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Pocantico Hills Central School District skipped top-down AI mandates and let students shape responsible use guidelines.

Many students across the U.S. use AI without proper guidance. More than three-quarters of students surveyed last fall hadn’t received guidance from teachers, a from the global policy think tank RAND Corporation suggests. A separate December 2025 survey found that 62% of students in middle and high school for homework, according to a separate RAND survey.

Alana Winnick, Pocantico Hills CSD’s technology director and data protection officer, is bridging this AI gap by encouraging student-teacher collaboration and inviting students to discuss the technology at school board meetings and professional development workshops.

Students often have a clearer vision of AI’s capabilities, and they’re eager to learn alongside their teachers and experiment with new edtech. That’s why young people must play a lead role in designing how AI is used in their learning, Winnick says.

“I say, ‘OK, you’re not getting the learning experience that you think you need. So, let’s do something about it together,’” Winnick says.

She is committed to creating a student-led culture that promotes “responsible use cases” for AI rather than emphasizing the technology’s negatives.

“I don’t personally believe in an AI policy,” Winnick says. “When we think of the word ‘policy’ in schools, that’s a legally bound and board-approved.

Experimentation starts as early as first grade, according to Winnick, who compares early AI introduction to learning to ride a bike.

“You’re not going to put a kid on a two-wheeler,” she says. “You have to start with a tricycle. You have to put training wheels on it.”

While tools like Gemini or Microsoft Copilot are suited for older students, the district’s younger students use SchoolAI, a more constrained, teacher-monitored space. These tools serve as a “forever patient” tutor that answers questions a single teacher can’t always address in a busy classroom.

The ‘AI is cheating’ debate

Winnick reaches her most resistant teachers with her optimism about AI by embedding training into other district priorities.

“A teacher can’t come up with 180 home room activities,” she says. “AI can help.”

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Her philosophy also forces educators to rethink the quality of their assignments. She uses a framework of “the what, the why and the how” to evaluate curriculum.

For example, if a teacher’s assignment is simple enough for AI to complete, “it’s probably not such a great assignment anymore,” she says.

The district’s students have debated whether they can use AI to check homework. While some students label it cheating, others argue it provides valuable feedback, which they’re already getting from their parents.

“’My mom checks my homework, so what’s the difference if the AI checks it versus my mom?’” Winnick says, referring to her students’ response.

Winnick encourages leaders who feel behind on AI to not recreate the wheel. Look to districts pioneering AI adoption, and involve students in the process.

Read more of District 91��Ƭistration’s AI coverage.

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