By Anthony Smith, The Seattle Medium
Concerns over the use of artificial intelligence in schools took center stage last Wednesday in Olympia, as lawmakers held a public hearing on Senate Bill 5956. The bill, sponsored by Sen. T’wina Nobles (D), would prevent schools from using automated decision systems as the sole or deciding factor in student discipline cases.
While AI tools have the potential to streamline school operations, critics warn they can also reinforce bias and cause harm, particularly to students from marginalized communities.
“These tools need to have guard rails,” Nobles said. “Decisions that affect our students’ future must be made by people and not algorithms.”
The bill would also prevent AI from using predictive “risk scores” or classifications to measure a student’s likelihood of misconduct, gang affiliation, criminal behavior, targeted violence or future disciplinary problems.
In addition, it would direct the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to update its guidance and require the Washington State School Directors’ Association to develop a model policy for school districts, charter schools and state-tribal education settings in line with these protections.
Derick Harris, Executive Director of the Black Education Strategy Roundtable (BESR), played a key role in drafting the bill and said his push for legislation was driven by disturbing incidents involving AI surveillance in schools. One such case occurred in October 2025, when an AI system at a Maryland high school mistakenly identified a Black student’s bag of chips as a firearm. The teenager was handcuffed and forced to the ground while police searched him for a weapon that didn’t exist.
“Discipline rates are disproportionately impacting those who are most vulnerable,” Harris said. “These tools have the ability to magnify the inequity that is already present. False alarms have triggered unnecessary harms to our teenagers.”
In March 2025, a data breach in Vancouver Public Schools’ AI surveillance system exposed sensitive student information, including sexual orientation and gender identity, without consent, raising serious privacy concerns.
Advocates say incidents like these underscore the broader risks AI systems can pose to students of color, LGBTQ+ youth and other vulnerable groups. Harris hopes SB 5956 will ensure that while AI can play a role in supporting school safety, it will not replace human judgment or infringe on students’ rights.
He added that the bill does not prevent schools from addressing safety concerns. It simply limits when surveillance data can be shared with law enforcement.
“It’s about ensuring appropriate use, not eliminating tools altogether,” said Harris.
Following the hearing, Sen. Nobles and fellow sponsors await a decision on whether the bill will advance to an executive session this week, where lawmakers could vote on its passage.
“I am feeling optimistic,” Nobles said. “But we’ll have to wait and see.”
