Students planning to use YouTube and other applications in Google’s G-Suite services will now need their parents or guardians to sign a form permitting the student to access the applications while at school, starting the 2018-19 school year.    

Common Google applications including docs, slides, drive and classroom, are used almost daily by students, but this new policy addresses other built in G-Suite services such as Blogger, Chrome Web Store, Google Earth, Google Takeout and YouTube.

The G-Suite applications collect data from their respective accounts which is against Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) policy and therefore require parent permission for student usage. MCPS has contracted with Google to provide access to G Suite for Education to students in a closed and secure environment that is not accessible to anyone outside of MCPS, according to the Parent/Guardian Consent for Use of Additional Services form.

Teachers distributed the form in early October and signed forms either granting or denying students permission to use the G-Suite services were due Oct. 29.