BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Board members for the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District endorsed a ban tonight (Aug. 3) on glasses that can take videos and use AI.
Board members agreed that “smart glasses” are more distracting than valuable in a classroom, considering the potential for cheating and recording other students.
“I don’t see how this could benefit learning,” board member Vadim Katz said.
The ban limits students from using smart glasses any time on campus. The ban is stricter than the rules for cell phones, which can used outside of teaching time.
Board member Catherine Vonnegut said the district needs to continue updating its policies on technology and AI, and smart glasses weren’t included in the district’s cell phone rules.
“We didn’t think about the possibility for people having pictures of people in compromising positions, or something, because they used their glasses in the restroom,” she said.
Board member Thida Cornes said she wants the board to discuss a broader ban against recording students without their permission, whether its on a phone or glasses.
“How do we deal with that as a district?” Cornes said. “I’m very concerned about privacy, so I think we need to think about it holistically.”
Board member Esmerelda Ortiz didn’t comment on the ban, and board member Alex Levich wasn’t at the meeting. The board will take a formal vote at its next meeting to officially pass the ban.
Smart glasses, such as Ray-Ban Meta, can take photos and videos, play music, make phone calls, and interact with an AI assistant. Meta says its AI sees what the user sees through the glasses.
That has raised concerns about cheating on tests. The College Board, which runs the SAT test, banned students from wearing smart glasses while taking the exam starting in March. Phones and smart watches were already prohibited.
The Sequoia Union High School District has already addressed smart glasses, with a policy that limits the use of a variety of devices starting in the fall.
The board approved a ban in June on “mobile communication devices” — including smart phones, flip phones, tablets, smart watches and smart glasses — during instructional time. Students must turn off the devices and store them in a designated area until class is over.
The policy is intended to “help our students thrive without the constant distraction of social media and text messages,” the district said on its website.
Sequoia Union’s new policy is at least in part to meet the requirements of Assembly Bill 3216, the Phone-Free School Act, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September 2024. The law requires every school district in the state to develop a policy banning or limiting the use of smartphones on campus by July 1.
The Palo Alto Unified School District’s policy on mobile devices, approved in November, says high school students may use smartphones or other mobile communication devices on campus during non-instructional time. The devices must be turned off when class is in session. The policy doesn’t specifically mention smart glasses.
The policy says that mobile devices “shall not be used in any manner which infringes on the privacy rights of any other person.”
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