The school board voted 5-1 to approve the policy with President Lisa Chu absent at its meeting Thursday, March 26. Trustee Cindy Watter cast the dissenting vote.
“I’m worried this is going to encourage students to cut corners,” Watter, a former teacher, said. “We have to do something to make children realize that anything they can come up with is probably going to be more interesting for me to read than something that was scraped off something that somebody else wrote.”
Trustee John Henry Martin, a teacher at a Vallejo school, commended the district for “getting ahead of the curve” by putting a policy in place.
“This is simply the beginning of a framework of how we’re going to use this technology in the classroom,” he said. “It’s important to not be afraid of this technology because we can leverage it to be so much more productive when we do it conscientiously.”
The board-approved policy recognizes the “transformative potential” of artificial intelligence to “increase student access to information, support teacher effectiveness and facilitate the administration of student assessments.” At the same time, it also acknowledges AI’s potential to “undermine student achievement, health and well-being.”
Therefore, the policy lays out 10 principles that will guide AI use in schools. These include ethical and transparent use, equitable access for all, and a focus on academic honesty. In addition, the policy emphasizes that AI is to be used as a tool to support staff in performing their duties rather than replacing workers, carefully considering potential biases, and prioritizing security and privacy.
Apart from an additional emphasis on academic honesty for students, the district’s new policy mirrors what has been recommended by the California School Board Association, a nonprofit that represents school boards across the state.
10 principles for AI use in Napa schools
1. Teaching and learning: AI should be used to personalize and enhance the learning experience for each student and to support digital citizenship and literacy.
2. Staff usage: AI should be used as a tool to augment and support, rather than replace, staff in the performance of their duties and responsibilities.
3. Ethical use and transparency: AI should be used ethically and transparently by all staff and students, with careful consideration of potential biases, and in compliance with all applicable intellectual property and copyright laws.
4. Accountability and responsibility: AI should be used in a manner that ensures accountability by those who use it and that those who use it are responsible for such use, including when and how it is used.
5. Academic honesty: The district should allow artificial intelligence tools to be used only in ways that support learning — such as research, skill development, or teacher-approved assistance — and prohibit any use that replaces a student’s original thinking or results in cheating, plagiarism or other acts of academic dishonesty.
6. Equity and access: AI should be implemented in a manner that ensures equitable access and opportunity for all students, regardless of background or ability, and for all schools across the district.
7. Secure and private: The district should prioritize security and privacy when changing existing practices or adopting new practices regarding AI.
8. Professional development: The district should provide ongoing professional development for staff, with a particular focus on the ethical and responsible use of AI.
9. Community engagement: The district should engage with the community to share these principles, to educate the community on AI, and to discuss the permitted and prohibited uses of AI in the district.
10. Continuous improvement: The district should regularly evaluate the use of AI by students and staff, and adapt its policies, procedures and professional development to align with best practices and evolving technologies. The district reserves the right to remove access to previously approved AI platforms.
(Source: Napa Valley Unified School District’s Board Policy Manual)
In a bid to develop a set of guidelines for responsible use of technology, the district convened an AI council of 30 stakeholders including parents, teachers, students and staff in May 2025. The council met five times to review CSBA’s policy and make a recommendation to the board.
In addition, the council developed guidelines for AI use for all stakeholders. These will be shared in the 2026-2027 school year. Amid rapid technological developments, the district plans to update them regularly.
© 2026 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
