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Parent urges Baldwin school board to adopt formal AI policy; district says a task force is drafting guidance
Summary
At the Baldwin Union Free School District board meeting a parent urged the district to adopt an explicit AI policy for 2026–27 (including prohibitions for K–5 and chatbots in middle school); a district representative said a task force is drafting a position and that no chatbots are deployed for student conversation.
Emily Kaine, a Baldwin parent and PTA member, urged the Baldwin Union Free School District Board of Education to adopt a formal artificial intelligence policy for the 2026–27 school year, saying she fears AI will erode students’ critical thinking and creativity. "I am deeply concerned about the lack of an artificial intelligence policy or position statement for the district," Kaine said during public comment, asking trustees to consider "protective guardrails grounded in child development — no AI in K–5 schools and no chat bots in the middle school."
Kaine told the board she had collected policy language from several Long Island districts and cited national and local organizations raising concerns about AI in schools. She argued that reliance on AI could lead to "cognitive offloading that will diminish students' critical thinking and creativity" and said the environmental impacts of AI were also a concern. "This is no way to teach a child how to be a human in our world," she said.
A district representative identified in the transcript as Miss McNell replied that the district does not yet have "a AI policy per se" but that individuals are working on a draft and the district has a position under development. McNell told Kaine the district does not deploy conversational chatbots that "students are jumping on" in classrooms and that some instructional-technology applications include built-in AI features intended to "support learning and scaffolding" rather than to replace classroom instruction. She offered to follow up with Kaine by phone.
No formal board action or vote on an AI policy was taken at the meeting. The exchange ended with the district promising further outreach; Kaine had requested the board consider adopting clear prohibitions and guardrails for younger students.
