Case Study: Westminster Public Schools achieves flawless online testing and 40% reduction in streaming traffic with Exinda

Westminster Public Schools Ensures Flawless Online Testing Experiences; Squashes Snapchat Disruptions

Westminster Public Schools, a Colorado district serving 9,500 students across 20 schools, rolled out a 1:1 Chromebook program and moved standardized tests online, only to find its network repeatedly hitting bandwidth caps. Existing tools (web filter, firewall, MRTG) couldn’t identify which apps or users were saturating the network, causing slowdowns for Office 365, Pearson and Khan Academy, frequent help-desk calls, and Snapchat traffic that evaded filtering—putting flawless CMAS testing at risk.

The district deployed an Exinda 6000 series appliance for Layer 7 traffic identification and policy-based prioritization. Exinda revealed YouTube was consuming 75% of bandwidth, enabling policies that prioritized testing platforms, blocked Snapchat and other unauthorized apps, limited Chrome OS update bandwidth, and cut streaming traffic by 40%. The result: fewer help-desk calls, reliable, uninterrupted online testing, and confidence to support future classroom video conferencing.

Westminster Public Schools

Jefferey Miller

Technology Manager