West Virginia School Internet Safety Laws
West Virginia sets its school internet rules mainly through a state Board of Education rule, Policy 2460. It ties filtering to E-Rate, bans filter bypass and expects adult supervision. Since 2025, a state law also keeps phones out of the instructional day.
This guide for county technology directors, school librarians and principals explains how the federal, state, county and school layers fit together and what to configure and record. Planning guidance, not legal advice.
The CIPA baseline for West Virginia
The Children's Internet Protection Act applies to every West Virginia school or library that takes E-Rate discounts for internet access or internal connections. Policy 2460 builds on it directly. If you need a primer, read what is CIPA.
Technology protection measure
Block or filter visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography for everyone, and harmful to minors on computers minors use.
Internet safety policy
Address inappropriate material, email and chat safety, hacking, minors' personal data and the filter. Adopt after public notice and a hearing or meeting.
Monitoring and education
Monitor minors online and teach appropriate behavior, social networking safety and cyberbullying awareness.
A county filter that is hard to get around
Policy 2460 bans attempts to bypass the filter, including proxies and browser changes, and expects supervised use. Our hosted CIPA filter is a DNS filter that we run for you, built to keep proxies and skip-the-filter settings out of reach for students.
- VPN/Proxy/Anonymizers is blocked, and it stays blocked even while a staff PIN bypass is running
- Public encrypted DNS and browser settings that skip the filter are blocked by default
- Decisions are by domain, so the filter is light on student data and sits alongside classroom supervision
What West Virginia adds: Board Policy 2460
Policy 2460, Safe and Acceptable Use of the Internet by Students and Educators, is codified as 126CSR41. It covers educational purpose, digital citizenship, accountability, network use, filtering, copyright and web publishing. The sections most relevant to filtering are highlighted.
Because it is a Board rule, Policy 2460 applies to county school systems statewide whether or not a given school relies on E-Rate. Its filtering section still points back to E-Rate guidelines, so counties usually treat CIPA and Policy 2460 as one program, with one policy, one filter configuration and one evidence folder.
Section 8, Filtering, in five clauses
Maintain filtering
Appropriate filtering is kept to meet E-Rate guidelines. Because no filter is perfect, users stay responsible for their own use.
No bypass
Attempts to defeat or bypass the state filter, or to hide internet activity, are prohibited, including proxies, special ports and browser changes.
Email filtering
Email that does not fit the educational mission is treated as spam and blocked.
Adult supervision
Student internet use is supervised. Consistent monitoring of access and equipment is described as the first line of defense.
Staff role
Staff make a reasonable effort to understand the internet and to monitor, instruct and assist with filtering and acceptable use.
Why a DNS filter with bypass blocking suits section 8.2
Students who cannot reach a proxy site often try an encrypted DNS setting in the browser. The hosted filter blocks those public encrypted DNS and browser settings by default, and a private encrypted link keeps the county rules on laptops that go home.
Digital citizenship under Policy 2460
Section 4 turns the CIPA education duty into concrete expectations for students and staff. These are the parts that touch your filter and your classroom tools.
Online etiquette
Users are expected to be polite, avoid abusive messages and avoid disrupting others' use of the network.
Personal information
Users take care sharing their own details and do not reveal other people's personal information.
Third-party apps
Staff review terms and privacy policies before using classroom apps, with parental consent recommended for students under 13.
Student images
Permission is needed before publishing student pictures or names, subject to directory information and opt-out rules.
Reporting
Dangerous or inappropriate messages are reported to school authorities.
Security
Users report security problems, do not share passwords or use others' accounts, and may lose access if they pose a risk.
HB 2003 (2025): phones out of the instructional day
HB 2003 passed on April 10, 2025 and was signed by Governor Patrick Morrisey later that month. It created W. Va. Code 18-2-46 and required county boards to have a policy in place from the start of the 2025 to 2026 school year.
- The core rule
- Students may not possess personal electronic devices in a classroom setting during the instructional day, under a county policy that meets the state minimum.
- Instructional day
- From the start of the first instructional period to the end of the last, including transitions between classes.
- Classroom setting
- General classrooms, gyms, common areas and any other place where instruction may occur.
- Exemptions
- Students with an approved, documented need from a doctor or licensed healthcare professional.
- Parent contact
- Counties publish how parents can reach their children during the day without disrupting class.
- Local options
- Counties set storage and consequences, and school rules may be stricter than the county policy but not looser.
Who does what: state, county and school
West Virginia splits responsibility across levels. Writing down who owns each piece avoids gaps when staff change.
| Task | Owner | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set statewide acceptable use and filtering rules | State Board | Policy 2460 | Counties build local policies on this base |
| Network-level filtering on the statewide K-12 network | State | Policy 2460 practice | Confirm current arrangements with the department |
| Local filtering on devices and county networks | County | Policy 2460, CIPA | Needed for take-home devices and local rule sets |
| Internet safety policy and public hearing | County board | CIPA | Reasonable notice and at least one hearing or meeting |
| Phone policy under 18-2-46 | County board | HB 2003 | Schools may be stricter |
| Supervision in classrooms and labs | School staff | Policy 2460 sec. 8.4 and 8.5 | Consistent, deliberate monitoring |
| Digital citizenship teaching | School staff | Policy 2460 sec. 4, CIPA | Log lessons for evidence |
| E-Rate certification | County | CIPA | Form 486, or 479 in a consortium |
What it means for filtering and monitoring in West Virginia
Policy 2460 explicitly targets bypass and expects supervision, so a county filter should be strong on evasion and light on data. These settings fit both.
Adult for all users
Block Adult on every device and network, as CIPA requires for obscene imagery and child abuse material. See blocking adult content on school networks.
Student categories
Add Gambling, Illegal Drugs, Weapons, Violence, Hate/Discrimination, Dating, Alcohol, Tobacco and Lingerie/Swimsuits/Intimate Apparel, adjusted by grade band.
Bypass categories
Section 8.2 names proxies and browser changes. Block VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers and filter-evasion extensions. See blocking proxy sites in schools.
Encrypted traffic
The rule mentions HTTPS as a bypass route. Category filtering by domain works on encrypted traffic without opening page content.
AI tools by list
No West Virginia rule names AI. The AI tools blocklist for schools lets a county allow approved tools and block the rest.
Fresh data
About 300,000 new domains are categorized daily and checked again after a week and a month, so new proxy sites are caught quickly.
A starting test set with the category our data gives each domain
Step one of the test plan asks for a fixed list per category. These real lookups can seed it, and the last row is there to check that learning sites stay open.
| Domain | Categories in our data | Expected result for students |
|---|---|---|
| xvideos.com | Adult | Blocked on every path |
| 1xbet.com | Gambling | Blocked when the Gambling switch is on |
| ammo.com | Shopping, Weapons | Blocked through Weapons, though it also carries Shopping |
| hide.me | VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers | Blocked, as it is an evasion tool |
| proxysite.com | VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers | Blocked, and a good test of the web-proxy route |
| pbskids.org | Education/Reference | Open, which checks for over-blocking |
A yearly filter test plan for a West Virginia county
Policy 2460 admits that filtering software is never fully effective, which is exactly why testing matters. A short, repeatable test each term shows the filter works and gives you dated evidence.
1. Pick the test set
Choose a fixed list of test domains per category: Adult, Gambling, VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers, Weapons and a few allowed education sites.
2. Test every path
Run the list on a lab computer, a classroom device, a take-home device at home and a device on guest Wi-Fi.
3. Test as a student
Sign in with a student test account for each grade band, so you see the rule set students actually get.
4. Try the bypasses
Check that proxy sites, VPN extensions and changed browser settings do not get through, as section 8.2 expects.
5. Check over-blocking
Confirm that research, health and news sites older students need are open. Over-blocking is a quieter failure.
6. Save the results
Record date, device, account, result and fixes made. That record is your best answer to any review.
Libraries, consortia and regional service agencies
Many West Virginia counties share services through regional education service agencies and buy internet through consortia. That changes who signs what, but not what the filter must do.
Consortium members
Members certify CIPA compliance to the lead applicant on Form 479, while the lead files Form 486. Each member still needs its own policy and evidence.
School libraries
Library media centers use the school's rule sets. Give librarians a fast unblock route for research topics.
Public libraries
Public libraries with E-Rate follow CIPA on their own terms. See web filtering for libraries for common setups.
Common West Virginia misreadings
Because the rules sit in a Board policy rather than a statute, they are easy to overlook or misread. These are the points we see most often confused.
| What people say | What applies |
|---|---|
| "West Virginia has no filtering rule of its own." | Policy 2460 is a state rule with a filtering section, a bypass ban and supervision expectations. |
| "The state filter means counties need nothing." | Take-home devices, local rule sets and grade bands still need county filtering. |
| "HB 2003 bans phones only during lessons." | The instructional day includes transition time between classes, and counties may go further. |
| "Monitoring means recording every site each student visits." | Policy 2460 stresses adult supervision. Detailed logs are a choice with privacy duties attached. |
| "Students can use a VPN if the site is educational." | Section 8.2 bans any attempt to bypass the filter. The right route is an unblock request. |
West Virginia county checklist
Work through this before each school year and the E-Rate window. The general CIPA compliance checklist covers the federal items in detail.
| Item | Owner | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| County internet safety policy covers every CIPA topic and references Policy 2460 | Board | CIPA, 2460 |
| Public notice and hearing or meeting documented | Board | CIPA |
| Adult blocked for all users; student rule sets by grade band | Technology | CIPA, 2460 sec. 8.1 |
| Bypass categories and extensions blocked | Technology | 2460 sec. 8.2 |
| Take-home devices filtered off campus | Technology | CIPA |
| Supervision plan for labs, libraries and classrooms | Principals | 2460 sec. 8.4 |
| Staff briefed on monitoring and acceptable use | Principals | 2460 sec. 8.5 |
| Digital citizenship lessons delivered and logged | Teachers | 2460 sec. 4, CIPA |
| Classroom apps reviewed for terms and privacy | Technology | 2460 sec. 4 |
| Phone policy under 18-2-46 adopted, with medical exemptions and parent contact protocol published | Board | HB 2003 |
| Signed acceptable use forms on file where the county requires them | Schools | County policy |
| Form 486 or 479 filed on time | Business office | CIPA |
Evidence to keep
Keep one folder per school year, organized by source. Green labels are state items, navy labels are federal.
Policy, notice and hearing minutes
Shows the internet safety policy was adopted properly.
Filed Forms 486 or 479
Shows federal certification each funding year.
Filter rule set exports
Shows appropriate filtering for staff and each grade band.
Bypass test results
Shows proxy and VPN routes are closed, with dates and devices tested.
Supervision plans and staff briefings
Shows adult supervision and staff responsibilities in practice.
Digital citizenship lesson log
Shows the education duty met under both rules.
Phone policy and exemption records
Shows the county policy and documented medical needs.
Published parent contact protocol
Shows families know how to reach students during the day.
Policy 2460 section 8 jobs: a county doing it alone or with the hosted filter
The rows follow the filtering, supervision and bypass expectations that county technology directors have to cover.
| Section 8 job | County-managed filter | Hosted CIPA filter |
|---|---|---|
| Keep appropriate filtering in place | Install, update and test on each network | We run the DNS filter, with a CIPA preset as the start |
| Stop proxies and hidden activity | A list of known proxy sites to maintain | VPN/Proxy/Anonymizers blocked as a category |
| Stop browser settings that skip the filter | Per-browser policies on every device | Public encrypted DNS and browser skip-settings blocked by default |
| Letting an adult research a blocked topic | Open a hole in the filter for a while | PIN bypass for 15, 30 or 60 minutes, logged, then it reverts |
| Rules for each school in the county | One list copied to several places | One console, separate settings per school or branch |
| Dated evidence of filter tests | Screenshots saved in a shared folder | Policy record, activity reports and a log export |
West Virginia school internet safety FAQ
Does West Virginia have its own school internet filtering rule?
Yes, through Board Policy 2460 (126CSR41) rather than a statute. It requires filtering that meets E-Rate guidelines, bans filter bypass and calls for adult supervision.
What does Policy 2460 say about bypassing the filter?
Section 8.2 prohibits attempts to defeat or bypass the state filter or hide internet activity, listing methods such as proxies, special ports and browser changes.
Does Policy 2460 require monitoring of students?
Section 8.4 calls for appropriate adult supervision and consistent monitoring of student access. Section 8.5 asks staff to monitor, instruct and assist.
What does HB 2003 (2025) require?
It created W. Va. Code 18-2-46. County policies from 2025 to 2026 keep personal devices out of classroom settings during the instructional day, with documented medical exemptions.
What counts as the instructional day?
From the start of the first instructional period to the end of the last, including transitions. Classroom settings include gyms and common areas where instruction may occur.
Does Policy 2460 cover digital citizenship?
Yes. Section 4 covers etiquette, personal information, third-party app terms and reporting dangerous messages, which supports the CIPA education duty.
Does West Virginia require schools to block AI tools?
We found no statute or Board rule that names AI tools. Counties decide which to allow and which to block by category.
Other state school internet safety laws
Compare West Virginia with its neighbours, or browse every guide on the school internet safety laws by state hub.
Related guides
- CIPA Internet Safety Policy: What It Must Contain and How to Write One
- Web Filtering for Small and Rural School Districts
- Presenting Web Filtering to the School Board: Budget, Risk, Metrics
- Virginia School Internet Safety Laws: 22.1-70.2 and CIPA
- Ohio SB 29 School Compliance: Device Monitoring and Filtering
Pricing depends on the number of West Virginia schools and devices in the county, and we send a quote within one business day. A pilot on one site lets your technology director see the blocks and reports before widening it.
Talk to us about your county
We can show how CIPA category filtering, strong bypass blocking and light reporting fit a West Virginia county, on the school network and on take-home devices.