The Abridged version:
- San Juan Unified School District has embraced artificial intelligence in the classroom.
- Other districts surveyed in the Sacramento region are not as far along developing their approach to the growing technology.
- Students at Sacramento City Unified School District highlighted disjointed AI policies between various schools and teachers.
At Mira Loma High School, English teacher Laura Garwood asked her fourth period class of freshmen to define nuance.
After a guess from one front row student, Garwood explained, “Nuance is all about subtle things. AI doesn’t really have that.”
Garwood’s lesson prompted a discussion among students about the utility of artificial intelligence versus common pitfalls, including bias or impersonality.
Her instruction came as the San Juan Unified School District prepares to give all students in second through 12th grades access to district-purchased AI technology starting at the end of this month.
“Knowing that they’re never going to know a life without AI,” said Nicole Kukral, director of professional learning and curriculum innovation at the district, “that idea of blocking it for all students really isn’t best serving the needs of students.”
While San Juan USD has embraced what many experts – including the California Department of Education – say are the benefits of incorporating AI into the curriculum, other districts’ approaches are less defined.
‘We all need training in this’
Students in the neighboring Sacramento City Unified School District, for instance, say they wish they had clearer guidelines and curriculum on proper uses of AI.
“My teachers are kind of just like, ‘Don’t use AI, at all,'” said Beza Getahun, a 10th grader at C.K. McClatchy High School. “I couldn’t even go up to my teacher and be like, ‘Hey, how do I use AI ethically.’ That’s not even an option.”
McClatchy’s Principal Andrea Egan said the school is currently a “mixed bag” of comfort levels with AI.
“We all need education in this,” she said. “We all need training in this.”
Schools and districts in the Sacramento region are at varying stages of navigating a rapidly evolving technology. And splitting educators, students and parents alike is the question of how classrooms can balance both the advantages of such a revolutionary tool with the potential risks for developing critical thinking skills.
‘Hoping nobody notices’ won’t work
Almost a year after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, the California Department of Education released guidance regarding AI’s role in education.
In its introduction, the nonmandatory guide states, “While Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a valuable learning tool for educators and students, it must be evaluated according to usage terms, and clear guidelines for data collection should prioritize student safety.”
Safety and data privacy were among the priorities when choosing the technology to offer San Juan students and staff, Kukral said.
“Yes, we want students to have access to AI. But we also want to make sure that they have access to tools that provide some safety features,” she said. “And there were vendors that we did not entertain because they couldn’t meet our very rigorous safety standards.”
The San Juan district recently revised its technology policy for both students and employees, as well as its academic honesty policy, to include explicit references to artificial intelligence. And for this school year, the district invested $132,500 in licensing access to a specific, education-centered AI platform.
Al plan at San Juan years in the making
But conversations about how to incorporate AI into the curriculum have been years in the making, said Nicole Naditz, program specialist for instructional technology at San Juan.
Superintendent Melissa Bassanelli “recognized really early on that the approach of just hoping nobody notices it exists wasn’t an appropriate approach,” Naditz said.
The district began with a pilot program for staff in the fall of 2023. Parents were also offered learning sessions and opportunities to provide input, Naditz said.
“Families are definitely a really key part of this process,” she said.
Naditz said she will continue to lead educational sessions for parents, as both online lessons and meetings that they can attend in person or virtually.
“We’re being really proactive, knowing that, rightfully so, this will likely generate questions,” Naditz said. “We want our parents to understand what we’ve chosen, how and why we’ve chosen it, what it can do, what it can’t do, how we’re protecting our students.”
First steps taken in Roseville
Other area districts are in earlier stages of creating, approving and implementing artificial intelligence in their classrooms.
During its Sept. 9 meeting, the Roseville Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to a policy recognizing “the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.”
The new and broad guidelines were the district’s first step toward a more unified position on AI. They state the district will use AI to support teachers rather than replace them and to “personalize and enhance” student learning.
The board also approved a $30,000 one-year subscription to Brisk Teaching. The AI-powered platform assists teachers in tasks such as planning lessons, tailoring curriculum to students with diverse needs and providing students with initial feedback on assignments.
Policies unfolding in Elk Grove, Folsom Cordova
Elk Grove Unified School District officials said they hope to have more cohesive policies and guidelines soon as well.
The district formed an AI task force after meeting with labor unions last spring and hosting public forums for parents and students in June and August.
“Elk Grove has wanted to take a very thoughtful approach in how we’re looking at how AI should be integrated into our district and make sure we are talking to all the educational partners that would be affected,” said Erica Swift, a technology integration support specialist at Elk Grove.
The 22-member task force, composed of various district employees, is charged with making recommendations that the Superintendent’s Cabinet will review and the school board will then consider. A timeline for those recommendations is unknown, Swift said, but the group has meetings scheduled through the end of October.
At present, definitions of proper AI use vary by school in Elk Grove.
“And that’s part of the reason we really wanted to push this year for some district policy and some district guidelines,” Swift said. “So that schools didn’t feel that they were having to respond to those things individually.”
Folsom Cordova Unified School District is in a similar process of formalizing districtwide AI guidelines. The district also created a taskforce of administrators, teachers and students to come up with these recommendations.
Folsom Cordova began offering training sessions to teachers last school year, according to district spokesperson Angela Griffin. The sessions “highlighted district-supported AI tools to encourage teacher exploration.”
‘It’s going to be used regardless’
Owen Naqica, an 11th grader at West Campus High School in Sacramento City USD, said he wishes there were more consistency when it comes to AI curriculum.
“I really do wish that AI was taught to us, or how to use it ethically,” Naqica said.
The 16-year-old is skeptical about the technology but said he understands the appeal for busy and stressed students.
“It’s something about AI that is just so accessible,” he said. “Almost addictive.”
At John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, 12th grader Yessica Torres said she has had the opportunity to use AI “for the right reasons,” including finding research materials for a project.
“I honestly think it’s because the teachers at my school know that it’s going to be used regardless,” Torres, 17, said.
Brenda Mora, Torres’ mother, said she has not heard from the district regarding AI.
“I don’t know what protocols or what their plan is,” Mora said.
“I trust my kid… I trust her to use it wisely,” she added. “It just doesn’t seem like there’s been much communication from them.”
The district’s largest high school, McClatchy, developed its own approach to artificial intelligence.
There, teachers have leeway to pick one of three positions, as outlined in the school’s handbook: restrictive, unrestricted or ad hoc. While the first two options are more all or nothing, the latter means AI may be permitted on certain projects or assignments in that class.
Egan said she sees AI’s role in education as anything but black and white.
“The students know more than us in many cases,” she said. “So that’s a little scary.”
“That said,” Egan added, “I think there’s probably amazing potential for these tools. I know there’s amazing potential for these tools.”
AI, by district
Elk Grove Unified School District
- Created a task force to make AI policy recommendations
- Some schools have their own set standards for appropriate use
Folsom Cordova Unified School District
- Offered teachers trainings on AI starting in the 2024-2025 school year
- A task force is currently developing districtwide guidelines
Roseville Joint Union High School District
- School board approved the district’s first set of AI-related guidelines Sept. 9
- At the same meeting, members OK’d pilot subscription to an AI service for teachers
Sacramento City Unified School District
- Standards vary from school to school
- Parents have received little to no communication from the district
San Juan Unified School District
- Began a pilot program with AI for staff in fall 2023
- Introducing technology for all students grades 2-12 at the end of September
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.
