"Deledao is the most device‑agnostic K12 web filtering platform. It didn’t necessarily matter the device. It worked well with any of our devices, and that’s what we were looking for."

— Zach Allen, Chief Technology Officer

The Challenge: Why Celina ISD Needed a Better iPad Web Filter Off-Campus

Before Deledao, Celina’s filtering and wellness stack was incomplete. While on-campus traffic was filtered to the extent that legacy solutions allowed at the time, the school devices, specifically iPads, were left vulnerable once they left the school network.

“Not having a filter solution at home was just the biggest problem,” noted Zach Allen, Chief Technology Officer. Due to the 100% iPad environment at the time, the district relied on a basic DNS filter that Josh Wise, Senior Systems Engineer, described as limited.

“Our DNS filter at the time was just ok, nothing special. There’s not a whole lot of control, not a whole lot of features,” Wise said. For a district sending iPads home daily, that meant limited visibility into what students were doing online and limited ability to support counselors and student services.

The Evaluation: Overcoming the iPad Limitation

As the district began a phased transition to Chromebooks for secondary grades, they needed a platform that worked seamlessly across both Chrome and iOS. Many alternative web filters fell short during the evaluation process, often treating the need for a powerful iPad web filter as an afterthought.

After doing a comprehensive review of different solutions, Wise realized that many vendors simply couldn't address the district’s specific mobile device needs. And while some legacy content filters were great for Chromebooks, “They just did not play well on the filter side or the student wellness for iPads.”

Celina’s filtering strategy is built on Deledao’s patented InstantAI™ technology. Unlike legacy content filters that rely on static allow and deny databases, Deledao’s real-time AI analyzes content as it loads, regardless of device type or operating system. This capability proved to be the deciding factor for the district’s Apple-heavy mixed-device environment.

“Deledao’s AI scanning the content in real time right before it loads was a feature that no one had replicated,” Wise said. This approach ensured that CIPA compliance remained consistent across the entire fleet, particularly on iPads, where other solutions struggled. “Nobody else was doing it on an iPad except Deledao. And that was ultimately part of why we picked the product,” Wise noted, highlighting a standard that continues to anchor their student safety and wellness strategy.

The Solution: A Collaborative Partnership

For Celina ISD, the transition was a strategic move to reclaim budget and simplify operations. The district’s leadership aimed to move away from managing multiple standalone monitoring tools in favor of a more unified approach. During the transition, Celina partnered with Deledao to ensure their wellness monitoring extended deep into the district’s cloud environment.

This collaboration resulted in a more robust API-based integration for Google Drive, allowing the district to monitor stored files with the same precision as active browsing. “Now it reads the Google Drive for any kind of risky, dangerous [content], not just when a kid is typing a document,” Wise explained.

For Allen, this responsiveness was the ultimate proof of partnership: “We said that we need these security features and Deledao was able to deliver them.” This move allowed the district to redirect "monitoring dollars" into a single, comprehensive safety suite.

The Impact: Life-Saving Wellness & IT Efficiency

For Starla Martin, Director of Student Services, Deledao brought a "pulse check" for the student body.

“Deledao helps us get ahead of it if we had missed the needs of some of our students.”

This proactive visibility had led to a critical intervention.

One of our students was looking for self-harm content. Fortunately, we were able to get them the help they needed. Because of Deledao, we were able to call the parents and make sure the student was taken care of.”

"Being able to provide our district counselors a resource for this type of situation has given counselors opportunities to have conversations with students and their families that they probably wouldn’t have ever been able to have."

— Katie Wells, Lead Counselor

Celina has also empowered its broader IT team, moving away from list-based content filtering. “In the past when it was just strictly a firewall for our iPads. I wasn’t going to give technicians or anyone else access to the firewall to add things to a deny or allow list. That’s a bit dangerous,” Wise explained.

With Deledao, technicians now have controlled access to monitor and manage the platform. The district also enabled Deledao's Share & Unblock feature, allowing teachers to temporarily unblock educational sites. “That’s been helpful,” Wise noted, as it reduces bottlenecks for the central IT team during a period of rapid annual student growth.

Looking Ahead: Future-Proofing the Fleet

“Deledao is the most device‑agnostic platform. It didn’t matter the device. It worked well with any of our devices, and that’s what we were looking for,” Allen said. Whether the student is on an iPad, a Chromebook, or a future device, the AI-powered CIPA protection remains constant.

This adaptability gives Deledao customers a major strategic advantage as they look to the future. With the recent launch of Apple’s highly anticipated MacBook Neo units, which many in the K-12 education space are already calling a potential "Chromebook killer", many districts are suddenly realizing that they need robust content filtering for K-12 that can handle Apple OS environments without compromising performance or visibility.