Rye High School students are drawing their own lines on artificial intelligence use in the classroom, filling a gap left by the Rye City School District's lack of a formal AI policy.
Rising seniors Luke Davies and Patrick Doyle described sharply different personal boundaries in a Rye Record opinion piece published Monday, Sept. 21, by student Gavin McKiernan. Davies said he uses AI to clarify concepts but considers having it write an essay to be cheating. Doyle said he turns to AI when he struggles to brainstorm, then writes the essay himself.
McKiernan observed that most students he interviewed have built their own informal rulebooks for acceptable AI help, but nobody compares those rules with anyone else's.
One teacher's pivot
AP Macroeconomics teacher Peter Thomas told the Rye Record he has overhauled his approach. Rather than policing whether a student used AI, Thomas designs lessons that force students to defend their reasoning out loud.
"I never look at a student's work specifically questioning if it was AI-generated," Thomas said. "I prefer to have conversations with them about the topic. A simple discussion about their work usually reveals whether they truly understand it."
District still developing its stance
The Rye City School District has no specific policy banning AI, as the Rye Record reported Sept. 16. Superintendent Tricia Murray said at the time that the district is ensuring AI use is "age-appropriate, purposeful, and aligned with sound instructional practices."
The district did take one concrete step over the summer. At the June 16 Board of Education meeting, Director of Technology Kaitlyn Sassone and Assistant Superintendent Lauren Santabarbara presented results of an internet usage audit conducted on student devices. The board also unanimously approved an updated employee technology-use policy.
Neither action established student-facing AI guidelines.
NYC's ban adds pressure
New York City announced a one-year moratorium on generative AI for public school students through eighth grade on Sept. 2, affecting roughly 600,000 students, as CNN reported.
NYC high schoolers will receive restricted access and twice-yearly "critical thinking" modules on AI.
Rye's 887-student high school operates under no comparable restriction. No upcoming board meeting or public comment period on AI policy has been announced.
