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United ISD proposes AI limits, tighter handbook language on ride-sharing and transfers
Summary
United ISD staff presented proposed updates to the student handbook and related guidance that would add artificial intelligence to the district's academic misconduct rules, bar ride-hailing pickups on campus for safety, and clarify transfer deadlines and procedures ahead of the 2025-26 school year.
United Independent School District staff told the board at a June workshop they plan to add explicit prohibitions and guidance on student use of artificial intelligence in the 2025-26 student handbook and to tighten language on transfers and campus pickups.
The changes are framed as part of an annual handbook update and follow work by a district AI task force and feedback from principals, staff and students, officials said. Assistant Superintendent for Technology Hector Perez and other staff described tools the district will use and the training plans for principals and teachers.
Why it matters: the handbook sets daily expectations for more than 40,000 students across the district and the AI language would become the baseline for how teachers and campuses enforce academic honesty and accept student work.
Perez said the district will add a prohibition on students using AI to complete assignments without teacher permission, and the district will require citation when AI is used for brainstorming or partial work. "One of the two main components is that AI should not be used to complete assignments without the express permission and guidance from the teacher," Perez said. He said the district purchased a premium Google Gemini license for site leaders and will expand training using a train-the-trainer model.
Information technology director Judy Garcia described detection tools the district will use. "We will be checking the papers just like we do right now in the Turnitin software. It will be with the AI control," she said. Staff noted Turnitin's AI tools are being rolled out and that no single detector is perfect. Staff also said the district has blocked publicly hosted ChatGPT-style services and contracts with Google Gemini that include data-privacy protections.
Staff presented the AI language as part of three handbook updates: technology use, bus-rider rules and student transfers. On transportation, the handbook would prohibit on-campus pickups by third-party ride-hailing services such as Uber or Lyft, citing elementary-level safety concerns about unidentified drivers and liability. "If parents want to make those type of arrangements, it cannot take place on campus," a staff presenter said.
On transfers, staff said they added clearer deadlines and a revocation process for principals: transfer requests must be filed on or before the principal's last contract date, and principals may recommend revocation after a review process for attendance, grades or behavior. Staff said principals and admissions staff have been briefed and that parents already affected were contacted about pending boundary changes.
Board process and next steps: staff said these are informational items for the workshop and that policy and final handbook language will return for formal board approval. Perez told trustees the district will present major updates in the coming weeks and that the AI guidance will be integrated into teacher and parent communications. "We bought it for our coordinators. We're doing the train-the-trainer approach," he said.
Ending: district staff asked the board to expect final handbook and policy language after additional legal review and as required by changes in state law or guidance.
