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Ellensburg School District

Empower Learners, Inspire Growth

AI Guiding Principles

AI Guiding Principles

AI in our schools

AI in our schools

AI can help students and teachers, but it never replaces teachers or the relationships at the heart of school. Our rule: a person starts every AI task, and a person finishes it.

What this means for your child

  • Our goal: teachers and students talk about AI together at the start of each project: where it can help, where to ask first, and where it would skip the learning. Students help shape these decisions, and teachers make the final call.
  • Students are still expected to do their own thinking. AI is a helper, not a substitute.
  • We use only district-approved tools: Google Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and SchoolAI. Student information is protected by law.
  • Teachers are learning alongside students, with ongoing support from the district on using AI well and protecting student information.

 

Washington’s guiding principles

We follow the guiding principles from Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)

A human-centered AI learning environment is one that prioritizes the needs, abilities, and experiences of students, teachers, and administrators.

Empower students to actively shape their learning experience with AI by allowing them control over how and to what extent AI is integrated into their education.

District policies must comply with student/personal privacy and data protection laws for the use of AI tools and resources.

  • A human-centered AI learning environment is one that prioritizes the needs, abilities, and experiences of students, teachers, and administrators.

  • Empower students to actively shape their learning experience with AI by allowing them control over how and to what extent AI is integrated into their education.

  • District policies must comply with student/personal privacy and data protection laws for the use of AI tools and resources.

Here is what these three guiding principles mean in Ellensburg School District

  • AI helps. People decide.
    AI can speed up routine work and offer ideas, but it can’t know your child the way a teacher does. Teachers lead instruction, and AI supports them.

    More time with students
    When AI handles repetitive tasks like drafting and organizing, teachers have more time for what matters: conversations, feedback, and encouragement.

    We check our tools
    AI can be biased or just wrong. We review the tools we use and keep people in charge of decisions that affect students.

    Human → AI → Human
    OSPI puts it simply. Every AI use should start with a person’s question and end with a person’s reflection and decision. Read OSPI’s guidance.

  • Meeting each child where they are
    AI can explain an idea in different ways, give students different ways to show what they know, and keep learning engaging. Teachers decide when and how it’s used.

    Teaching students to use AI well
    Our goal is for students to learn to question AI’s answers, check sources, protect their personal information, and do their own thinking. Teachers and students are learning together, using the safe AI tools the district provides.

    Support for every student
    We choose and use AI tools with all students in mind, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners. For example, AI can help explain material in another language or present it in a different format.

  • Protecting student information
    Student privacy comes first. We use only district-approved AI tools, and student information is protected by law. When students use their district accounts in these tools, their information is not used to train AI models. Staff have access to online and in-person training on handling student data safely.

    Staying open with families
    We’ll keep telling families how AI is used in our schools, and people stay in charge of decisions about students.