AI Governance Documentation Checklist for Schools

Short answer

AI governance documentation: what schools should write down and keep

Good AI governance documentation covers eight records: a tool inventory, approval records, privacy and data agreements, a decision log, concern and incident records, training records, policy versions and family communications. Keep them in one shared, access-controlled place, give each record a named owner, update them as decisions are made, and follow your district or state records rules on how long to keep them.

Use this page as part of a connected review: understand the purpose, consider the people affected, check the relevant safeguards, and follow the related routes for practical next steps.

Most governance work happens in conversations and meetings. Documentation is what remains afterwards. Without it, a school cannot show why a tool was approved, what families were told or how a concern was resolved. With it, new staff can understand past choices, reviews start from facts, and families get straight answers when they ask.

Why written records are part of governance, not extra work.

It is tempting to treat documentation as paperwork that follows the real work. In AI governance, the records are part of the work. A tool approval that nobody wrote down is hard to defend when a parent asks about it. A concern that was handled well but never recorded cannot inform the next policy review. Records turn individual good decisions into something the school can learn from and explain.

Records also protect people. When a governance lead moves to a new role, the decision log means their successor does not have to start from scratch. When a teacher is asked why she used a particular tool, the approval record shows she followed the process. When the school reviews its policy, the concern records show which situations came up and how they were resolved, without relying on anyone's memory.

The aim is not more documents. Eight focused records, each with a named owner and a brief format, can be enough. Long reports written once and never updated are less useful than brief entries added steadily throughout the year. The checklist in this guide is built around that idea: small, current and easy to find. If a record would take more than a few minutes to update after a decision, simplify its format until it does not.

Records about tools and decisions.

The tool inventory is the master list of AI in use. For each tool, note its purpose, who may use it, whether it handles student information and its current status. The approval record sits behind each entry and captures the review itself: the date, who reviewed it, the questions asked, the answers given and any conditions, such as staff use only or a limit on what information may be entered. Together, these two records answer most questions about any tool.

Privacy and data agreements belong in the same part of the folder, linked to the tools they cover. Keep the signed agreement, the date it was signed, when it ends or is due for renewal, and any notes from your privacy reviewer. Laws such as FERPA and COPPA may shape what these agreements need to say, so confirm the details with your reviewer or counsel. When a tool is retired, note whether the provider confirmed that school information was removed.

The decision log captures everything else the governance group decides: policy changes, guidance updates, responses to new questions and choices about pilots. Each entry needs only a date, the question, the decision, the main reason and who will act. Suppose a high school's log shows that a request to use AI for drafting college recommendation letters was declined, with the reason recorded. When the same request returns the next year, the team can revisit it with context.

Records about people, policy and communication.

Concern and incident records track worries raised about AI use, whether by staff, students or families, and how each was handled. Record what was raised, when, who responded, what happened next and whether it led to a change. Where a concern involves a particular student, keep the details within your existing student support or safeguarding records and note only the general pattern in the governance folder. This keeps sensitive information with the people trained to handle it.

Training records show who received AI guidance and when. A list is enough: the session date, what it covered and who attended, plus a note when new staff complete their introduction. These records help leaders see gaps, such as a department that missed the last session, and they show that the school gives people the support it promises in its policy. Note any guides or examples shared at each session, so later sessions can build on them.

Policy versions and family communications complete the set. Keep every adopted version of the AI policy, each with a short note of what changed and why, so nobody is unsure which version is current. Keep copies of letters, newsletter items and web updates sent to families about AI, with the date sent. When a family asks what they were told, or a new leader wants to understand past messages, the answer is already there.

Where to keep records, who updates them and how long to keep them.

Keep everything in one shared, access-controlled location, such as a folder on the school's managed drive. Start it with a one-page index listing the eight records, where each lives, its owner and its backup. Most staff can be given access to the inventory, the approved tool list and the current policy. Concern records and anything mentioning individual students should be limited to the people who need them. Use file names with dates, so the latest version of each document is obvious at a glance.

Ownership keeps records alive. A common pattern is for the governance lead to own the inventory and decision log, the privacy reviewer to own agreements, the training lead to own training records and student support staff to own concern records. Each owner updates their record when something happens, not at the end of term. A brief check at each termly review confirms that entries are current and that nothing has been left half finished.

How long to keep each record depends on local rules, which vary between states and districts. Ask your district records officer or office how long policy versions, agreements and decision logs should be kept, and follow your existing student records schedules for anything about individual students. When records are due to be removed, do so securely. A common mistake is keeping everything forever in scattered places, which makes records hard to find and harder to protect.

One home for records. Keep all AI governance documents in one shared, access-controlled location that the right people can find.

An owner for each record. Name the role responsible for keeping each record current, with a backup for when they are away.

Record at the time. Write entries when decisions are made, not weeks later from memory.

Follow local rules. Check your district or state records rules before deciding how long to keep or when to remove each record.

Records about tools and decisions:

Tool inventory with purpose and users.

Approval records with conditions.

Privacy and data agreements.

Decision log with reasons.

Records about people and policy:

Concern and incident records.

Training records for staff.

Policy versions with change notes.

Copies of family communications.

Set up. Create one shared folder with a consistent structure for the eight records.

Assign. Name an owner and backup for each record and write them on the index page.

Fill in. Add what already exists, then record new decisions as they happen.

Check. Review the records each term to confirm they are current and complete.

Use this checklist to set up your school's AI governance records, decide who looks after each one and plan where they are stored.

Common questions

Quick answers to what schools and families ask most about this topic.