A Fractional Chief AI Officer who helps school districts adopt AI across teaching, operations, and student services while protecting student data under FERPA, COPPA, and state privacy laws.
The Challenge
AI in K-12 isn't optional anymore. Students are using it. Teachers are using it. And districts are trying to set policy without clear guidance, legal expertise, or dedicated staff to figure it out. The stakes are high: student data is protected under both FERPA and COPPA, children are a vulnerable population, and the technology is moving faster than policy can keep up.
K-12 districts have to comply with both FERPA (student education records) and COPPA (children's online privacy). AI tools used in classrooms or for administrative purposes must be evaluated against both. Most vendors don't make this easy.
Without district-level AI policy, individual teachers and principals are making their own calls. One school allows AI writing tools. The next bans them entirely. Parents get conflicting messages and the district has no consistent position to defend.
Most K-12 districts don't have a Chief AI Officer, a dedicated compliance team, or budget for expensive consultants. They need practical, right-sized guidance they can actually implement with the staff and resources they have.
Where AI Fits
The right AI applications for K-12 depend on your district's resources, risk tolerance, and where your biggest operational pain points are. Here's where we typically see the most value.
AI tools that help teachers create lesson plans, differentiate instruction, generate assessment materials, or reduce administrative paperwork. High value, relatively low risk, and a natural starting point for building staff AI confidence and comfort.
AI tools that help districts draft newsletters, translate communications for non-English-speaking families, or manage routine parent inquiries. Low compliance risk and meaningful time savings for front office and communications staff.
Teaching students about AI, how it works, its limitations, and how to use it responsibly, is becoming a core digital literacy skill. We help districts think through how to incorporate AI literacy into existing curriculum rather than treating it as a separate add-on.
AI-assisted tools that help educators identify students who are struggling, track progress toward learning goals, or personalize instruction. These require FERPA-compliant data handling and clear human oversight in how interventions are designed.
One of the highest-value things a district can build is a systematic process for evaluating new AI tools before teachers start using them in classrooms. We help districts design vendor vetting criteria that cover COPPA, FERPA, data practices, and safety.
Scheduling, substitute management, compliance reporting, and budget documentation are all candidates for AI assistance at the district level. These applications keep student data out of the picture while delivering real operational value.
Governance Framework
K-12 governance has to be practical and scalable. We build frameworks that districts can actually implement with existing staff and limited budgets, not frameworks designed for Fortune 500 companies.
We develop clear, enforceable district-level AI policies that cover student data, acceptable use for teachers and staff, academic integrity, and vendor requirements. Written in plain language that teachers and parents can actually understand.
We build AI literacy training for educators that focuses on practical guidance: what tools they can use, how to use them safely, how to teach students about AI, and how to spot when AI is producing unreliable outputs.
We help districts build a systematic process for inventorying AI tools currently in use and establishing a review process for new tools. This is often where the most immediate compliance risk is discovered.
We evaluate AI tools and systems in use against both FERPA and COPPA requirements, identify gaps, and help districts establish vendor review processes that protect student data before tools get into classrooms.
Parents have real concerns about AI and student data. We help districts communicate clearly about what AI tools are in use, how student data is protected, and what the district's position on AI actually is, before parents have to ask.
Governance recommendations that work for a 500-student rural district look different from those for a 50,000-student urban district. We scale our recommendations to your size, staff capacity, and budget constraints.
Our Approach
We move at a pace that works for districts: thorough enough to be meaningful, practical enough to actually implement with the staff and time you have available.
We map the AI tools in use across your district, identify compliance gaps, and understand your community's needs and concerns.
We develop the policies, guidelines, and governance structures your district needs to manage AI responsibly across schools.
We help your district implement the policies and build staff capacity to sustain AI governance without ongoing outside help.
FAQ
Honest answers to the questions school districts ask us before getting started.
Yes, absolutely. COPPA applies to online services that collect personal information from children under 13. Many AI tools commonly used in classrooms collect data that falls under COPPA's scope. Districts need to verify that any AI tool used with students under 13 has appropriate parental consent mechanisms or operator agreements, and that data isn't being used for purposes outside what COPPA allows. We help districts build a vetting checklist that covers this systematically.
Neither extreme works. Banning AI entirely is unenforceable and leaves students unprepared for a world where AI is everywhere. Embracing AI without structure creates liability and inconsistency. The right answer is a clear, practical policy that defines what tools can be used, by whom, with what data, and under what conditions. Teachers need guidance, not a prohibition they'll work around.
This is the starting point for almost every district we work with. Shadow AI in classrooms is extremely common. Teachers find tools that help them and start using them. The solution isn't punishment. It's building an inventory process to discover what's in use, assessing those tools against your compliance requirements, and establishing a clear vetting process going forward so teachers have a path to get new tools reviewed rather than just using them unilaterally. Consistent adoption requires training, visible leadership use, and a culture that makes it safe to ask questions and learn. We build training programs designed for real estate workflows, not generic AI introductions.
Detection tools alone aren't the answer. AI detection software is unreliable, produces false positives, and disproportionately flags non-native English speakers. A better approach is a clear policy that defines what AI use is acceptable for which assignments, redesigning assessments where necessary, and teaching students explicitly about when and how AI can be used responsibly. We help districts develop frameworks that are enforceable and pedagogically sound.
Start with an assessment of what's already happening, then build a policy that addresses the actual situation. Boards often want to act quickly on AI, which is understandable. But policies written without a clear picture of current AI use in the district often miss the most important issues. We typically recommend a short discovery phase first, then policy development, so the policy addresses reality rather than just general principles.
Yes, and smaller districts often have an advantage: they can move faster. You don't need a full IT department to build AI governance. You need clear policies, staff training, and a vendor vetting process. These are achievable for districts of any size. We scale our work to your capacity and focus on governance structures that don't require dedicated staff to maintain once they're in place.
Get Started
Whether you need a comprehensive policy framework or just a clearer picture of where your district stands today, we can help.