Wow. What a week.
In recent issues of our newsletter, we've written a lot about the backlash, from Frederick County's ban to school board candidates pledging a three-year moratorium. Last week, the biggest technology company in American classrooms responded.
A few weeks ago, we talked about “all or nothing” becoming the default in K-12 environments. Last week, Google became the first major EdTech AI provider to throw down the gauntlet. And, boy, were people pissed.
On November 3, Google said it would turn off its AI tools for K-12 student accounts unless schools choose to turn them on. Within hours, the story became about something else: what happens to Google Search. A week later, districts are still sorting out what the change actually means. Here's what we know, what's still unclear, and what you can do about it now.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
What Google changed, what it didn't, and how districts can push for the rest
Florida's new opt-in rule, and why it's a useful checklist anywhere
4
Google tools (Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Search) that will be off for K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on. Source
0
Versions of Google Search that districts can offer students without AI-generated results. Source
10
Contractually enforceable protections in the AI Safety & Privacy Standard negotiated by the American Federation of Teachers and Microsoft, which took effect November 1. Source
30 days
How long AI tools in Florida classrooms must keep records of student interactions, so parents can review them. Source
about 1 in 3
Students in grades 3-5 in one California district said they use AI to help understand what they're learning, far more than the adults around them assumed. Source
Here's what Google announced. Starting early next year, Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until a school administrator turns them on. That reverses an August change that had switched AI on by default in Classroom. Districts that allow AI will get two versions of Search: one with AI Overviews and AI chats, and one built on Guided Learning, which is meant to walk students through a topic instead of handing over answers, with transcripts teachers can review.
Then came the catch. Google's vice president for education told the Times that "Search and A.I. are deeply integrated," and that schools banning AI would lose student access to Search. The reaction was immediate, and Google clarified the same day that schools could turn Search on without turning on Gemini. But that still isn't Search without AI. Albany's school district told the Times Union it had disabled Gemini and AI Mode but couldn't turn off the AI Overview summaries that appear with every search. Even ISTE+ASCD, which has received Google funding and praised the off-by-default change, told the Times that schools should be able to offer search without AI-generated results. And some basics are still unknown, including exactly when the change starts and whether schools can apply these settings by grade level.
OUR TWO CENTS
Let's start with credit where it's due. Off by default, with schools deciding when to turn AI on, is the right call, and so is a Guided Learning version of Search. Google also moved within a day when districts pushed back, which tells you something: districts have more leverage together than any one of them has alone.
But the option many districts have been asking for—plain Search for kids—isn't on the menu. If AI Overviews come with every search, then for the most-used tool in your district, it's still an on-or-off decision. That's worth pushing on, and the best place to push is the contract. On November 1, a standard negotiated by the AFT and Microsoft took effect for every Microsoft school contract, with 10 protections districts can enforce, including no training on student data and the right to cancel and seek damages. Prince George's County in Maryland went further with its own AI addendum, which gives the district the right to turn AI features on or off and requires advance notice when a vendor adds AI it can't turn off.
So, ask for those terms from every vendor, Google included, and, yes, ClassCloud too. A vendor that agrees to district control of AI features is one you can defend at a board meeting. A vendor that won't is telling you something.
Side note: I think it’s time we stop treating these vendors as well-meaning good actors and start treating them as something to protect students and staff from. Their increasing volatility and lack of alignment with K-12 districts' goals make it increasingly difficult to trust their actions.
Ask your Google rep two questions now: when the change takes effect for your district, and whether settings can differ by grade or school.
Decide your Search and Gemini settings by grade before early next year, so the default doesn't decide for you.
Add three terms to your AI contracts: no training on student data, district control over AI features, and advance notice before new AI features ship.
Google's change makes AI something schools opt into. Florida goes a step further and makes it something parents opt into. On September 16, the state's Board of Education adopted statewide AI rules for K-12 schools. Under the rule itself, schools must notify parents in plain language when an AI tool is approved: what it's called, which courses use it, and how students will interact with it. If students will use the tool directly, parents have to opt their child in, and students who aren't opted in must get a non-AI alternative that's "substantively comparable." The rule also requires a public list of approved AI tools, 30 days of interaction records that parents can access, extra review for tools used in pre-K through fifth grade, and design limits, such as no features built to form relationships with students.
Florida districts have until July 1, 2027, to comply. Orange County told its board in October that one open question is how to run a classroom where some students are opted in, and others aren't.
OUR TWO CENTS
Whether or not you're in Florida, this rule is one of the clearest checklists out there, and the hard part isn't the consent form. It's the alternative assignment. A non-AI version invented on the fly won't be comparable, and families will notice, so plan both versions when you plan the lesson. The second hard part is making the consent actually stick: a parent's choice has to show up in the tool's access settings for that student, not just in a spreadsheet in the front office. And borrow the interaction records: if a parent asks what their child did with an AI tool last Tuesday, you'll want an answer.
Read Florida's rule, even if you're not in Florida, and mark which parts your current process already covers.
For any student-facing AI activity, plan the non-AI alternative at the same time as the AI version.
Make sure a family's consent decision flows into the tool's access settings, not just a form on file.
National AI Safety & Privacy Standard from the AFT's National Academy for AI Instruction
This one's a contract, not an essay, and it's worth your time anyway. It's the full agreement behind the Microsoft standard, written so other AI providers can sign it too. Hand it to whoever negotiates your vendor contracts; even if you never use a word of it verbatim, it shows what a vendor can be asked to commit to in writing.
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Thanks for reading,
Russ Davis, Founder & CEO, ClassCloud ([email protected])
Tracy Walters, Director of Customer Growth ([email protected])
ClassCloud is an AI company, so naturally, we use AI to polish our content.
