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Half-Day District Leadership Workshop · Facilitation Guide

When AI Becomes
a Companion

A cross-functional workshop for K–12 district leadership teams on AI companion risk, policy, and a 30-day response plan.

3.5 hrs

Total time

6–10

Ideal participants

1

Tabletop exercise

30

Day action plan

Workshop Overview

At a glance

Audience

  • → Superintendent or assistant superintendent
  • → Director of Technology / CIO
  • → Director of Student Services
  • → Director of Communications
  • → Building principal (1–2)
  • → School counselor or mental health coordinator
  • → Legal counsel or board member (optional)

Learning objectives

By the end, participants will be able to:

  • 1. Distinguish AI companions from instructional AI and articulate why a single policy bucket fails.
  • 2. Identify their district's current policy gap and filter exposure.
  • 3. Navigate a realistic AI-companion incident across roles (tech, counseling, communications, legal).
  • 4. Leave with a signed 30-day action plan with named owners.

Materials checklist

□ Printed copy of the District AI Companion Response Kit (1 per person)
□ 10 Cabinet Questions one-pager (1 per person)
□ Tabletop scenario packet (printed, face-down — do not pre-read)
□ Role cards (1 per participant)
□ 30-Day Action Plan template (1 per person + 1 large for the wall)
□ Sticky notes + markers for wall work
□ Timer (phone works)
□ Slides (optional — facilitator notes cover it without them)

Sent 1 week before

Pre-work for participants

Email this to all participants 7 days before the workshop. It takes 15 minutes and means you start the room with a shared baseline instead of building it from zero.

Pre-work email — copy and send

Subject: 15 minutes of prep for our AI workshop — [Date]

Hi [Name],

We're gathering on [Date] for a half-day session on AI companion risk and our district's response plan. Before you arrive, please do three things — they'll take about 15 minutes and will make the time together much more useful.

1. Open your current AUP and search for the word "companion." Note whether it appears. Don't change anything — just note it.

2. Read this one-page brief: [link to 10 Cabinet Questions] — 5 minutes.

3. Answer two questions in this form: [link to a simple Google Form or Tally]

  • Does your school or department currently have any guidance on AI companion or character chatbots? (Yes / No / Unsure)
  • What is your biggest question or concern going into this workshop? (open text)

That's it. See you [Day]. — [Rachel / Facilitator name]

Use the pre-work survey responses to open the workshop — read 2–3 anonymous questions aloud. It signals you listened and builds immediate trust.

Full Agenda

3.5-hour run of show

TimeSegmentFormatDuration
8:30 AMWelcome, norms, and why todayFacilitator-led15 min
8:45The research: what students are doing and what districts haven't written downPresentation + Q&A30 min
9:15Break10 min
9:25Where we stand: district self-assessmentSmall group + whole group25 min
9:50Cross-functional roles: who owns whatRole mapping exercise20 min
10:10Break10 min
10:20Tabletop exercise: "The Monday Morning Call"Scenario-based roleplay50 min
11:10Building our 30-day planStructured planning25 min
11:35Commitments, close, and next stepsWhole group15 min
11:50End / informal conversation—

Facilitator Notes

Segment-by-segment guide

8:30 — 15 min

Welcome, norms, and why today

Purpose: Set the tone. This is not a training or a lecture. It's a working session — the output is a real plan the district will use.

Opening line: "Before I say anything, I want to read you two responses from the pre-work survey." Read 2 anonymized responses. This immediately shows you prepared and that this room is the right place to work through it.

Norms to name (verbally, not on a slide):

  • "This stays in this room unless we agree to share it."
  • "No right answers. Real answers."
  • "If your phone pulls you away, step out — don't half-attend."

Why today: One paragraph. Keep it tight. "The research is clear, the incidents are real, and most districts — including high-performing ones — haven't named this category in policy yet. In 3.5 hours, ours will have a plan."

8:45 — 30 min

The research

Key points to land (in order):

  1. What AI companions are and how they differ from instructional AI. Use the "single policy bucket" framing.
  2. The three statistics: 70%+ teens, 30% on school devices, 0% of AUPs name them.
  3. The human cost. Cite the Brookings 2026 report and the EDSAFE SAFE By Design framework — not to alarm, to ground in evidence.
  4. What other districts are doing (and not doing). Most haven't named this yet. This room can be ahead.

Q&A guidance: Hold 8 minutes for questions. The most common: "Are we banning AI?" (Answer: No — we're distinguishing categories.) "Has this happened in our district?" (Answer: We don't know, and that's partly the problem.) "Can't kids just use their phones?" (Answer: Yes — this is about what the district controls and what it endorses by silence.)

9:25 — 25 min

District self-assessment

Instructions to give the room:

"Take 5 minutes alone with the 10 Cabinet Questions. Mark each one: Green (we have this), Yellow (partial), Red (we don't have this). No discussion yet."

"Now share your colors with the person next to you for 3 minutes. Don't debate — just compare."

"Whole group: how many Reds came up?"

Facilitator goal: Surface the honest gap without shame. The typical district will have 6–8 Reds. That's expected. Name it: "This isn't a failure. It's why we're here."

Output: A rough map of where the district stands. Take a photo of any wall work — it feeds the 30-day plan at the end.

9:50 — 20 min

Cross-functional roles

Instructions: Hand out the role cards (see below). Each person holds one card. Give 5 minutes for people to answer: "What does this situation require of my role specifically?"

Then do a role-by-role share: each person reads their single most important action. Facilitator maps it on the wall under "Who owns what."

Common surprise: Everyone assumes someone else owns the parent communication and the incident documentation. Surface it explicitly.

{['Director of Technology / IT: filter, AUP language, MDM, vendor review, filter audit report', 'Director of Student Services: counselor protocol, risk-tier response, mandated reporting, family follow-up', 'Principal: staff awareness, first-responder protocol, student welfare, parent contact', 'Communications: parent advisory, board message, media inquiry protocol', 'Superintendent: cabinet alignment, board briefing, resource decisions, public posture', 'School Counselor: screening prompts, documentation, referral, student scripts'].map(r => { const [role, duties] = r.split(': '); return `

${role}

${duties}

`; }).join('')}

Director of Technology / IT

Filter audit, AUP language, MDM enforcement, vendor review, monthly filter report

Director of Student Services

Counselor protocol, risk-tier response, mandated reporting, family follow-up, PD for counselors

Principal

Staff awareness briefing, first-responder protocol, student welfare, parent contact chain

Communications

Parent advisory, board message prep, media inquiry protocol, translation into home languages

Superintendent

Cabinet alignment, board briefing, resource decisions, public posture, legal engagement

School Counselor

Screening prompts, documentation, referral, student scripts, wellness follow-up protocol

10:20 — 50 minutes

Tabletop Exercise

"The Monday Morning Call"

Facilitator setup — read this before distributing packets

Distribute the scenario packet face-down. Tell the room: "We're going to work through a realistic situation. This is not a gotcha. There are no perfect answers. The goal is to surface where your protocols do and don't have answers — so you can fix them before this happens for real." Then say: "Turn to page one. Someone read the scenario aloud."

Scenario — distribute as printed packet

The Monday Morning Call

Setup

It is Monday, 7:45 AM. The high school principal receives a call from a parent, Ms. Reyes. Her daughter Marisol, a 10th grader, was found by her mother the previous night in significant distress. The mother reports that Marisol has been in an extensive daily relationship with an AI character called "Elias" on a companion app for approximately four months. The previous night, when the mother restricted the phone, Marisol became inconsolable and made a statement the mother interpreted as a self-harm threat. Marisol is stable this morning and at home. The mother found your district's name and called the main office.

What you learn in the first hour

  • Marisol accessed the companion app on her school-issued Chromebook almost daily — it was not blocked by the district filter.
  • The counselor who receives the welfare referral is not familiar with AI companions and has never screened for this type of use.
  • The district's AUP has no language about AI companion services.
  • A teacher reports she noticed Marisol "talking to someone" on her Chromebook during study hall several times over the past two months and assumed it was a homework tool.

Inject 2 — arrives at 9:30 AM

A local news reporter emails the district's communications address: "I'm working on a piece about AI companion chatbots and student mental health. I have a source who tells me a student in your district was recently hospitalized following an incident involving one of these apps. Can you comment?"

(Note: Marisol was not hospitalized. The reporter's source is unknown.)

Inject 3 — arrives at 11:00 AM

A board member calls the superintendent after seeing a parent's social media post about "the district's AI chatbot problem." The post has 47 comments and is spreading in local community groups.

Discussion questions by phase

Phase 1 — Immediate (0–60 min)

  1. Who is the first call? Who notifies whom, in what order?
  2. Does the counselor know what questions to ask about AI use? What happens if they don't?
  3. The Chromebook has a browser history of four months of companion app use. Who decides whether to preserve it, review it, or delete it? What's the protocol?
  4. Is this a mandated reporter situation? What triggers the report?

Phase 2 — Media inject

  1. Who is authorized to respond to the reporter? What is the response?
  2. The student was not hospitalized. How do you correct the record without confirming an incident?
  3. Does your district have a media protocol for student mental health incidents? Would it cover this?

Phase 3 — Board member and social media

  1. What does the superintendent say to the board member? What information can be shared?
  2. Does someone respond to the social media post? Who? What do they say?
  3. By end of day, what does the community need to hear? What can't be said yet?

Debrief — whole group (10 minutes)

  1. Where did the group have clear protocols? Where did it improvise?
  2. What single change — policy, filter, training, or communication — would have had the biggest impact?
  3. What goes on the 30-day plan right now because of this exercise?

Facilitator note on emotional tone

This scenario involves a minor in distress. If anyone in the room has personal experience with a similar situation — their child, a former student — it will surface here. Build in a pause after Inject 1 before moving to the media question. "Let's stay with the welfare question for another two minutes before we move to communications." Never skip that pause.

11:10 — 25 min

Building our 30-day plan

Use the action plan template. Everyone contributes. The facilitator writes on the large wall version. Each row must have a name — not a role, a name. Undecided owners become a blocker — surface them now.

WeekActionOwner (name, not role)Done when…
1Add AUP addendum (short version) to policy agenda_____________On next board agenda or adopted by emergency resolution
1Run filter audit — does it distinguish AI companions?_____________Report with screenshots in Director of Technology inbox
2Brief principals using the staff briefing outline (Section 9 of kit)_____________All principals briefed, questions documented
2Update counselor screening protocol_____________All counselors have revised intake form
3Send parent advisory_____________Sent in all district languages, posted on website
3Board briefing prepared_____________Talking points reviewed by superintendent and counsel
4Incident response flow reviewed and signed off_____________Distributed to principals and counselors
4Vendor question list added to procurement checklist_____________Updated in current vendor review process
11:35 — 15 min

Commitments & close

Go around the room. Each person says one sentence: their single most important action from the 30-day plan, and when it will be done.

Facilitator close — read or adapt

"In 3.5 hours, this team went from a gap most districts haven't identified yet to a signed 30-day plan with named owners. That's the work. The plan you leave with is only useful if you execute it — and the first person who makes their commitment by Friday makes it easier for everyone else to do the same. Thank you."

Follow-up — send within 48 hours

  • → Photo of the wall 30-day plan
  • → Completed action plan table (filled in during workshop)
  • → Digital copy of the kit and this facilitation guide
  • → Date for the 30-day check-in meeting (schedule it now, while everyone is in the room)

Workshop Facilitation Guide · v1.0 · May 2026

Rachel Pauley · rdpauley@gmail.com

To book this workshop for your district or state association: reply to your download email.