A school AI vendor review should explain what information enters the service, where it goes, how it is reused, and what happens when the contract ends. Families can ask for a plain-language account of that review without expecting a classroom teacher to negotiate the supplier’s terms personally.
Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner provides guidance on online educational services. The questions below are a vendor-review reading aid, not a legal approval checklist or a claim that YCDSB uses a particular AI service.
Map the information entering the service
Ask which information the proposed configuration actually receives. Account details, prompts, student work, voice recordings, images, and usage records may have different purposes. A vendor’s general website may describe features the school does not plan to enable.
For a hypothetical writing tool, distinguish the text a student submits from account information and background usage records. Ask whether the board can limit collection or disable unnecessary features. The review should describe the intended configuration, rather than relying only on a demonstration account.
A useful summary names each information category, why it is needed, and which part of the service handles it. Avoid sending real student records to test these questions informally.
Ask about model training and other providers
An AI supplier may rely on another provider for model processing or hosting. Ask the responsible board staff how the proposed arrangement identifies those parties and what terms apply to each relevant use of information.
Questions can include whether inputs or outputs may be used to train or improve models, which settings control that use, and whether the contractual commitment matches the selected configuration. A marketing statement such as “privacy focused” does not answer those specific questions.
Ask for the applicable written explanation, including its date. Do not assume that a promise about one product tier also applies to a free account or another version.
Examine changes during the contract
Ask how the board will learn about changes to terms, processing providers, information use, or important features. A review completed before a pilot may need reconsideration if the service changes.
The practical questions are who monitors the arrangement, which changes require another review, and how concerns reach that person. Families should have a clear contact route rather than being asked to interpret conflicting vendor notices themselves.
Plan account closure and deletion
Before a pilot starts, ask what happens when participation ends or the board chooses another supplier. Which information can be exported? Who requests account closure? How are deletion requests handled, including copies held by relevant service providers?
Avoid equating the disappearance of a screen or account with confirmed deletion of all information. Ask how the responsible staff verify the outcome under the applicable arrangement.
Use a six-question review sheet
- What information does the intended configuration collect?
- Why is each category needed?
- Which suppliers or processing services receive it?
- What written terms govern retention and model training?
- Who monitors changes and responds to concerns?
- What is the documented exit and deletion process?
YCDSB’s purchasing policy provides local procurement context. Purchasing, privacy, and educational suitability reviews need to work together through the authorized board process.
A clear vendor explanation makes responsibility visible across the service’s life: before use, during changes, and after account closure. That level of detail gives families a more useful question than simply asking whether an AI tool is safe.
Official source information checked October 1, 2026. This independent family guide is not an official YCDSB publication.