KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) – Metro school districts are establishing rules for artificial intelligence use in the classroom as a new school year gets underway \u2014 and an AI-focused school company is now assessing whether Kansas City could support a future campus.<\/p>\n
Shawnee Mission, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas, public schools are each taking steps to guide how students and staff use AI tools \u2014 with a shared focus on preventing cheating and protecting student data.<\/p>\n
Shawnee Mission School District leaders said the goal is not to ban AI but to set rules that allow it to support learning without letting students use it to skip the work. The district\u2019s school board met Monday night to discuss how teachers and students should use the technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a hot topic. Not just in Shawnee Mission, but across education,\u201d Superintendent Mike Schumacher said.<\/p>\n
Schumacher said the district wants to give students options without sacrificing their education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to find some balance in what technology can do for our kids and for our classroom teachers, and what maybe needs to be reined in a little bit,\u201d Schumacher said. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to take our time and we\u2019re going to do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The district plans to form a public work group, giving families and staff a chance to weigh in before any policy is finalized.<\/p>\n
Olathe Public Schools<\/a> presented AI guidelines to its board in April, backing the use of district-approved tools. Director of Technology Advancement and Training Jen Kennedy told the board that teachers vet and monitor every approved tool to track how students use them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe plan for moving forward is on AI literacy and responsible use,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n The district blocks all other open-source AI platforms, citing risks to academic integrity and student data privacy.<\/p>\n Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools built a dedicated website<\/a> with AI guidelines for families.<\/p>\n