The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has reshaped every part of our lives, including education. Schools around the world have had to adjust to the massive shifts in student learning and administration as a result of AI. Some have openly embraced the technology, jumping to establish policies, while others have gone to great lengths to resist it. The San Rafael City Schools (SRCS) district, for one, is welcoming the future of education in an AI-dominated world.
“Over time, all schools are going to have to embrace this,” said Katy Dunlap, principal of Terra Linda High School, about the impact of artificial intelligence. “This is the shift changer and we need it.”
The SRCS district, eager to put AI guidelines into place, launched an AI Task Force in November of 2024 with participants including staff, students, and parents from the district. The Task Force met five times from January to May of 2025, resulting in a set of recommendations regarding AI guidance in education.
Christy Novack, SRCS Director of Technology and leader of the SRCS AI Task Force, recruited parents, students, and staff to join the group by reaching out to schools within the district and advertising the opportunity at various events. Prospective participants filled out a survey about their interests and experience with artificial intelligence and were selected to participate in the Task Force based on their answers.
Given that the technology was already accessible and widely-used, the San Rafael City Schools district was eager to establish concrete guidelines surrounding AI for both teachers and students. “The AI Task Force was done last year out of a need to address this particular topic sooner than later,” Novack said.
Karen Madden, head of the MarinSEL program and a member of the AI Task Force, shared the same sense of urgency to create definitive AI guidance. “There very much was the feeling that we had to put something into place.”
During their meetings, the Task Force examined AI policies and guidelines from the Palo Alto, San Ramon, and Santa Barbara school districts. Novack had also produced an AI policy draft for SRCS in 2024, which the group reviewed as well.
Palo Alto’s AI guidance most closely resonated with the members of the Task Force because of its specificity and clarity. “We like that it states clear rules – here’s what we do, here’s what we don’t do,” Task Force members wrote in a ‘Guidance Reflection Document’. “It is written in such a way that non-educators can understand it.”
The Task Force recommended updates to three board policies to include language regarding AI. The SRCS Board of Education took the Task Force’s recommendations, updating the following policies in the Board Policy Manual: Employee Use of Technology (BP/E 4040) in the Personnel section; Academic Honesty (BP 5131.9) in the Students section; and Student Use of Technology (BP/E 6163.4) in the Instruction section.
BP/E 4040 now states that district employees are allowed to use technology, including artificial intelligence, to assist them in their work as long as the use is not harmful or in violation of other board policies. BP 5131.9 outlines that a student cannot use technology to complete work or generate answers and pass the work off as their own. However, students can use technology for research or help, and to assist in their work if a teacher permits. Lastly, BP/E 6163.4 now includes AI as a technology resource that students may use safely, effectively, and in accordance with the district’s board policies and Acceptable Use Agreement.
Although the Task Force liked the specificity of Palo Alto’s policy, ultimately they felt that broader AI guidelines were more compatible with the SRCS community. “The guidance that came out is pretty broad and it’s broad by design so that it’s applicable across age levels,” Madden said.
Having representatives of all constituents of the district meant that the Task Force could consider a range of opinions on the issue. Members of the Task Force often split off into smaller groups to collaborate more closely. “Bringing different voices and perspectives together to learn, discuss, [and] collaborate on creating guidance… was a great success,” Novack said.
Many parents on the Task Force work in the tech industry and were able to provide insight into AI usage and development in various professional settings. Marc Sason, a TL parent and Enterprise Customer Success Manager at AI software company Conversica, leveraged his job experience to bring a new perspective onto the AI Task Force.
Sason works with clients to help them adopt AI for marketing and sales purposes, which he compared to the adoption of AI in education. “In the business world, you’ve got people who are early adopters [of AI], you have people who are just dipping the toe in now, who are a little skeptical,” Sason said. In education, he said, “[We’re] kind of seeing the same concerns that businesses have.”
But the AI Task Force was not the final step in developing AI guidance in the San Rafael City Schools district. “As generative AI continues to evolve at an extreme pace, we will continue to review any policies and our guidance to best reflect any changing landscape,” Novack said.
“I expect these policies to change every year, if not more often,” Sason said.
This year, Novack is focusing on AI literacy as part of a new ‘Digital Literacy Plan’ for the district, which aims to develop digital literacy skills for students of all grade levels. The Task Force, in their Guidance Presentation, also hoped to continue conversation and exploration of artificial intelligence for the San Rafael High School district.
However, the Task Force noted several future challenges, including varied incorporation of AI technology between different teachers and the lack of a definitive class focused on AI for students.
As artificial intelligence develops, AI guidance and usage in education will continue to face new challenges and successes. AI policy in education will have to evolve at the same pace as the technology itself.
