A homework video will not open. A student wants to use a chatbot to get started on an essay. A school laptop comes home, but the family is unsure which rules follow it through the front door.
These are reasonable questions, and the answers depend on the district, the school and sometimes the assignment. Published rules across seven local public school districts offer a useful starting point: check the teacher's instructions, use the approved account and keep school devices set up as the district intended.
Checked Nov. 12, 2026. This guide covers Marysville, Arlington, Lakewood, Stanwood-Camano, Lake Stevens, Granite Falls and Darrington. School-specific rules below are identified by school. Families at private or Tribal-operated schools should check their own school's guidance.
Can my child use AI for homework?
Start with permission for the particular assignment. A tool appearing on a district's approved list and a teacher allowing its use are separate decisions. Marysville, Stanwood-Camano, Lake Stevens and Darrington publish AI expectations tied to teacher direction, as do Lakewood High and Middle schools.
Ask what assistance is allowed: brainstorming, an explanation of a math step, feedback on a draft, rewriting sentences or generating the final response. Those are different uses. If instructions are unclear, ask before using AI for the assignment.
The state education department's human-centered AI guidance recommends that teachers explain when and how AI may be used, that students check its output and that permitted assistance be acknowledged. This is guidance for local decisions, not blanket permission to use any chatbot for any assignment.
What about YouTube?
Ask about the specific video, student's grade and school account. A teacher being able to play a video does not establish that a student's login can open it. Google's school-account controls allow different restrictions for different user groups and allow schools to designate video approvers. Depending on the setup, a video shared through Classroom can be available even when direct YouTube access is switched off for students.
Those are options schools can configure. They do not tell us which settings a local district currently uses. The public documents reviewed did not establish current YouTube permissions by grade and account across all seven districts. An approved-app listing, a district YouTube channel or a general filtering policy cannot answer that question on its own.
If an assigned video will not play, send the teacher its exact link, the error message and the device being used. Check that the student is using the account the teacher specified. Ask for approved access or an alternative way to complete the lesson. Stanwood-Camano publishes a blocked-site review route through the building principal and Technology Director. Approval is a local decision; a request does not guarantee access. Keep district filtering settings intact rather than trying to work around them.
What the local documents say
Marysville
The 2026-27 Chromebook agreement says K-6 classroom devices remain at school, with an exception for 10th Street Middle School, which includes sixth grade. Grades 7-12 use devices at school and home. The agreement calls for grades 7-12 and all 10th Street students to bring a fully charged device each day.
Marysville's electronic-resources procedure, revised Oct. 1, 2026, addresses AI directly on pages 5-7. Students need classroom-teacher approval or guidance for school-related AI work. If assignment instructions are silent, ask before using it. The procedure limits AI use to brainstorming, creative simulations and preliminary research. Students should check generated claims against independent sources and credit the assistance.
Use a district email address with district-approved AI tools. The procedure prohibits unapproved tools on a district device or with district email, and bars entering personally identifying information or student records into AI tools. It also provides an option to decline AI for ethical, religious or other appropriate reasons, to be discussed with teaching staff. Some elective curricula require AI and a separate parent or guardian approval form.
The Chromebook agreement calls for school-related use, classroom rules, filtering and no bypassing restrictions. The AI procedure does not name approved products or establish YouTube access by grade. For a particular tool, ask the teacher. For device problems, start with the teacher or building support. The district's family technology page directs families to their school for Chromebook and hotspot distribution information.
Arlington
Arlington's active Electronic Resources and Internet Safety procedure, 2022P, last revised in October 2023, gives school staff authority over when and how personal devices may be used for learning. Connecting a personal device to the district network requires authorization, and students who are unsure whether an activity is permitted are directed to ask a teacher or administrator.
The procedure also describes filtering and monitoring and prohibits bypassing the filter. Those provisions do not establish current permission for a particular AI service or YouTube video. Ask the classroom teacher which tools and accounts to use. For device help, the Chromebook support page directs students to the help-desk link in their Chrome bookmarks. The technology department lists 360-618-6201 for student and parent Chromebook help by phone message.
Lakewood
Lakewood High School's handbook, updated Aug. 28, 2026, treats AI use that a teacher has not approved as an academic-integrity issue. Lakewood Middle School's handbook, updated Sept. 3, also addresses generative AI, including ChatGPT, used without teacher permission. Those rules apply at the high and middle schools; families should ask elementary teachers about their classroom expectations.
The district handbook describes Internet filtering and annual acceptable-use paperwork. Its personal-device rules are separate: high-school students may use personal devices during lunch and passing periods, while younger students keep personal devices stored from arrival to dismissal. Lakewood Middle's handbook specifically requires them to be off. The handbook preserves access specified in an IEP, Section 504 plan or individual health plan. Start with the school office or teacher for access and device questions.
Stanwood-Camano
The district's technology procedure leaves the permitted level of AI use to the teacher for each assignment or project. It prohibits presenting AI-completed work as the student's own and entering confidential student or staff information. District approval makes a tool eligible for use; a teacher can still restrict it.
The current approved-applications page lists Gemini in its student-approved generative-AI column. That listing does not establish access for every age or permission for every assignment. For a blocked site, contact the building principal, who can request Technology Director review. The technology page also lists school-library Chromebook checkout and a family help line, 360-403-3966, available 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays.
Lake Stevens
Lake Stevens' student responsible-use agreement, adopted Aug. 12, 2026, tells students to follow their teacher's assignment-specific AI directions, acknowledge authorized AI assistance and keep identifying information out of generative-AI tools. Passing AI output off as original work without appropriate permission or attribution violates its academic-integrity expectations.
The district's Chromebook program page says filtering continues away from school. A district laptop coming home therefore does not become an unrestricted personal computer. For a blocked lesson or device problem, start with the teacher or school office. The help-desk protocol says students' calls are not accepted. Staff have a district-login ticket system and other support options on the IT page; ask the school to route the problem.
Granite Falls
Granite Falls' digital-citizenship and media-literacy policy, adopted June 24, 2026, calls for students to learn appropriate and ethical uses of AI as part of instruction throughout the school year. That is an AI-literacy commitment. It does not name approved chatbots or give permission to use one on any assignment.
The district's student and staff access procedure requires a signed network-use agreement and describes filtering and monitoring. It does not identify current YouTube settings. Ask the teacher which tools and accounts are allowed for the lesson and the school office for access help. The technology department supports classroom devices.
Granite Falls High School's 2026-27 guide separately expects students to submit their own work and limits personal-phone use during class, with stated exceptions. Those high-school rules should not be applied automatically to younger grades.
Darrington
Darrington's Student Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct, adopted May 27, 2025, describes three assignment levels: AI recommended, permitted or restricted. When a teacher has not specified permission, it tells students to ask first. It also calls for attribution, source checking and protection of identifying information. The published framework does not mean every class uses AI.
The 2026-27 high-school handbook separately addresses instructional Chromebooks and personal phones. It says Chromebooks are issued after the Technology Form is returned. Phones and watches are silenced and stored during instruction, unless the teacher directs educational use. Ask the teacher about an AI assignment or blocked resource. For device questions, the district directory lists Assistant Technologist Heather McMann at hmcmann@dsd.k12.wa.us and 360-436-1323. Ask the school for the current blocked-resource review instructions.
A few questions that can save a difficult homework evening
- Which account and tool should we use? Ask for the approved school login rather than creating a new personal account for an assignment.
- How much AI help is allowed? Ask about the exact task and how any permitted assistance should be acknowledged. Naming the tool does not substitute for permission.
- What should stay private? Keep passwords, student records and identifying or confidential information out of AI prompts. District approval of a tool does not override a district's privacy rules.
- What if the resource will not open? Send the link and error to the teacher and ask for an approved solution. Keep school security and filtering settings intact.
- What if we lack a working device or reliable Internet? Tell the school what is missing and ask about loan equipment, available connectivity help or another way to complete the work.
- What if a device is part of a learning or health accommodation? Ask the student's school team how the general rule works with the student's existing plan.
Keep the assignment instructions and earlier drafts of the work. They can make a conversation about permitted help much easier, especially when a writing or search tool has AI features built in. A short question to the teacher before using an unfamiliar feature can prevent a much longer conversation after the work is submitted.
