When you’re a K-12 sysadmin, your day rarely goes as planned. One minute you’re deep in network configuration. The next, you find yourself fielding a teacher request to unblock a website, or tracking down a mysteriously missing Chromebook. This time isn’t truly wasted. Helping people is a big – and often rewarding – part of your job.

But many of these requests aren’t the best use of your time. And, let’s be honest, resetting passwords doesn’t exactly make you feel like a tech hero.

The good news? There’s a better way (and it’s easier than you may think).

Read on for five things you can do to cut down on low-value help desk requests so you can reclaim precious hours for work that really matters.

1 | Put a Stop to Site Unblocking Requests with a Smarter School Web Filter

Here’s another familiar crisis: the mid-lesson access issue. A blocked site sparks an urgent ticket, and now you have to stop what you’re doing to evaluate, approve, and manually allow access.

YouTube is a perfect example. Both a source of educational and distracting content, filtering YouTube can be especially challenging. Without the ability to filter specific videos or channels, many schools are forced to block YouTube altogether, frustrating teachers who rely on it for instruction, as well as increasing pressure on IT to make one-off exceptions.

A school web filter like Securly Filter provides granular YouTube controls, even on Windows devices. Content categories, individual channels, and even specific videos can be selectively allowed or blocked.

By making it easier to access educational content and block distractions, a smarter school web filter keeps student learning on track, while reducing teacher reliance on IT resources. 

2 | Reduce Help Desk Traffic with Smarter Password Management & Resets

Not every help desk ticket deserves a spot in your inbox. With the right classroom management software, teachers can manage common tech hiccups on their own.

Take password resets, for example. Rather than submitting a ticket and waiting for IT to intervene, teachers can be given secure, limited access to reset student passwords themselves – no domain-level access needed, no extra risk introduced.

The result? Faster classroom fixes, and fewer tickets for IT.

3 | Tame the K-12 SysAdmin Support Requests with Teacher-Friendly Classroom Management Software

When a student’s device stops responding, or a teacher suspects off-task behavior, the first instinct is often to call IT. But many of these classroom issues can be resolved on the spot with the right tools and setup.

Classroom management software like Securly Classroom lets teachers and designated staff:

• Monitor student activity in real time, reducing the need to escalate concerns
• Observe students across classrooms, supporting SPED or intervention without IT involvement
• Lock, locate, or flag lost devices before they hit your help desk

These capabilities keep instructional interruptions low and your support tickets even lower. Instead of jumping in to fix everyday classroom tech hiccups, you can stay focused on district-level priorities.

4 | Simplify Your Edtech Management with Integrated Solutions

Managing dozens of disconnected edtech tools is like having another part-time job. And who wants to be responsible for all of those logins, configurations, and potential for error (but without another paycheck)?

With Securly, you get a suite of solutions to keep students safe, secure, and ready to learn, all in one platform. Seamless integrations between solutions make edtech management easier for your team and provide a smoother experience for your users.

For example, the integration of Securly Filter + Securly Classroom lets you give teachers the ability to temporarily share blocked websites with their students. You’re able to set the access parameters so that access is only allowed for the students in a specific class, and only for the duration of that class session. Once class ends, the site is blocked again.

5 | Say Farewell to Firefighting with Self-Service Capabilities

Delegating access doesn’t have to mean giving up control. Think of it more like giving up micromanagement. When delegation is done right, you can feel confident that you’re giving educators access to do what they need to do while putting guardrails in place to protect them from doing something they shouldn’t.

The right web filter makes this possible. For example, Securly Filter provides the flexibility to let teachers create their own block/allow lists within your global policies. They’re able to access the resources they need, and you’re able to maintain oversight.

With the right tools and policies in place, everyone benefits. Teachers can focus on teaching. Students can focus on learning. And you can focus on high-impact work instead of putting out fires.

Take Back Your Time with the Right EdTech Tools

Every preventable help desk ticket steals time from the strategic work only you can do. By putting the right guardrails and capabilities in place, you can empower teachers to handle routine tech issues, without compromising security or oversight.

✅ Smart web filtering.
✅ Teacher-friendly classroom management.
✅ Integrated solutions. 

This is self-service done right, and are anything but nice-to-haves; they’re essential for today’s K-12 sysadmin and IT teams.

For more on Securly Filter and its integrations, read the blog.

To learn more about how Securly’s solutions work together seamlessly, read the case study.

Or, if you’d like to discuss how Securly can help support your schools and students, schedule a call.