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A June 15 policy committee meeting of the Portland School Board saw early consensus that the board must tackle a policy on artificial intelligence and screen use in the classroom.
The discussion comes as parents and educators nationwide have reckoned with how to reel in screen time and use in the classroom; most recently, the Los Angeles Unified School District became one of the nation’s largest to limit screen time.
In Portland, a chapter of Schools Beyond Screens, a national coalition to restrict smartphone use, has started showing up at board meetings. Public commenters who spoke in front of the board noted online AI tools had disincentivized their students from learning, and several urged PPS to get ahead of tools that could harm kids. Others said their students were disproportionately on screens in class.
Elise Huang, an elementary school student, described her frustration using PPS-sanctioned online platforms to learn.
“Me learning more from an actual person boosted my knowledge,” she said of her struggles in math. “I need a real person in my face telling me how to do something.”
What a policy might look like at this point is unclear, and board members briefly debated whether to prioritize speed or quality in developing guidelines. “The board is 100% committed to doing something,” vice chair Michelle DePass said, “and I think that it’s important to do it right.”
