New York City will prohibit students from using generative artificial intelligence in public schools from 2-K through eighth grade during the 2026-27 school year, combining the one-year moratorium with new screen-time guidance and a separate AI literacy program for high school students.
The policy announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and city education officials will cover nearly 600,000 students, representing about two-thirds of the public school system’s enrollment. Student-facing generative AI products, including companion chatbots, will be barred in the affected grades while the city evaluates their effects on learning and child development.
A coalition of educators, parents, subject-matter experts and elected officials will examine the technology during the moratorium and recommend how the school system should approach it in the future. The temporary restriction gives the city time to assess issues such as educational value, student safety, bias and the risk that automated tools could displace independent thinking or classroom interaction.
“We will embrace new technology, but only when it serves our students,” Mamdani said.
The rules take a different approach for older students. A limited number of high school classrooms may participate in closely supervised AI pilot programs. All high school students will also receive lessons twice a year covering AI literacy, ethics, bias and critical thinking. That distinction reflects an effort to prepare teenagers to evaluate and use the technology while withholding direct access from younger children as the city reviews the risks.
Teachers are not subject to the student moratorium. They may continue using AI for tasks such as lesson preparation and administrative work, provided the tools comply with the city’s safety requirements. That carveout preserves some professional uses of the technology without giving younger students direct access to generative systems in class.
The initiative extends beyond AI. For students in the earliest grades, the city will restrict one-to-one device use. Its guidance recommends a maximum of 30 minutes of daily screen time for grades three through five and 45 minutes for grades six through eight. The limits are intended to keep digital products from crowding out direct instruction, collaborative work and other forms of in-person learning.
The administration has framed the policy around preserving human interaction and ensuring that children build social and problem-solving abilities with teachers and classmates. It also rejects the premise that AI products must inevitably become part of early education before their benefits and risks have been adequately evaluated.
City officials developed the rules amid pressure from parents, educators and lawmakers seeking clearer limits on AI in classrooms. Parent advocates had called for a pause, while more than half of the City Council signed a letter urging City Hall and the education department to stop the expansion of school AI use. United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew also argued that products should be vetted before schools adopt them.
Principals had been told in July to suspend software purchases while the administration completed the policy. Guidance issued earlier in March did not establish restrictions based on grade level or set limits for digital-device use, leaving school leaders waiting for more specific direction.
The measures follow New York City’s bell-to-bell cellphone ban, which began at the opening of the previous school year. Both policies respond to concerns that pervasive technology can distract students and weaken engagement. Under the latest plan, the city’s review and the monitored high school pilots will help determine what rules should replace the younger-grade moratorium after its one-year term.
Sources: AI safety policy