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Millburn board to conduct technology-use audit amid parent concerns about screen time and AI
Summary
After multiple public commenters and committee discussion raised concerns about screen time, AI chatbots and classroom technology use, the Millburn board and administrators described a planned technology-use audit and limited, controlled AI integrations for instruction.
The Millburn Township School District told the board on May 18 that it will conduct a technology-use audit to better understand how classroom devices and AI are being used and to refine district expectations.
John Conley and district leaders described the audit as a multi-month effort that will survey teachers, examine current practices and partner with neighboring districts. "The audit will help to identify trends, highlight effective practices, and determine areas for improvement to ensure that technology use remains purposeful and intentional and aligned with the needs of our students and the community," Conley said during committee reports.
Administrators said the district has started developing questions for teachers and is drawing on audits from other districts. The governance and program committees discussed bringing teachers, parents and families into a three-sixty review so the district’s technology approach is not a "knee-jerk reaction," governance chair Priya Shivani said.
Public commenters at the meeting urged further limits and transparency on AI and device access. Lewis Liu, who identified himself as a parent and AI founder, urged the district to set a minimum competency threshold for students before introducing AI tools and to require teacher training: "We absolutely need to introduce AI, but are we doing it too early?" Liu told the board. A parent who spoke on behalf of a third grader asked the district to define enforceable standards and minimize distractions from YouTube and AI chatbots in early grades.
Board members and administrators said the district already limits broad, unrestricted access to consumer chatbots on student Chromebooks and uses controlled integrations through approved platforms that meet applicable privacy and age requirements. "There are specific state requirements about how private it is and age restrictions," the chair said, noting ChatGPT and other consumer tools do not meet those restrictions for general student access.
The district noted it has an AI framework to guide intentional classroom use and uses monitoring tools (GoGuardian and Gaggle) to alert staff to potential concerns. District staff also reiterated that some state testing (the NJSLA) is administered on Chromebooks, which factors into how device skills are taught.
Administrators said the audit will be paired with family engagement and teacher input before the district makes substantive policy shifts. The board heard the presentations and responded with follow-up questions about timeline and teacher engagement; the district said committee work and audits are already underway.
