Dive Brief:
- Los Angeles Unified School District has restricted all student access to generative artificial intelligence platforms for the 2026-27 school year, the nation’s second-largest school system confirmed in an email late Wednesday.
- Before the change, LAUSD students who were 13 years or older, had completed required digital citizenship instruction, and had reviewed the district’s responsible use policy could access approved generative AI tools, an LAUSD spokesperson told K-12 Dive.
- The new AI restrictions are in place while the district reviews instructional use and safeguards, the spokesperson said. The move comes as New York City announced Wednesday it would implement a one-year ban on AI use for elementary and middle school students.
Dive Insight:
LAUSD held the first meeting of its Generative AI Ad Hoc Committee on Wednesday as it works to develop recommendations for guardrails and procedures for the future student use of AI tools. The committee will share its AI policy recommendations with the LAUSD school board by the end of the 2026-27 school year, the district’s spokesperson said.
Now that the two largest U.S. school systems have implemented AI moratoriums for students, some ed tech experts have raised concerns about ripple effects or broader implications for AI policies in other districts nationwide.
The shifting approach to AI policy at LAUSD and NYC is happening as pushes for screen time limits and tech restrictions in classrooms are growing at the district and state levels nationwide.
In June, LAUSD became one of the first large districts in the nation to approve and now implement a policy limiting screen time and 1:1 device use for its youngest students.
Schools Beyond Screens, the LAUSD parent and teacher-led group that advocated for the system’s screen time restrictions, celebrated the district’s latest AI policy for students across all grade levels.
Local advocates have increasingly pushed for AI moratoriums in districts like LAUSD and NYC, citing concerns that the technology has not yet proven to be safe and improve learning for students.
Lila Byock, founder of Schools Beyond Screens, said in a Wednesday statement that the AI moratoriums in Los Angeles and NYC public schools show that “the people have the power to reclaim US public schools from corporate influence.”
In August, the U.S. Department of Education weighed in on the matter of screen time and ed tech restrictions in schools. In a Dear Colleague letter, the agency stressed that concerns around ed tech should not be conflated with those regarding consumer technology, but also stated that decisions to limit devices in schools are ultimately a local decision.
