The Invisible Threat 

In today’s K-12 schools, technology administrators hold the keys to every system. With a few keystrokes, they can access student chat logs, staff emails, or confidential records. In some districts, these administrators maintain multiple blanket logins, shared or alias accounts with broad, system-wide privileges. While such accounts may be convenient for troubleshooting, when combined with a lack of oversight, they create one of the most dangerous blind spots in school governance.

Multiple Aliases, No Accountability

A common but under-discussed practice is the use of administrator “alias” logins. These accounts may be generic (like admin01 or sysop) or created under different identities for testing, monitoring, or even bypassing normal restrictions. In theory, they are tools for legitimate IT management. In practice, they allow one person to act under multiple guises, making it nearly impossible to track who accessed what data, when, and why.

Without strict auditing, an administrator can:

• Pull sensitive records such as confidential emails or HR documents.

• Access student chat logs from classroom platforms without staff or parental knowledge.

• Submit or manipulate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests under false names, masking conflicts of interest.

• Bypass monitoring systems by hopping between accounts, erasing or obscuring digital footprints.

The end result is a system where trust replaces accountability, and where one individual can operate invisibly in spaces that should be carefully monitored.

The Risks of Blanket Access

This problem isn’t hypothetical. Cases such as the indictment of Ashtabula Area City Schools’ IT coordinator for extortion and unauthorized computer use demonstrate how quickly access can become leverage when oversight fails. Similarly, federal prosecutions outside the K-12 sphere have shown that employees with unrestricted access sometimes steal confidential data and extort their employers. These examples underscore how a single administrator in “God mode” poses risks not just to data security, but to the integrity of the entire institution.

Why Oversight Is Non-Negotiable

Allowing unchecked access is the digital equivalent of giving one person a master key to every office, filing cabinet, and locked drawer in a school district, with no logs, no cameras, and no supervisors. In the physical world, such a system would be unthinkable. Yet in the digital world, it remains common practice.

Districts must recognize that privileged access demands privileged accountability. That means:

• Requiring unique, non-transferable accounts for every administrator.

• Logging and auditing all privileged actions, with regular external reviews.

• Prohibiting the use of multiple aliases or shared accounts for accessing sensitive data.

• Ensuring that FOIA requests, HR records, and student communications are subject to strict chain-of-custody procedures.

• Protecting Students, Staff, and the Public

Ultimately, this is not just a technology issue. It is about protecting trust, the trust parents place in schools to safeguard their children’s data, the trust teachers place in leaders to protect their communications, and the trust communities place in districts to operate with transparency.

Unchecked “God mode” access erodes that trust and leaves districts exposed to legal, ethical, and reputational crises. Strong oversight isn’t a burden on IT staff; it is the foundation of responsible digital governance.

Author Valerie Leuchtmann September 21, 2025

Sources:

Briggs, Stephen. “Ashtabula Schools’ Former IT Coordinator Charged with Extortion.” Government Technology, 17 Mar. 2022. 

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York. “Former Employee of Technology Company Pleads Guilty to Stealing Confidential Data and Extorting His Employer.” U.S. Department of Justice, 1 Mar. 2021.