Parents and clinicians press Fairfax school board for limits on screen time and safeguards for AI in classrooms

Fairfax County parents, students, clinicians and teachers used the board’s public-comment period to press elected members to draw clearer boundaries around instructional technology and to build safeguards into any policy that governs artificial intelligence and online materials.

At the June meeting multiple speakers urged the board to remove or sharply curtail device use in preschool through second grade, citing concerns about distraction, inequitable access, and mental-health effects. A pediatrician, Brian Long, told the board he sees what he described as clinical harms in practice, including attention and mood impacts he links to extensive screen exposure. Student and parent witnesses proposed concrete steps: return to more handwritten work in early grades, create an opt-out for families, and require that any new instructional technology be supported by independent evidence of student benefit.

Board members framed the resolution on responsible instructional technology as a starting point. The resolution under discussion calls for age-appropriate instruction, professional-development guidance for educators, safeguards for students with disabilities, family access to plans and review mechanisms for vendors and privacy protections. Members asked staff to tighten the language, describe enforcement mechanisms, and bring the policy through committee for more detailed drafting.

Staff and board members also debated the role of hybrid instructional materials (digital + print) during a discussion about a one-year renewal of social-studies materials. Staff said the renewal preserves access while the full adoption process and procurement continue; they described the renewal as a short-term measure to maintain instructional continuity and cited an approximate annual contract value in public remarks.

What happens next: The board directed staff to produce clearer draft language, to provide evidence and vendor information, and to return with committee-level review and timelines. Members asked for a measured approach that includes monitoring, pilot testing, family opt-outs and safeguards for privacy and students with disabilities.

Timeline/provenance: resolution introduced and discussed SEG 575–999, public comments SEG 997–1599, instructional-materials contract discussion SEG 2889–3418.