Katy ISD is banning elementary students from using generative AI chat tools as parents and educators debate whether the technology belongs in classrooms at all.
School districts nationwide are trying to balance the need to prepare students for artificial intelligence with concerns about academic integrity, excessive screen time and whether the technology could interfere with the critical thinking that teachers want students to develop.
The new rules, which take effect at the start of the 2026-27 school year, give students more access to AI as they get older.
Students won’t be allowed to use generative AI from kindergarten through sixth grade. Seventh graders can use it only when a teacher directs them to. In eighth grade, students can use approved AI tools with a teacher’s permission.
High school students also will face restrictions on AI use.
The restrictions apply specifically to generative AI tools that students can interact with directly, such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. Elementary teachers will still be able to use district-approved instructional programs that incorporate artificial intelligence behind the scenes to personalize reading instruction and other lessons under teacher supervision.
Students must disclose and cite their use of AI, verify the information it produces and use only tools vetted by the district, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Sanée Bell told trustees.
“AI can support the learning process, but it cannot replace the thinking, the struggle or the growth that learning requires,” Bell said. “That, in those moments, is when learning happens.”
See here and here for a look at how other schools, districts, and states are approaching this issue. I don’t think there’s one right answer but I do think that a more skeptical approach that keeps AI away from younger kids is the better direction. I certainly like this policy better than whatever it is that Mike Miles is doing at HISD, that’s for sure. Some parents wanted Katy ISD to go further than they did, but at least they got to be heard and have their perspective considered. They might even be able to persuade their Trustees to revisit the policy down the line. What a concept.