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Parents, educators urge Haverford Township board to tighten oversight of educational technology and AI
Summary
Three public commenters — a longtime educator, a resident, and a university professor — asked the board for stronger policies, privacy protections and transparency about AI tools in classrooms, citing concerns about data permissions, student screen time, and learning impacts.
Three members of the Haverford Township community addressed the board during the July 16 public comment period, urging caution and oversight in the district's use of educational technology and artificial intelligence tools.
Michelle Eisnoggle, a resident and 27‑year education professional, said the district is "very much behind in our oversight of tech" and urged the board that the tech audit go beyond redundancy to examine policies, teacher training and privacy settings. She said she found some of her child's records shared via Google Docs with link access set to "anyone with the link," and asked the board to prioritize student safety and better controls.
Todd Hall, a Haverford Township resident, described three anecdotes to illustrate the risk that automated tools can short‑circuit learning. He urged a "careful and cautious approach" to using technology and AI in classrooms, emphasizing the value of manual practice and in‑person study skills.
Dr. Caitlin Mueller, a mathematics professor at Villanova University, said she is "deeply concerned" about the district's recent adoption of AI tools. Drawing on classroom observations, she said students increasingly submit work generated with large language models and sometimes cannot solve basic problems on exams. "We owe it to our students to ask harder questions and make sure parents have a meaningful role in the discussion," she said, and called for transparency about what data the tools were trained on and how the district evaluated ethical and privacy risks.
Administration acknowledged the concerns and pointed to a 2024 technology audit and ongoing internal reviews. Dr. Hayes and other administrators said the district's technology team has begun reviewing redundancies and contract usage and offered to share further information; no immediate policy changes or reversals were announced at the meeting.
The public comment period ended with the board noting the concerns and indicating administration follow‑up on tech audits and contract information.
