Chief Information Officer John Alawneh said AI assistance will enhance efficiency and administrative support without cutting jobs, helping “outnumbered” staff while maintaining in-person services and improving completion rates.
"This is not about replacing people—it is about empowering them," he said at the Sept. 15 board meeting. “By taking on repetitive time-consuming tasks, this will allow our staff to focus on what matters most, our students and parents.”
The gist
Alawneh said the district has already begun using AI to streamline tasks like invoice processing, book reviews for policy compliance and technical support for district-owned Chromebooks. He said staff also have access to platforms such as Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, ChatGPT and in-house AI tools.
He said that around-the-clock and bilingual AI models being rolled out include:
- An enrollment assistant to guide families through registration
- An AI help desk assistant to respond to tech issues and to eventually expand to cover operations and maintenance
- An AI receptionist to answer phones and route calls
- Chatbot assistants on the KISD website and school campus portals to handle parent questions and escalate issues to staff
- AI building access assistants deployed at school entrances to greet visitors, confirm appointments and manage badge access
- An AI callout assistant to send targeted outbound calls for things such as enrollment updates, program compliance and reminders
Alawneh outlined a phased 12- to 18-month rollout for the district’s new AI systems, beginning with a pilot at the Educational Support Center to test key features such as voice assistants, chatbots and building access tools.
The second phase will expand the pilot to three schools—likely an elementary, junior high and high school—followed by a controlled expansion to 40 campuses.
He said the final phase will see full deployment across all schools, including the virtual campus, Legacy Virtual High School, set to open in fall 2026.
What they’re saying
In response to concerns that the implementation would diminish relationships between parents and staff, Alawneh said AI tools would achieve a necessary "balance" by handling repetitive tasks to free up human employees to focus on complex issues and provide in-person support.
Alawneh said the platforms are designed with guardrails and only handle predefined interactions, escalating to a human when situations go beyond their programmed scope.
However, trustee Mary Ellen Cuzela said she was "uncomfortable" with the reliability of AI for safety and building access, given mistakes that could be made by AI bots.
Alawneh said the implementation will not eliminate necessary human oversight, and in the case of building access, the system verifies visitor information, confirms appointments and guides them through badging before notifying reception, while keeping the interaction outside the main reception area.
Moving forward
With a careful, measured approach, Alawneh said the district is not just adopting technology, but reshaping the way schools operate for the future.
"We think [AI] is the next chapter in how schools operate,” he said. "KISD has the opportunity to set the national state standard for how schools can responsibly and effectively use AI to streamline operation while increasing productivity and lowering costs.”
