LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — It’s a common sight in classes at Los Alamitos High School. Teachers and students frequently, even daily, see another student who uses artificial intelligence for an assignment. The use of AI in classes has gotten even more common this past year, according to LAHS senior Alyssa Zavala. 

“I see a lot of AI,” Zavala said. “I feel like everybody uses it at this point.” She has noticed this emerging pattern over the years on campus.

“My sophomore year, it started getting way popular,” she said. 

A recent poll of 50 LAHS students from the @lahsgriffingazette Instagram account offers another window into the issue. 44% of those polled said they used AI on an assignment, while 33% said that they have seen other students use AI on assignments. While some teachers allow the use of AI tools in classes, others forbid their use at all. There is no consistent approach to using the technology, according to the students in the poll. Multiple students also shared in the poll how teachers have caught students using AI on assignments for English and Advanced Placement Chemistry.

According to the LAHS 2025-2026 student handbook, a student is cheating if they do any of the following: “exchange assignments by printout, digital, electronic, or recorded means, and then submit as ‘original’ work. This includes, but is not limited to, cell phones, smart watches, paper or digital documents, and documents written using artificial intelligence tools.”

AI is clearly being used by students for academics, but is it a problem?

A history of AI at LAHS 

The AI chatbot ChatGPT first became available to the public in 2022, just three years ago this month. Since its release, several other AI platforms have debuted, some more powerful than others. Over the years, educators have been asking how tools that can essentially do students’ work for them would impact learning.

“We already know that AI in schools is about more than just the adoption of a new technology. It signals a transformative shift in how we educate our students, and there’s no choice but to embrace it,” Orange County’s Superintendent of Schools, Stefan Bean, Ed.D., wrote in 2024. Dr. Bean, who also happens to be a parent of students in the Los Alamitos Unified School District, also wrote that the OCDE set a target of this year for “90 percent of local districts to adopt ethical A.I. guidelines that promote responsible use across all educational settings.” 

Concerns about AI at LAHS have prompted policy changes for the 2023-2024, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. 

“During the 2023-24 school year, K-12 teachers, education specialists, counselors, school psychologists and administrators were trained on the appropriate use of AI, including necessary precautions regarding ethics and data safety. Training opportunities will continue to be provided for staff during the 2024-2025 school year to expand upon previous lessons and provide access for staff unable to participate in 2023-24,” said LAUSD superintendent Dr. Andrew Pulver, Ed.D. in a response to the 2023-24 Orange County Grand Jury Report on Use of Artificial Intelligence in Public Schools (K-12). 

Dr. Pulver also demonstrates that during the 2024-2025 school year, other policies educating students and staff about the correct use of AI were implemented. In this report, he promises to create mandated workshops and other training for educational professionals to deal with the issue of AI in LAHS schools. 

In a 2024 story from the Griffin Gazette, LAUSD Deputy Superintendent for Education Services Ondrea Reed explained the implications of these policies.

“AI will likely become more integrated into everyday learning activities; however, we are on the precipice of the use of AI as a school district, [and] we are just beginning to explore and have conversations around learning implications with staff,” Reed said. 

Dr. Daniel Bennett, LAUSD’s Education Technology Coordinator, explained that the district currently has no official policy on the use of AI in classrooms, other than allowing teachers some access to AI programs and prohibiting students from using it. Time will only tell how school districts will adapt to this new technology.

“I think they’re coming out with better ways to manage the use of AI,” said LAHS English teacher Mrs. Williams.

AI in LAHS classrooms brings up the concerning issue of whether or not its use decreases learning in classrooms. 

LAHS juniors Aerin Martin and Kayleigh Garcia, and sophomores Makenna Lucas and Olivia Nordstrom, all agree that AI can destroy original thinking and creativity in assignments. 

Teachers, like Mrs. Williams, also agree. She believes that students do not use AI as a tool to help them, but that they use it to avoid work. This inhibits them from actually learning and understanding the material. 

In addition, AI can also be used in an unethical and unfair way. For some students, such as an LAHS anonymous sophomore and her aid, other people using AI can make it unfair for the grading system.

“AI is okay if it is used for grammar, but if it is used for cheating, it’s unfair,” said the LAHS sophomore. 

An anonymous LAHS math teacher also brought up another point, stating that AI can decrease thinking. 

“I have very strong opinions…I don’t know if they are well informed…But I think students using AI on assignments can decrease their thinking. If students rely on AI, they are getting dumber,” she said. 

Arguments for AI 

Other students believe that artificial intelligence, including ChatGPT and other chatbots, can be helpful tools. 

“It can help you in a way if you don’t understand something or you’re stuck; if you don’t copy word for word, then it doesn’t destroy creativity. I use it to help me and give me more ideas in my own way,” said an anonymous LAHS junior. 

Rylee Robles, an LAHS alumna and speaker at the Student AI Convening conference, was interviewed in 2024 by Spectrum News One about her perspective on AI, according to the OCDE Newsroom. At this conference, 450 students talked about how AI could improve educational paths as well as increase understanding/knowledge from technology, and Robles was one of the students who led her own workshop session.

Robles also spoke to Griffin Gazette staff writer Aiden Floyd about her views in another article from last year. During her conference session, Robles and two other students built a character with AI that could interact with students in new ways.

“Students can see themselves in the media where otherwise they wouldn’t be able to, and AI is capable of building that for them…I think it’s more of a way to elevate your work than completely doing your work for you,” said Robles. 

Overall, LAHS students hold critiques and preferences towards AI usage; however, LAHS students should all be conscious of their use of it. This is especially in light of new administration changes limiting the use of AI in school. 

In the current 2025-26 school year, LAHS Administration affirms that staff will be punishing submitting AI-generated student work as their own and that it is considered plagiarism.

As well, LAHS has enforced a two-pronged approach this school year. For some uses of AI, along with teacher support and training, will be integrated into the school curriculum as a helpful tool for students’ problem solving and increasing efficiency in teacher’s work. However, other uses, including academic dishonesty are banned.

In the future, LAUSD plans to enforce stricter rules regarding AI usage for students as AI continues to develop.

Over the last year and a half, our district has been collaborating with other Orange County districts through the Orange County Department of Education to learn together about AI’s opportunities and challenges. That work is moving into its next stage on Dec. 15, when Los Al will convene its first Middle School and High School AI Policy Committee, composed of teachers and administrators.

“This committee is the first step in engaging stakeholders to develop a core AI policy for the district, which will need to undergo a public preview and revisions based on feedback before the school board approves it. The foundational policy will help guide safe, ethical and effective AI use and inform related policies such as staff technology use, student technology use and academic integrity. Our goal is to build something thoughtful and future-ready, clear enough to support schools now but flexible enough to meet the needs of teaching and learning as technology evolves,” said LAHS Director of Technology Daniel Bennett.

LAHS Vice Principal of Curriculum, Instruction and Instructional Technology Alyssa Reyes predicts a similar future of AI.

“As a school, we are actively discussing how to evolve our AI policies in alignment with new state guidance. We are committed to building AI literacy, helping students and staff deeply understand what AI is, what it looks like in practice, and how it can benefit teaching and learning while also addressing important concerns. We are still in the early stages of this work, with newly formed committees at both the district and site levels, and we expect our policies to grow and adapt as our understanding and needs evolve,” said Reyes.

This article was created for Spotlight Schools. Amelia Gutierrez is Spotlight Schools’ editorial intern.