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Oregon City student urges board to reconsider classroom AI guidance and highlights environmental concerns
Summary
A junior at Oregon City High School told the board she is concerned about teachers’ use of a ‘stoplight’ approach to AI and warned that promoting AI as acceptable in some assignments harms students’ learning and has environmental costs.
A student speaker at the Oregon City School District board meeting on Sept. 8 urged the board to set clearer limits around classroom use of artificial intelligence tools, saying some teachers are using a "stoplight" approach that normalizes AI for certain assignments.
Adelaide (Adley) Verdin, a junior at Oregon City High School, said teachers classify assignments with red (no AI), yellow (regulated AI) and green (unregulated AI) designations. "Teachers promoting the idea that there are right and wrong times to use AI makes me feel extremely uncomfortable as a student because I know that AI platforms strip away humans' ability to think and is a tool designed to literally do thinking for you," Verdin said.
Verdin acknowledged AI’s potential benefits for students with learning disabilities or language barriers but said the pedagogical message from teachers matters. She also raised environmental concerns, telling the board that AI contributes greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and asked the board to consider districtwide guidance rather than leaving policy entirely to classroom teachers.
District leaders did not respond directly during public comment, and Verdin’s remarks were recorded as public input. Staff previously noted that policies on technology and instruction are shaped by district guidance and classroom practices; any policy changes would return to the board through the formal policy review process.
Verdin concluded by reiterating that while AI can help some students, its broader classroom promotion needs more scrutiny and consistent district policy.
