AI for School Leaders: Challenges, Champions, and What’s Next

Compiled by Theresa Kelly Gegen

For this issue, the Journal asked experts and practitioners about the use of artificial intelligence in their school districts. Thank you to William Brackett, Director of IT Services for Oak Park ESD 97, and Crystal South-Law, a social studies teacher at Bloomington Junior High School and a member of the task force that helped form an AI policy for Bloomington SD 87. Also, thanks to Joshua Stafford, Ed.D., Superintendent for Vienna HSD 13-3, whose replies are included here and who also provides commentary on Artificial Intelligence, starting on page 24.

Let’s start by defining AI, courtesy of Microsoft Copilot:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of computer science focused on creating systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. These tasks include learning from data, recognizing patterns, understanding language, making decisions, and solving problems.”

In practical terms, AI enables computers and software to analyze information, adapt based on experience, and generate outputs — such as text, images, predictions, or recommendations — without being explicitly programmed for every possible situation.

In education and governance contexts, AI typically refers to tools like machine learning models and generative AI that support human work by automating routine tasks, providing insights from large datasets, and assisting with communication and decision-making—while still relying on human judgment, values, and oversight.”

What do boards of education need to know about AI?
Every school board should recognize that Artificial Intelligence is not just a trend, but an integral part of the future, as evidenced by its growing role in industries such as healthcare, finance, and education. Students are already using this technology without formal instruction, exposing themselves to personal data vulnerabilities that they do not fully comprehend. The contemporary workforce will increasingly rely on AI for tasks like communicating information and disaggregating data. Our students must be prepared to compete in a professional environment where AI proficiency is a prerequisite. Given our institutional mission to prepare students for college and career readiness, active engagement in AI instruction is essential. – Crystal South-Law

Board members will have to accept the inevitability of the development and advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Just like with any technological advancement, progress will continue. Our current students and all future students will live and work in a world that includes current LLMs and Generative AI, as well as their successors. A short-term decision to limit or block AI usage may work, but in the long run, this will become impossible.

Schools and educators are going to have to abandon teaching skills that AI will render obsolete. Just as teaching how to prep a quill became obsolete with the ballpoint pen, keyword searches in articles found by searches will be replaced by advanced AI prompts. Developing a strong AI strategy for education technology use in instruction needs to be the priority.

As much as AI is inevitable in instruction, ignoring the use of AI in operations will be a costly mistake. AI has the ability to do more with less, and the result of that can be saving money.

Whether AI is a Pandora’s Box or a critical tool for educators and students alike to master, it is not a replacement for human interaction.

If we ever achieve Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), where AI models become the smartest teachers, doctors, etc., the models will not replace our staff. Learning requires a human connection. Teachers build professional relationships with their students that include trust and respect. AI models might be able to simulate it in the future, but they will never create those connections. – William Brackett

Artificial intelligence represents a genuine generational shift. The question for boards is not whether to engage with that reality, but whether to engage with it strategically and yoke the power to drive results, outcomes, and opportunities for students. Do we let it scare us, or thrill us to drive innovation? The districts that serve their students well through this moment will be those whose boards and teams understand early that this requires more than policy. It requires values, vision, and risk. – Joshua Stafford

What are the downsides/security issues that AI presents to the district?
Districts must prioritize investments in AI literacy and comprehensive staff training. Without a robust training component, district data is exposed to potential privacy violations. Open-source AI platforms often utilize all input data, and staff and students grant permission for its use upon interaction. School districts must implement secure AI programs, such as Google Gemini and MagicSchool AI, that adhere to SOPPA, FERPA, COPPA, and CIPA regulations. The integration of artificial intelligence raises concerns among staff regarding its effect on student learning and the environment. Teachers worry that critical thinking skills may be compromised when students use AI to complete assignments rather than as a supplementary aid. Furthermore, AI tools could be employed by students to generate or disseminate inaccurate information. There is also the risk of students submitting the work of others (in written form, art, music, or images) as their own, whether intentionally or inadvertently. It is essential to note that some students may not fully grasp that all AI-generated content is derived from existing online sources. – Crystal South-Law

If you allow the use of an AI model without a digital protection agreement in place, you need to consider that all data used to train the model may be used to train it. This is a non-starter for school districts due to FERPA and ISSRA. Staff use of an AI model for classroom tasks can be misused so frighteningly easily. A strong training and education plan for all staff on the proper use of AI with PII (Personally Identifiable Information) data. – William Brackett

Illinois law now requires ISBE to provide statewide guidance for school districts and educators on the use of artificial intelligence. School districts must ensure that any tools used by staff or students meet appropriate security standards. We must be vigilant about the personal information AI models might ingest. Boards must ensure AI adoption remains Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) compliant and protects students. Another concern is academic integrity. Because AI can produce written work so quickly, schools must continue developing strategies to ensure that students are demonstrating their own understanding and learning. This often requires adjusting instructional practices and assessments to emphasize process, discussion, and critical thinking. – Joshua Stafford

What are the upsides, and how can AI be used for good in P-12 education?
Artificial intelligence presents numerous benefits for educators and students. Educators can leverage AI to significantly reduce their workload by assisting with instructional planning and lesson design. In early grade levels, AI can generate images for reading passages to help students visualize material outside their knowledge base. Using Google’s Read Along can support the development of reading fluency. For higher grade levels, it can facilitate student feedback on writing assignments, and AI bots can provide content-specific tutoring. AI offers significant benefits in education, particularly by enhancing accessibility for students with IEPs, ESL, and those with educational gaps. It’s a valuable tool for differentiating instruction to address various learning levels in a classroom. Additionally, AI can be leveraged to help students with brainstorming, overcoming writer’s block, or feeling “stuck” on an assignment. AI can also help administrators identify areas for professional development to enhance staff capabilities or improve communication with staff, parents, and guardians. – Crystal South-Law

AI has the potential to provide some very interesting opportunities in the classroom. Teachers will have access to tools to streamline time-consuming, non-student-facing tasks. This timesaving will allow teachers to spend more time with students. With efficiencies, the teacher can differentiate their instruction. AI can be used to give the public greater access to school data and information. Instead of searching a website or the board policies, parents and community members can ask a trained LLM for specific information. Leveraging AI to make dynamic language translation in information for publications, as well as in a trained AI. Using AI to gain deeper individualized student performance insight. These insights might identify a friction in the student’s learning journey that was undetected by parents, teachers, and staff. – William Brackett

When used with intention, AI does not just support education, it empowers it. The schools that get this right will not simply look like schools with better tools, they will look like schools where students, teachers, and leaders are more capable, confident, and connected to their own potential. They will be schools that are able to keep up with the fast world while at the same time keeping the main thing that main thing. At the teaching and learning level, that empowerment is concrete and visible. Imagine a student working through a challenging critical thinking prompt from their teacher, not Googling a quick answer, but talking it through with an AI that pushes back, asks follow-up questions, and helps them arrive at a more informed, genuine conclusion that is their own. This is called personalized differentiated learning. We have talked about it for decades, but have not had the resources to do it. Artificial intelligence can allow us to accomplish what has been largely theory and turn it into practice. – Joshua Stafford

Summary

From Pandora’s Box to critical tool, from opportunity to challenge, from the classroom to the boardroom, we will learn more over time about how artificial intelligence will reshape P–12 education and governance. When you see it in action, it can change your mind. Being mindful of the risks, school board members are encouraged to engage strategically, rather than to resist change. AI is both inevitable and accessible, and it holds value as a support, and not a replacement, for human educators.

Theresa Kelly Gegen is Editor of the Illinois School Board Journal. Assisted here by Microsoft Copilot.