School districts across the country are struggling to regulate artificial intelligence in classrooms. Instead of passing down a top-down policy, Joliet Township High School is inviting parents, students, and educators to write its guidelines together. This approach shows that school technology policies work best when they include input from the communities they affect.
What Happened
According to the Joliet Township High School District announcement, the school system is forming a new Educational Technology Committee to write guidelines for artificial intelligence. The district is opening the committee to families, students, teachers, and support staff. The group will meet four times during the school year at the district office. The school will provide dinner for participants and community service hours for students who attend.
Interested participants must fill out an interest form by September 21. By recruiting students and parents alongside school staff, the district is avoiding typical top-down decisions to build consensus around new technology.
The Bigger Picture
This strategy fits with current research on school technology. As we previously reported, school systems are moving away from unguided tech adoption toward strict, formal rules.
Involving the community early helps avoid the problems of administrative mandates. Data from Pulse RevOps shows that school districts using top-down models struggle with low adoption, with only 30% to 50% of targeted users logging into new platforms weekly. In contrast, districts that use collaborative review committees reach adoption rates of 70% to 85% within the first 90 days. Excluding teachers, parents, and students from technology decisions often leads to resistance and increases classroom inequality, according to a study in the International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management.
Other districts are already setting rules for AI. For instance, Hilliard City Schools implemented a policy requiring all AI vendors to comply with federal laws like FERPA to protect student privacy. Similarly, the Waukee Community School District set different rules for different age groups. It banned independent use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini for elementary students but allowed older students to use them under specific guidelines.
Students have also shown they can help write policy. According to an Education Week report, high schoolers recently worked together on a national AI framework. Their proposal focused on preserving student-teacher relationships and keeping the right to opt out of automated tools.
What This Means for Families
For families and educators in Joliet, this project is an opportunity to avoid the friction other districts have experienced. School boards across the country, including the Central Bucks School District, are rushing to write AI regulations. Direct participation ensures local rules fit the daily realities of classroom instruction and homework.
When parents and students join these discussions, they can advocate for specific protections. They can ensure personal data is not shared with tech vendors and help define the difference between cheating and acceptable help. Involving students also teaches real-world civic participation. For example, some regions require community service hours for graduation, as civic engagement is a cornerstone of secondary education.
What You Can Do
If you live in the district, you can apply to join the Joliet Township High School Educational Technology Committee by completing the interest form by September 21. Parents outside the district can contact their local school boards to ask how they vet AI tools and protect student data under federal FERPA standards. At home, you can talk with your children about how they use tools like ChatGPT for schoolwork and set clear expectations that fit your school's honor code.