Roundtable: Leading in a Tech-Driven World

Whether it’s ensuring their school adheres to a districtwide cell phone policy or guiding students and staff in the appropriate use of AI tools like ChatGPT, the technology-related pieces of the principalship have only grown more complicated. To find out how principals are leading on these issues in their schools, Principal Leadership contacted William Jackson, EdD, the director of teaching and learning for Bellevue School District in Bellevue, WA, the former principal of Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, WA, and the 2024 Washington Principal of the Year; Kyle Nix, EdD, the principal of Christiana Middle School in Christiana, TN, and the 2024 Tennessee Principal of the Year; and Jon Wilcox, the principal of Petoskey Middle School in Petoskey, MI, and a 2024 National Principal of the Year finalist.

Principal Leadership: What are the biggest technology challenges your school or district is currently facing?

Nix: The biggest tech challenge we are having is being able to keep up with the ever-changing technology. We are a one-to-one district in middle and high school, and laptops don’t last forever. We’re currently trying to re-up our laptops and it’s expensive. We’re also a very quickly growing district, so being able to continue to buy that technology for the new students that are coming in is a challenge.

Wilcox: I agree with what Kyle said. It’s keeping up with the constant changes. This past summer, our tech crew did a bunch of work to upgrade all the networking in our district. They’ve done this a few times in my 10 years as principal. They need to make those pipes bigger so they can handle more data. The ever-increasing demand for data just keeps everything changing and that is a challenge. Then how do we navigate all the new technologies like AI?

I feel like we need to be teaching students how to use their technology appropriately. We’re asking them to do everything online with laptops, but then we’re taking away cell phones. —Kyle Nix

Jackson: One of the biggest challenges I was facing as a school leader was academic integrity with AI and just how to have standards. Really, do we want to support students using AI? What does that mean for a science class or an AP English Literature class? New technology always raises questions of equity. Developing any technology policy, whether it’s AI or cell phones, requires us to recognize equity issues. Any policy that comes forward can potentially have impacts on the most marginalized students.

Principal Leadership: How are you and your staff navigating student cell phone use during school?

Nix: In our district at the middle level, students are not allowed to have phones in the school building at all. They’re supposed to put it in their backpack when they get here. I take principal’s discretion with that, and I allow them to use it when they arrive at school before classes begin and during their lunch period. I feel like we need to be teaching students how to use their technology appropriately. We’re asking them to do everything online with laptops, but then we’re taking away cell phones. In my school, we have very few issues with cell phones. We discipline students if they’re using them in class; we do not take cell phones away. Just as William said, there are equity issues with access to cell phones. Our school enrolls a pretty big population of foster children. Sometimes they don’t know where they’re going to be each night, and they need to have contact with their foster parent, or they need to be in contact with their caseworker at the department of child services.

Wilcox: For years, our policy hasn’t changed at the middle school. We don’t allow cell phones during the school day. We don’t really have that many cell phone issues. The local high school just moved to ban them during class periods.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the need for the human element in schools. We must build relationships to meet the needs of students no matter what. —William Jackson

Jackson: Cell phone policies really must be made through an equity lens. How will this work for students of color, for students with disabilities, for students with multilingual needs who may need some translation services? When I was principal of Nathan Hale, we moved this to our building leadership team. Seattle Public Schools didn’t have a policy on it, and teachers wanted a ban. We talked with students about it, and we realized their sense of belonging and sense of identity were becoming diminished with their continual use of their phones in school. We banned phones during class periods, and students and families got behind the policy because of the mental health piece. In my current district, there’s not a policy on cell phones, but a lot of our schools have moved to restrict them.

Principal Leadership: Does your school or district have policies on student use of AI? What are they and how have they worked so far?

Nix: We don’t have any; we’re kind of trying to navigate it. Our district spent time this summer preparing teachers and administrators for different AI tools and giving us access to them.

Wilcox: In our student handbook, which we revised two years ago, it basically says that students can’t use AI to cheat. Now, we want to start utilizing it as a teaching tool. We do have a district policy around staff use of AI, which basically allows teachers to use AI in the classroom. In terms of practice, it’s been slow going with the district figuring out which apps are appropriate.

Jackson: Students were using it at Nathan Hale High School. That was one of the bigger challenges, such as the appropriate use of it. AI can be a very fruitful tool, but students still need those basic literacy skills to comprehend text and determine what is quality information.

Principal Leadership: Do you use AI in your own work? If so, how does it help you in your job?

Jackson: I like to write so I don’t use it to write anything for me. I want everything to be in my voice and to know what I’m putting out there, just because you know your words are going to be thrown back at you by somebody at some point.

Nix: We do encourage our teachers to use it when they’re planning units to see if they can find other ideas. We’ve focused on this in all the professional learning communities to see what’s worth using. One fun fact is that back in November, for Veterans Day, AI incorrectly said our school was closed. In our county, we don’t have off for Veterans Day. Our district officials had to send an email home, and they had to call parents to let them know that AI was wrong.

For years, our policy hasn’t changed at the middle school. We don’t allow cell phones during the school day. —Jon Wilcox

Wilcox: I have used it a couple times. Recently, I hired a new assistant principal, and we had to send out a communication that was rather important. As I was writing it, he came in and said, “This is the perfect time to utilize AI.” So, I did. The communication ended up including the same information that I wanted to send, and it worked out well. And I have used it in one school newsletter article. All the thoughts and ideas are mine. I agree with William and Kyle that it’s important for our communities to hear our voice and not a computer-generated voice.

Principal Leadership: What’s on the horizon in terms of AI use for your school or district? Do you envision it becoming more of a priority?

Wilcox: Yes, our state principals’ organization, the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, has put together an innovative leaders network, and its focus right now is AI. How do we use it? How do we incorporate it into education? Because it’s here. Our district devotes a professional development day to AI in March, and that will be helpful.

Nix: Our district is really pushing out a lot of professional development on AI for administrators and teachers. It’s introduced to administrators first, so we know how to introduce our teachers to it and how to walk them through it when they come back to us from the district professional development wanting to use these resources. I think our district is very forward-thinking in that we want our kids and educators to be using it appropriately because it’s not going away.

Jackson: In our district, we don’t have a professional development focus on AI for our teachers yet, but our administrators are starting to embark on that. Every year, technology is changing and every year that changes our job. But I will argue that one thing that hasn’t changed is the need for the human element in schools. We must build relationships to meet the needs of students no matter what.