

Flexibility that fits a district of any shape

A district as large and diverse as Fulton County can't run on default settings. Linewize has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the district to build custom filtering categories, fine-tune workflows, and shape the tools around what their students and staff actually need. It's the kind of partnership that's now baked into how the district operates.

The outcome: Faster interventions, empowered teachers, a stronger community 

Fulton County's investment in a unified safety platform has delivered results that go well beyond compliance. From real-time crisis intervention to empowered teachers and engaged parents, the impact is felt across every corner of the district.

Students can get support faster than ever

Linewize Monitor operates directly on student devices, meaning it catches what filters can't. The moment flagged language appears, an alert fires to the right people immediately.

In fact, when a real safety alert came in during his interview, Dr. Joe Phillips was able to see social workers engaging to support the student in as little as 20 seconds. For staff and families, the difference has been life-changing.

Hear directly from the Fulton County team on the real-world impact of Linewize Monitor.

Filtering that actually works for the whole district

With the Content-aware Module and flexible category controls within Linewize Filter, Fulton County's IT team has the granular oversight they need to stay ahead of risks.

Watch the Fulton County team share their experience with Linewize Filter.

Parents have become true partners in student safety

The Qustodio Parent App gives families direct visibility into their child's activity on school-issued devices, equipping them to take an active role and turning student wellbeing into a shared effort between school and home.

"Once they saw that they had a role in the actual monitoring of their students and helping us ensure all of our students are safe, it was a real win for them, a win for us, and a win for the entire Fulton community," shares Dr. Chris Matthews, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services.

More than a platform; a partner in every student's story

What started as a search for the right tools has become a true partnership.

Linewize is core to the way Fulton County operates today, not because of any single feature alone, but because of the caring people behind the technology: a team that picks up the phone, customizes solutions to district needs, and helps staff keep students safe around the clock.

It's the kind of support you can't easily replicate — and Fulton County feels it every day.