Harvard-Westlake, the private school that draws heavily from Bel Air and Holmby Hills families, is heading into the 2026-27 school year without a written AI policy. The administration is instead letting each department figure out its own rules under a shared philosophy: artificial intelligence should deepen human connection, not replace it.

The approach puts the school on a different path from Beverly Hills Unified, which unanimously passed a formal technology policy on July 14, according to the Beverly Hills Courier. That policy encourages high school teachers to design homework minimizing AI use, and the district is exploring an AI literacy graduation requirement.

"Frankly, policies aren't the way we need to go," Head of School Laura Ross said. "We are now living in a world where anything you're not doing with a pen and paper in a classroom is AI enabled or an AI opportunity. So, the question is, 'How do we redesign what learning looks like to allow students to understand?' … I think that ship has sailed."

Associate Director of Teaching and Learning Maggie Thompson said the school has no single rulebook in the works. "There is not a magic policy," Thompson told The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle. "We are exploring and taking into account our values as a school."

President Rick Commons said computer science and English classes will inevitably handle AI differently, so departments will develop their own practices under the umbrella philosophy. He set no deadline.

The school ran two professional development sessions the week of Aug. 17-21, led by Eric Hudson, a former classroom teacher who spent a decade at Global Online Academy before becoming a facilitator and strategic advisor. Hudson lists Harvard-Westlake among his clients.

Head of Upper School Beth Slattery described the guardrail the philosophy does set: every use of AI must begin and end with human thought. She pointed to teacher comments as a practical example. Writing individualized feedback for roughly 70 students is time-consuming, she said, and teachers can draft general notes, let AI enhance the language, then review the output before sending.

Thompson acknowledged that AI has opened a trust gap between students and teachers. Some educators wrongly assume students are trying to outsource their thinking, she said, while students don't always appreciate that teachers are rethinking how they evaluate work.

BHUSD's formal policy, drafted by Board President Judy Manouchehri and Vice President Sigalie Sabag, takes a more prescriptive route with grade-by-grade guidelines. The district welcomed about 3,000 students back to Horace Mann, El Rodeo, Beverly Vista Middle and Beverly Hills High for the new year.

Harvard-Westlake has not announced a deadline for departments to finalize their individual AI practices.