School districts across the country are trying to build guardrails around generative artificial intelligence in classrooms. A newly proposed policy package in Alaska highlights the tension between adopting new learning tools and protecting student privacy. As schools draft these rules, parents and educators are left trying to define what responsible AI use actually looks like.
What Happened
In Alaska, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District recently introduced new districtwide policy proposals to govern AI. Built on top of state policy guidelines published by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, these local proposals do not create separate rulebooks. Instead, they integrate AI standards directly into existing rules. For example, under the proposed changes, teachers cannot upload student records into any AI platform not officially approved by the district. However, local school board member Mica VanBuskirk noted that the proposed policy lacks the specificity teachers need to distinguish between cheating and acceptable assistance.
The Bigger Picture
This regulatory struggle is not unique to Alaska. School districts nationwide are grappling with the fact that federal privacy laws, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), were designed for paper records in file cabinets rather than modern cloud servers. Under FERPA, schools can only share student data with vendors if they retain direct control over how that data is used. But as legal analysts point out, AI models frequently learn from the data fed into them, making it difficult for vendors to delete student records as required by law.
This conflict has forced several districts to pull back on AI deployments. For instance, Florida’s Broward County Public Schools recently paused its rollout of MagicSchool AI due to privacy concerns. Meanwhile, other districts like Texas's Leander ISD have embraced the platform to run AI-assisted history research simulations. These varying approaches highlight a gap between software compliance claims and real-world execution. As we previously reported, a lack of clear district data-deletion procedures can leave student personal profiles vulnerable to permanent storage or exposure.
What This Means for Families
For parents, the debate over AI is not theoretical. It is already happening on their children's devices. According to College Board data, the percentage of high schoolers using AI for schoolwork climbed to 84 percent in May 2025. Yet, students are not necessarily using these tools to cheat. A survey by the National Society of High School Scholars found that 55 percent use AI for information searches and 51 percent use it to brainstorm ideas. In fact, globally, researching and finding sources remains the most common way students use generative AI.
Surprisingly, students themselves are skeptical of the technology. The same national survey showed that 53 percent of students worry AI will harm their personal privacy, and 69 percent believe AI will have a net negative impact on society over the next decade.
What You Can Do
- Ask about the district's approved vendor list. Ensure your child is only using AI platforms that have active data-privacy agreements with the school.
- Protect personal details. Teach children never to input real names, grades, home addresses, or teacher feedback into public AI search tools or chatbots.
- Set boundaries for academic honesty. Help students understand the difference between using AI as a brainstorming partner versus letting it draft their homework.