Desert Sands unveils RISE AI guidance and classroom toolkit, calls it guidance not policy

Desert Sands Unified officials on March 18 presented a new artificial intelligence guidance document and an accompanying classroom toolkit built around a RISE decision-making framework and announced a phased rollout to staff and students.

The district’s chief innovation and information officer, Tiffany Norton, told the Board of Education the RISE framework is intended to “amplify human intelligence” in classrooms and that the letters “stand for respect, integrity, support, and empathy.” Norton described the document as guidance rather than a binding policy and said the toolkit will include scenarios, reflection prompts and sample prompts to help teachers and students use AI tools ethically.

The guidance, Norton said, grew from a year-and-a-half of work that included staff AI “playgrounds,” a district task force, a needs assessment, and input from student leaders gathered at superintendent youth advisory events. Norton said the district partnered with Designing Schools to apply a human-centered RISE framework and that students helped shape 11 starter questions used in scenario planning.

Norton described the toolkit as a practical reference intended for everyday use. It will include a link to the full guidance, a how-to page, Google Classroom courses with reference materials and a library of classroom scenarios ranging from college-application stress management to project-based work. Each scenario, she said, contains discussion questions tied back to the RISE framework, reflection prompts and a sample “Spark” prompt (situation, problem, aspiration, results, kismet) to structure interaction with AI.

Norton summarized the initial rollout plan: the guidance and toolkit will be posted on the district website in English and Spanish “by the March” (as stated at the hearing); district leaders will record a message to staff after spring break; principals will receive ongoing support every other month; the district will run two-week training cohorts beginning with principals and the AI task force and will open further cohorts to interested staff through the end of the school year. Norton said the task force will continue building TK–12 scenarios over the coming months.

Board members praised the human-centered approach. One board member thanked Norton and said the district has a “moral imperative to teach our children how to utilize generative AI” so they will be prepared for future jobs. Norton emphasized the intentionally flexible nature of guidance rather than a rigid do/don’t tool list because generative AI “changes rapidly.”

The board did not take a formal vote to adopt policy; Norton described the work as guidance and detailed planned professional learning and ongoing scenario development. The district will proceed with the public posting and training steps described, and staff and principals will be the first groups invited to deeper training cohorts.

Proponents said the guidance centers district values and the district’s portrait of a graduate; skeptics were not recorded in the discussion. The board scheduled continued implementation support through the AI task force and planned principal-focused training during the remainder of the school year.

The presentation and discussion occupy the substantive portion of the March 18 meeting; the district’s stated next steps are posting the guidance in English and Spanish, recording a staff message, and beginning cohort training before the end of the school year.