Leaders Share Briarcliff's Unique Collaborative Approach To AI With Educators Across The Region

Press release from the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District:

On Tuesday, November 3, Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Kaishian, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Jasmine McQuay, and Briarcliff High School senior and Student Government Co-Class President Sofia Cruz presented the Briarcliff AI Community Playbook at NYSCATE’s Hudson Valley State of Mind: Navigating Tomorrow Together regional conference.

Hosted by the New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education, the conference was held at Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls.

The session, "Students Already Know Where the Gray Area Is: Building the Briarcliff AI Community Playbook," was moderated by Brett Roer of Amplify & Elevate Innovation, which has partnered with the district on this work since fall 2025.

The panel shared how Briarcliff shaped its approach to AI by listening first. Through a series of facilitated community conversations known as Wisdom Collection listening sessions, along with surveys, the district gathered input from more than 160 community members, including students, staff, and families, to help shape the Briarcliff AI Community Playbook.

The feedback helped inform the district’s AI-use framework and its response to a central question: How should schools handle the rise of AI tools in the classroom and related assignments?

“We wanted to listen to all of our stakeholders so that we might come up with a uniquely Briarcliff solution,” said Dr. Kaishian.

Central to the Playbook is the Briarcliff FAIR Scale, a four-level progression of AI use that helps teachers establish expectations for appropriate student use of AI on assignments. The scale ranges from Level 1, which prohibits AI use entirely, to Level 4, which allows AI to generate work under student direction, verification, and citation. Levels 2 and 3 fall between these approaches, allowing students to use AI to support their understanding or assist in developing their work, while maintaining student authorship and disclosing AI use when required.

Dr. McQuay emphasized the importance of teacher feedback in developing the FAIR Scale.

“Many of our teachers had a lot of opinions and thoughts, and it was all valuable information,” she said. “Teachers know what they need, what parents need, and what their students need.”

Following the Playbook’s launch just before the start of the school year, the district conducted a student feedback survey in September. Of the 49 students surveyed, 92 percent correctly identified what Level 2 allows, 90 percent said a teacher had told them the AI level for their work at least once, and 86 percent said they were comfortable writing an AI Use Statement.

Sofia spoke about the student perspective and its role in both developing and refining the Briarcliff AI Community Playbook and the FAIR Scale.

“I really like that student feedback was included, and continues to be included, because we are the people that are using the AI, and responsible for turning in the assignments.”

This fall, the district’s AI Committee continues its work, including the implementation and refinement of FAIR Scale Levels 2 and 3.

This press release was produced by the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.