U-46 previews ChatGPT EDU rollout to staff; district emphasizes training, privacy and limits on classroom use

School District U-46 officials presented a proposal on June 16 to adopt ChatGPT EDU for staff use and described a layered plan of training, safeguards and limits on classroom deployment.

Rola Shriek Mohammed, research and project management fellow, described the enterprise-grade ChatGPT EDU offering the district is evaluating. She said the EDU product runs on an advanced OpenAI model, supports text, audio, image and code, includes admin controls, and — she said — would not use district data to train external models. "Some of the features that make this viable for U-46 are that our data is not used for training, model admin controls and license management," Mohammed said.

Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Lola Mysdorovich demonstrated classroom and planning use cases, including drafting professional emails and creating a custom GPT by uploading grade-3 curriculum documents. Mysdorovich showed the system generating an "interdependent task" aligned to unit standards and unit resources and said the tool can surface district-approved rubrics and success criteria to save planning time while keeping instruction aligned to board-adopted curriculum.

District presenters said they have drafted AI guidelines grounded in existing board policies — including student data privacy, education philosophy and bullying prevention — and explicitly required that AI not replace teacher judgment, not be used for grading, and not be used to detect AI cheating because current research does not support such use. They also said the plan requires transparent citation of AI-generated material and use of only district-approved tools.

The administration outlined a professional-learning rollout: in-person training for middle and high school teachers in August; targeted sessions for administrators, instructional and tech coaches in September; virtual options for elementary teachers; a Canvas course; and a train-the-trainer model. The district plans to track participation and usage data and to scale access based on lessons learned.

Board members raised ethical and practical questions during the discussion. One board member who said she had tried the EDU demo called it "amazing" but asked about account limits on personal plans; another expressed concern that AI could reduce student critical thinking and asked whether professional learning will include how AI sources are identified and vetted. District staff said source verification and bias monitoring are part of ongoing professional learning and that teachers already vet internet sources routinely.

Superintendent Dr. Johnson and administration said they expect additional board feedback and that a formal recommendation could return this summer after the board reviews pilot parameters, license counts and professional-learning plans.