When asked to describe how they view the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom, educators across the Mountain View Los Altos High School District came to the same conclusion: AI is a tool.
“Whether it’s cellphones or web-enabled devices before the (Apple) iPhone came out, we have to react to new realities that technology is bringing to us,” MVLA Superintendent Eric Volta said. “(AI) is another tool that we have that we’re going to have to educate students on acceptable uses.”
A state bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2024 required public schools to establish a working group by January of this year that develops guidance policies on safe use of artificial intelligence in education. The group must report its findings on or before Jan. 1, 2027 to appropriate policy and fiscal legislative committees.
According to its website, the MVLA district is “committed to supporting schools in integrating AI into teaching and learning.” In addition to involving various stakeholders in its policy planning, the district has adopted an evolving AI guidebook for teachers and students.
“MVLA’s stance is neither ‘ban AI’ nor ‘AI for everything.’ AI is a learning and productivity tool that must be used intentionally. Students must continue to demonstrate their own understanding, and employees retain responsibility for their work and decisions,” MVLA’s AI guidebook reads.
Alongside establishing teacher guidelines, expectations for assignment-level instructions and districtwide policies, MVLA’s AI guidebook lists certain “non-negotiables,” including but not limited to the idea that human thinking and judgment must remain central to assignments.
In its guidance for staff, the district recommends that staff use only those AI tools vetted by MVLA and approved in a list by EdTech, a research organization that studies technology in education. According to the district’s website, these tools comply with privacy, security and confidentiality standards but do not necessarily meet an academic threshold.
“The hope is as we get more comfortable with the definitions of AI and how to apply our teaching strategies at these different levels, then students will use AI in a constructive way, in preparation for (college) and the workforce,” Volta said.
Although all staff have access to Gemini, NotebookLM and BriskTeaching tools, staff is not allowed to feed AI bots confidential or personal information such as names, birth dates, addresses or other identification details.
Unless teachers permit students to consult the tools for specific tasks, the district generally prohibits students from using generative AI for assignments or assessments. Submission of AI-generated work, nondisclosure of AI use or failure to comply with assignment-specific instructions may result in academic integrity violations, the guidebook states.
“We’ve got over 100 teachers who have already asked for posters (of the guidebook’s policies), so they can point to it in the classroom,” Volta said.
Kristen Krauss Drolshagen, an English teacher at Mountain View High School, said she permits students to use AI for specific assignments but uses lockdown browser mechanisms and in-class writing assignments to detect and limit the technology’s use.
“Sometimes something that shows up as an unknown like AI and then becomes a problem like plagiarism turns into an opportunity to improve how we teach and learn,” Drolshagen said. “With bringing writing into the classroom, I think it’s really been miraculous in a lot of ways.”
Drolshagen said she uses AI for amplifying her own content and tasks, such as creating essay prompts or auditing test question bias. She added that when she does use AI, she is transparent with her students.
“Students feel that there’s a little bit of hypocrisy going on when their teachers are telling them not to use AI at all, and they look at teachers’ materials and see quite clearly that the teachers’ materials, from the layout to the content to the slides, have been AI-assisted in their generation,” Drolshagen said.
Abbie Garcia, a Mountain View High senior, said most of her teachers prohibit generative AI in the classroom. Yet, acknowledging the limitations of AI-detection mechanisms, Garcia said that she believes teachers should implement stronger regulatory measures, such as in-person writing assignments.
“There are already teachers who use AI checkers, but those tools aren’t really good enough because most people will change (the content) a little bit so (teachers) can’t see that,” Garcia said.
While she contended that it has been difficult to determine how AI has changed student thinking over time, Drolshagen said she has noticed motivation differences between students.
“With both the pandemic and then with AI, the students’ level of willingness or effort to persist through difficulty, is overall not what it used to be, and I think AI serves the atrophy of that effort muscle if students don’t understand how to use (the technology),” Drolshagen said.
Although she believes AI can help improve “already proficient” writing, Drolshagen said that AI should not be used to generate writing full-stop.
“Writing is inherently difficult. So, sure, we can use AI to help with parts of the writing skills, but the belief that everything should be easy, and that AI makes things easier, is external to what the student can do,” Drolshagen said. “The difficulty of writing is part of the writing process, so if you get rid of the friction in writing, you’re never going to learn to get past it on your own.”
Leo Florendo, the program coordinator and digital media teacher at MVLA’s Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts and Technology, said that students often self-censor against AI use and that the academy does not have a blanket AI policy.
“AI is just another tool, and we as a staff have to figure out how best to utilize that tool. So we don’t ban it; we figure out how to make it work for us,” Florendo said. “We’re in an area where people know about it. They exploit it. They probably use it a lot outside of school. But they also know that school is against using AI, so they’re kind of treading that line.”
Florendo said that he is unsure of where the future of Freestyle education is headed with AI, given how rapidly the technology is evolving.
“It really is about what the community values in the process of being creative. Do they just want the end product, or do they want students to learn how to make this stuff?” Florendo asked. “If the community believes in the end product, then Freestyle will die, but if the community believes the process is more important, then I think Freestyle will stick around.”
Garcia said she feels conflicted about AI. On one hand, she said AI could pose benefits for the elderly or for people with disabilities. However, Garcia also said that AI poses a larger threat to people’s critical thinking skills with misinformation.
“Children now are being exposed to (AI) at a very young age and not understanding it or thinking on their own when that’s a very important skill,” Garcia said. “There are people who do not even realize how much AI is out there. It’s disturbing how people can’t even recognize what is AI and what is not real.”
According to Garcia, many of her peers use AI for study assistance or help with school assignments. In some extreme cases, she said her classmates use the technology to complete all of their assignments.
“Struggling through some schoolwork on your own without trying to get an explanation from AI is an important skill to have,” Garcia said. “At the same time, it does sometimes feel like … if you don’t use it, you’re going to be left behind, or you’re not going to be able to keep up. It’s difficult to have that self control to not use it.”
