Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ai Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District 300 CTO introduces AI to board, stresses privacy and teacher role; students currently barred from AI engines
Summary
Chief Technology Officer John Hommel gave an introductory presentation on artificial intelligence, outlined potential classroom uses and risks, and said the district will develop policies; he said students currently do not have access to third-party AI engines pending data‑sharing safeguards.
John Hommel, chief technology officer for Community Unit School District 300, presented an introductory overview of artificial intelligence and generative AI to the board and community on March 11, and said the district will craft guidelines for ethical and safe classroom use.
“AI cannot and should not replace the teacher in the classroom,” Hommel told the board, emphasizing that the district’s approach should free teachers for more one‑on‑one instruction rather than supplant instruction. He described generative AI as a class of systems able to produce original text, images and other outputs and said those systems can be useful for lesson planning, differentiating materials and tutoring — but they are not infallible.
Hommel warned about factual errors and embedded biases in generative models. He told the board that staff and students should avoid sharing personally identifiable information, and that the district does not currently provide students access to third‑party AI engines because it has not signed a student‑data agreement (referred to in the meeting as a “SOPA agreement”). He said teachers currently may use vetted tools and that the district is exploring safeguarded vendor models that provide administrator visibility into prompts and usage.
“Humans play a vital and necessary role in this new era of creation,” Hommel said, explaining that prompt quality affects AI output and that staff must validate results before relying on them. He added that he used an AI engine called Grama to create the slide deck for the presentation.
Board members raised concerns about detection, academic dishonesty and misinformation. Hommel said detection tools are imperfect and that the district will begin by training teachers in appropriate uses, then develop a phased approach to any classroom rollout. He said the goal is to avoid rushing the policy work while also preparing students for technology they will encounter after graduation.
The presentation concluded with a pledge to return to the board with draft guidance and vendor options; no new binding policy was adopted on March 11.
