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Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
Replacement USB-C cables for Promethean ActivPanels
Hi all,
Anyone find a compatible, slightly longer, more durable, cheaper alternative to Promethean's $25.00 6ft USB-C cable?
ActivPanel 9-A cable (60W PD)
ActivPanel 9-B cable (100W PD)
I know that not all C cables are created equal, so I figured I'd ask here before I try something. At least 75W PD would be great since our Chromebooks are 65W charging capable. Thanks!
https://redd.it/1qxgur4
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Workspace inbound mail issues after MX cutover from Microsoft 365
Hi all — looking for a sanity check from anyone who’s handled a **student email transition involving Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and Google Workspace Gmail** in a K-12 environment.
**Environment**
* Authoritative public DNS reachable and responding correctly
* **MX currently points to Google Workspace:**
* [`ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM`](http://ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM) (priority 1)
* [`ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM`](http://ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM) (priority 5)
* [`ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM`](http://ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM) (priority 5)
* [`ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM`](http://ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM) (priority 10)
* [`ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM`](http://ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM) (priority 10)
* Exchange Online was configured to **coexist safely with Google** using an **internal-relay-style approach and connectors** in M365 so mailboxes wouldn’t be deleted during the transition by removing domain in M365.
**Current Issue**
* Students **cannot reliably receive external email**, especially from **Gmail senders**
* Some providers (e.g., Yahoo) occasionally work, creating inconsistent behavior
* **Internal mail delivery works normally**
**Confirmed Behavior**
* MX resolution verifies mail is delivered **directly to Google Workspace**
* **Microsoft 365 is no longer in the inbound delivery path**, so Exchange coexistence should not be affecting external mail flow
Has anyone encountered **external Gmail delivery failures even when MX routes directly to Google** after M365 to Gmail cutover?
Even with DNS passing we get this, even after a few days.
https://preview.redd.it/sr1iuejeeshg1.png?width=682&format=png&auto=webp&s=f99ef9cca60809681a623eb5e01372e69e7ee69e
https://redd.it/1qx5vgi
@r_k12sysadmin
Teams Admin
Running into an interesting problem with MSFT Teams. I can't get external users to be allowed to chat while in a Channel.
I've ensured that Guest users can chat (Team Admin > Users > External Users).
The policy that's assigned to me has Meeting Chat on for everyone. (Meeting Policies)
I've added myself (I have a secondary account) to the channel as a guest member too.
Is there another policy I'm missing somewhere?
https://redd.it/1qwoimj
@r_k12sysadmin
AWS Billing Yearly
Hi,
Is there anyway to pay my AWS bill yearly as more of a Pay-As-You go with credits? I am using an EC2 for snipeIT.
Would it be worthing going through a reseller?
Our accounting would just like everything to be combined rather than monthly.
(I am aware of setting up a Savings Plan, but it doesn't cover things like backups, eventbridge pricing).
Thanks.
https://redd.it/1qwp653
@r_k12sysadmin
Data compliance. Where to start?
Hi there all, I am revisiting every nook and cranny in our environment to make sure we update and become complaint for the sake of cyber security insurance. The big elephant in the room is data compliance when it comes to sharing with users outside of our domain. Right now it’s the Wild West for staff; and putting any guard rails will surely cause an uproar. I wanted to see how others have approached this and made changes without rocking the boat too much…I know it comes down to having union and superintendent on board, but I need some type of road map to present them. Thank you and appreciate it the input
https://redd.it/1qwp9a6
@r_k12sysadmin
Intune Bluebook
Curious how others that use Intune for Windows devices are keeping the Bluebook app updated?
I have the new version uploaded to Intune, but I can't find any files in Windows Explorer or the registry with a version number to use for the detection rule. And using the same detection rule as the previous version, Intune never actually pushes the update out because it detects it already.
https://redd.it/1qwlcvk
@r_k12sysadmin
Cybersecurity grant
We have a firewall, endpoint protection, training for employees, monitoring network software and data backups. Looking for ideas for possible ideas for a new cybersecurity grant that I could have overlooked.
Thanks in advance
https://redd.it/1qwjvgh
@r_k12sysadmin
Denver’s decision to block ChatGPT
https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/snow-day-anthems-denvers-chatgpt-shutdown-%e2%80%94-ep-248/ and all major podcast platforms
The second half of this episode is an interview with Dr. Richard Charles, CIO for the Denver Public Schools. Dr. Charles discusses Denver’s decision to block ChatGPT for students and staff over privacy, safety, and compliance concerns, explains the district’s AI governance and procurement changes, and outlines criteria for safe vendor adoption (data privacy agreements, visibility and guardrails).
https://redd.it/1qrc5ks
@r_k12sysadmin
Cisco Umbrella - Chrome Extension - Cisco Security for Chromebook Client
Hello,
With the mess of Securly today, and other issues, we've been looking for alternative filtering solutions. We have been experimenting with the Cisco Umbrella Chromebook / Chrome browser extension as potential replacement. This is free for us through the state of IL/ICN, so the price point is right. I just wanted to see if anyone else has tried this route and, if so, what pain points to expect.
https://redd.it/1qr6ma5
@r_k12sysadmin
Classroom management/monitoring application
We use we use Microsoft Windows and I am looking for alternatives for classroom management for teachers to use. We currently use DyKnow, and while I am not unhappy with it, since it has been bought out, I understand that there are no more improvements being made to the platform. What are others using for classroom management?
https://redd.it/1qps0m6
@r_k12sysadmin
Allow students to fill out forms but not create them
Hi Everyone,
Has anyone sucessfully disabled the ability to create form on a student OU but still allow them to fill out ones created by teachers? I reached out to Google but was unable to get this working. I aslo tried to block the main page with Go Guardian but it also blcoked quizes made with forms by teachers. Google tried to tell me in a support call you could disable forms and they wouldn't be able to create them but still fill them out. This obviously didn't work. Any ideas?
https://redd.it/1qqaeiv
@r_k12sysadmin
Recommendations for VPN/Remote Access solutions?
We have a user-base of around 30-40 folks that need remote access to various systems and we're wanting to find a solid solution, preferably that leverages Google for SSO and 2-SV.
Ideally looking for something affordable and reasonably simple and stable. Also wanting to steer clear of any Linux or open source solutions, as that's unfortunately not an option for us.
What are folks recommending to check out, as well as avoid? Appreciate any insight.
https://redd.it/1qqhnvl
@r_k12sysadmin
ChatGPT and Gemini giving this prompt to teachers today
Had teachers messaging me today about getting similar messages in both ChatGPT and Gemini. I haven't changed anything in either place (that I know of). Any ideas?
*this is from Gemini with a teacher in a teacher OU
https://preview.redd.it/8qj1003gmegg1.png?width=1238&format=png&auto=webp&s=c844b06ca87274eba6f4d5873029ac9c13dad1d9
https://redd.it/1qqu0i7
@r_k12sysadmin
Chromecasts not showing up
Good morning all, just checking if anyone else is having issues with their Chromecasts not showing up to cast to. Issue started this morning and seems to be spreading to more devices. We're a school district in NJ.
https://redd.it/1qkt23d
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Admin Directory Structure
I've been looking into solutions for blocking core services (e.g., Gmail) for individual users and am really wanting to avoid creating nested OUs for this as I'm worried about the possibility of it getting too cluttered.
After discussing with GWS support, they suggest having the services turned off at the OU level, and using security groups to enable services as needed.
For my fellow GWS administrators, I'm curious how you tackle your OU structures and if you have any good advice/tips/best practices you could impart?
TIA
https://redd.it/1qkyg9m
@r_k12sysadmin
ChatGPT for Teachers fixed
After almost 2 months going back and forth with OpenAI support, we finally were able to claim our workspace and link it to our domain. Now our teachers don't need to verify so we are rolling it out very smoothly.
You're verified and ready to join this is the message they see now. If anyone need help I'm happy to assist because I was so frustrated trying this lol.
https://redd.it/1qxhme7
@r_k12sysadmin
Headphones?
Does anyone know of a brand or model of headphones that stands up to the abuse of K-8 students? I've tried several different brands, including two that are quite rugged, and they just all seem to die faster than we can keep up with.
https://redd.it/1qx01wz
@r_k12sysadmin
Seeking Advice on Hypervisor Migration
Hi K12 Admins,
I am one of the admins at K12, primarily working on infrastructure. Currently, our environment is as follows:
Virtualization: VMware on bare-metal ESXi hosts
Management: vCenter in linked mode (not a full DR setup)
Hosts & VMs: 6 ESXi hosts running a total of 50 VMs
Storage: Pure1 Storage
Backup: Rubrik (no complaints regarding Pure1 or Rubrik)
My main concern is VMware’s recent pricing hikes, which is becoming a significant challenge.
From my perspective as a Linux administrator, I would prefer Proxmox. However, Rubrik does not currently support Proxmox backups, and none of my team members are fully comfortable managing a Linux-based hypervisor. My next consideration is Microsoft Hyper-V, which would be entirely new for me.
We are planning a migration from VMware to another hypervisor solution, and I wanted to reach out to see how other teams are handling this:
What hypervisor solutions are you currently using?
How did you initiate the migration process?
Any lessons learned or suggestions for a smooth transition?
Your guidance and suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Thank you,
https://redd.it/1qwtrnu
@r_k12sysadmin
Sanity Check: Moving Small K-12 District (950 Students) to UniFi Hub & Spoke
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a sanity check on a proposed network overhaul for our small PK-12 district. Moving away from extreme network due pricing and just not happy with the quality.
We’re moving toward a UniFi-centric hub and spoke model, but I plan on keeping our Fortinet at the edge for the heavy lifting.
The Stats:
• Users: \~950 students, \~150 staff (class sizes capped at 17).
• Structure: 6 sites (1 Hub, 5 Spokes).
• Connectivity: 10G Fiber at Main IDF; Spectrum-owned fiber links to remote sites.
The Architecture:
• The Core: A Fortinet Firewall will handle all DHCP and Content Filtering (CIPA compliance).
• The Gateways: Enterprise Fortress Gateway (EFG) at each site.
• The Switching: Enterprise Campus Aggregation into 3x Pro Max 48 PoE switches per site.
• The Wireless: 12–18 APs per site (choosing between U7 Pro Max or U7-Enterprise).
• Management: Cloud Key Enterprise (hosted at Hub) to manage all 6 sites via Site Manager.
My Specific Questions:
1. DHCP Relay: For those running Fortinet for DHCP with UniFi Gateways/Switches, have you run into any broadcast issues or "DHCP Guarding" headaches within the UniFi OS?
2. Double NAT / Bridge Mode: With the Fortinet handling filtering, are you putting the EFGs in "Shadow Mode" or just passing through? I want the UniFi "single pane of glass" for stats, but I don't want the EFG fighting the Fortinet for traffic inspection.
3. Cloud Key Enterprise: With 6 sites and \~100 APs total, is the Cloud Key Enterprise the right move, or is a self-hosted Linux controller more stable for this hybrid setup?
4. AP Choice: Given the 17-student cap, is the U7-Enterprise overkill? Would the standard U7 Pro suffice, or is the 6GHz performance jump worth the extra spend for future-proofing?
I’d love to hear from anyone running a similar "Forti-Fi" hybrid setup. Thanks!
https://redd.it/1qwqyr9
@r_k12sysadmin
Screencastify and Google Vids
I have a elementary music teacher who has been using Screencastify to record herself singing a song. Recently she's been having issues where the music is drowning her our and the audio for her voice will fluctuate. So far we have tried the following and still having issues.
Different device
Wired mic
Use Google Vids instead
Turn down system audio
The only thing that works is using the built in Microsoft system recorder. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I've attached an example below.
https://reddit.com/link/1qwmwue/video/ewm52g78tohg1/player
https://redd.it/1qwmwue
@r_k12sysadmin
I made an AI copy/paste blocker for Chrome
Hey everyone, I did a thing! My school does allow most AI sites, but the teachers aren't always great at monitoring students or teaching them how to use AI responsibly. I got really tired of seeing kids copy/paste quiz questions or essay prompts into AI, then just copy the answers and paste them into their documents. So I made a little speed bump for that whole process. This is just the first draft of an extension, I just grabbed the most common AI sites that I could think of as well as the wildcard for *.ai, so if there's any sites that it doesn't work on, please let me know and I'll add them. Also, this probably works best when "Hide Google AI Overviews" is added as well, since AI is now forced in Google searches. I figure most of you probably block AI, but for those who are trying to somewhat embrace it, maybe this will help.
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ai-copypaste-blocker/ohdnokamhlhcobcpebkconbepfomicoa
https://redd.it/1quxzsg
@r_k12sysadmin
Very Odd thing today
3 Dell 3110 2in1s and 1 3210 2in1 - had 4 kids come in today saying their keyboards were not inputting correctly, they press shift, it enters A, backspace not working, different keys just enter random letters. There are multiple keyboards added. They say they don’t know how to add keyboards, which I believe, more or less… none of these are kids that abuse or misuse their chrome books. I give them an external keyboard to enter their password, they sign in, disconnect the keyboard it still happens on the built in keyboard. Send a factory reset from GAC and they work again as expected. The kicker, asset ID for devices this happened to 2727, 2827, 2927, 3027 (asset IDs based on graduation year then student count). This all happened this morning first thing when getting to school, and it didn’t happen to any other devices. I’m guessing this is just a very strange coincidence. But it has me questioning my sanity and checking my CO detector.
https://redd.it/1qri751
@r_k12sysadmin
Catholic Schools Week
https://redd.it/1qr9zxl
@r_k12sysadmin
FYI: Securly US Issue
Securly status, in basic CIPA mode while they dig into an issue. DId see issues with AWS overnight, so wondering if related (would make sense).
Irregardless, we're seeing very limited capability for outbound connectivity at this moment. Securly has updated their status page with info:
https://securly.status.io/
https://redd.it/1qr57mb
@r_k12sysadmin
Verifying teachers - Google Classroom
I was in a Google session yesterday and I asked about the Classroom_Teachers group. We have been manually verifying them but it's a pain since there are no notifications for requests. I found that I can add a group to the Classroom_Teachers list to help with the "verified teachers" group. Do I delete ALL of the original indivdual accounts first? Will that mess up any of their current classrooms?
https://redd.it/1qqc4tq
@r_k12sysadmin
Keeping students from locking Docs?
Greetings all,
I'm curious if there's a way of keeping students from locking their Docs? I've been looking through the settings in Google Admin but not seeing anything that jumps out at me. There's options for preventing sharing but I basically want to disable the ability for students to restrict the visibility of said Docs. Granted I have ways of forcing my way into anything they lock as the Admin but that gets annoying.
https://redd.it/1qqeoep
@r_k12sysadmin
Fitnessgram - Texas
Just curious, are any of your tech departments involved in the Fitnessgram submission? No idea why, but when I took over the tech department 10 years ago, my predecessor was highly involved in inputting data and making the final submission to TEA. I, for some reason, have continued out of nothing more than tradition. The process has gotten easier since we are now able to have coaches input data directly into FG, rather than having to deal with a spreadsheet uploaded to TEA. I'm getting fed up with babysitting coaches and making sure they are completing their assigned classes and may try to put it off on athletics or principals next year.
https://redd.it/1qqmgg8
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Admin Console OU structure
What is the best structure for setting up OU's for a K12 District?
https://redd.it/1qqq9uu
@r_k12sysadmin
Chromebook location tracking (currently a GoGuardian customer using Theft Recovery)
Looking for some feedback from anyone using something other than GoGuardian Theft Recovery for Chromebook location tracking? We use it pretty heavily to recover Chromebooks that students do not turn in after withdrawing or when a Chromebook is lost or stolen but may be moving away from GoGuardian and would like to hear of other possible options and feedback on them from other people.
https://redd.it/1qkuu4r
@r_k12sysadmin
Newline vs SMART vs Clevertouch
We are installing interactive touch panels in our elementary this Summer. I've narrowed down the manufacturer to SMART, Newline, or Clevertouch. Does anyone have a reason they prefer one of these brands over the others?
https://redd.it/1ql15j6
@r_k12sysadmin
