Your district has an AI policy.
You don't yet have AI governance.
60% of your teachers are already using AI tools. 60% of them say your district has not communicated clear expectations. The policy-practice gap is widening — and the districts that close it now will be the ones that get this right.
Banyan's 5-Layer AI Governance Framework gives district leadership the structure, deliverables, and implementation support to move from reactive to deliberate — at a price point and practitioner depth no large consultancy can match.
The state of AI in K–12 — early 2026
What districts are asking for
One-day workshops don't solve a governance problem.
The AI-in-education market has moved. Districts aren't asking for another PD session — they're asking for institutional clarity: policy-to-practice alignment, assessment integrity standards, vendor evaluation frameworks, board-level readiness, and implementation roadmaps that survive longer than a semester.
These are higher-order problems that require a governance-first partner, not a PD provider. Banyan is built to be that partner.
Banyan's proprietary framework
The 5-Layer AI Governance Framework
Most governance frameworks treat instruction as downstream from policy. This one treats it as the center of the entire system — which is how districts actually experience the problem.
Board-approved AI intent. Cross-functional steering. A vision your superintendent can articulate to staff, families, and media — and building principals can translate locally.
- Does your board have a documented AI strategic intent?
- Can your superintendent and cabinet clearly articulate the district's AI posture?
- Is AI strategy integrated into your district's broader strategic plan?
FERPA and COPPA alignment, vendor evaluation criteria, academic integrity boundaries, incident response. Protection from both legal exposure and reputational risk.
- Does your vendor evaluation process include AI-specific criteria (bias, transparency, data flow)?
- Do you maintain a living inventory of all AI tools in use district-wide?
- Have you defined AI academic integrity boundaries differentiated by grade level?
The center of the framework — and our core differentiator. Cognitive integrity: defining which cognitive work must remain human-performed for learning to occur. Assessment redesign. AI literacy as a discipline, not an afterthought.
Preview the Cognitive Integrity Rubric- Have you articulated which cognitive work must remain human-performed in your instructional model?
- Have your assessment practices been reviewed and updated to account for AI capabilities?
- Does your PD go beyond tool training to include pedagogy, ethics, and cognitive impact?
A documented 6–12 month implementation roadmap with milestones and owners. Sequenced, role-differentiated PD. Parent communication plans. The operational tissue that connects strategy to classrooms.
- Do you have a documented 6–12 month AI roadmap with milestones and named owners?
- Is your PD sequenced over time and differentiated by role — or a one-and-done workshop?
- Do you have a proactive parent and community engagement plan (not just reactive FAQs)?
Vendor independence, data sovereignty, infrastructure decisions driven by educational principles rather than vendor sales cycles. A 2–3 year evolution roadmap that accounts for AI's pace of change.
- Do you have a decision framework for cloud vs. local/private AI solutions?
- Are infrastructure decisions driven by educational principles or vendor sales cycles?
- Are you monitoring emerging developments — agentic AI, multimodal models, AI companions?
A 10-minute self-assessment built directly on the 5-Layer Framework. Your leadership team answers 25 statements across the five governance layers, plus four context questions. We auto-deliver a 2-page personalized report with your maturity rating per layer and three immediate priorities — the same instrument we use to anchor every paid engagement.
No card. No consultant call. The PDF lands in your inbox within 48 hours.
Engagement tiers
Choose your level of engagement
Every engagement starts with the free 5-Layer Snapshot. From there, four levels of partnership — depending on how much you want us in your district's room.
AI Readiness Scan
Productized maturity diagnostic. Your leadership team takes the deeper paid Snapshot, joins a 60-minute facilitated Scoring Workshop with Travis, and receives a third-party-validated maturity baseline plus three high-priority focus areas — in two weeks, for under $5,000.
- Deeper 5-Layer Snapshot intake (paid version, more granular)
- 60-min Leadership Scoring Workshop (live, facilitated)
- 8–10 page Scan Report with maturity rating per layer and Top 3 Focus Areas
- 30-min closeout call
- One templated starter artifact (district picks from menu)
Best fit: districts whose leadership has a sense of where they are on AI governance and want a third-party-reviewed baseline before committing to deeper work. Director-discretionary spend in most districts — no board action required.
AI Governance Audit
A structured diagnostic across all five layers. We assess where your district stands, map the gaps, and deliver a prioritized action plan your leadership team can act on immediately.
- 5-Layer Governance Assessment (full district)
- Gap analysis report with prioritized recommendations
- Vendor evaluation snapshot and compliance review
- Board-ready executive summary
- Implementation roadmap outline
Goes deeper than the Scan: stakeholder interviews beyond leadership, custom recommendations with implementation steps, and a board-ready executive summary.
AI Implementation Blueprint
Deep partnership from diagnosis through implementation. We build the governance infrastructure, redesign assessments, train leadership teams, and produce every major deliverable — then hand it over fully staffed and ready to run.
- Everything in the Governance Audit
- Cognitive Integrity Rubric (grade-differentiated)
- AI Task Redesign Templates (curriculum-aligned)
- Vendor Evaluation Matrix (Banyan-built)
- Staff and parent communication toolkit
- Sequenced, role-differentiated PD plan
- 6–12 month operational roadmap with owners
- 2–3 year infrastructure evolution roadmap
Strategic Advisory Retainer
AI governance is not a one-time engagement. The landscape shifts quarterly. Our advisory retainer keeps your leadership team current, accountable, and ahead of what's coming.
- Monthly leadership check-in and strategy session
- On-call policy review and vendor evaluation support
- Emerging technology briefings (quarterly)
- Board meeting prep and talking points
- Incident response support as needed
All engagements are funded through general operating budgets, Title II-A, Title IV-A, or state AI/technology grants. Banyan can help identify applicable funding streams.
Competitive positioning
Strategic rigor. Classroom depth. Vendor independence.
Banyan occupies a positioning that no major competitor currently holds: governance-first, practitioner-grounded, and priced for the districts that need it most.
Our consultant has designed curriculum, led school programs, managed virtual learning systems, and built AI tools from the ground up. That cross-stack fluency — instruction, operations, technology, governance — is the core of what makes the 5-Layer Framework work.
100% of teachers agreed the PD was valuable and gained strategies they could apply immediately.
Kennewick School District engaged Banyan for district-wide AI professional development. After the engagement, every participating teacher reported gaining practical, applicable strategies — and increased openness to integrating AI into their instructional practice.
Read the full case study“These specific workflows have been helpful. Yeah, I am more open to using AI.”
Start here
Two ways to begin
The cleanest start is the 5-Layer Snapshot — 10 minutes, free, your maturity baseline lands in your inbox. From there, a free 30-minute discovery call is available if you'd like to discuss your results before committing to a paid engagement.
Take the 5-Layer AI Readiness Snapshot
Free. 10 minutes. Personalized 2-page PDF auto-delivered to your inbox within 48 hours.
Book a 30-minute discovery call
After the Snapshot, talk through your results with Travis. No obligation. No pitch until we know the fit.
Engagements may be funded through Title II-A, Title IV-A, state AI grants, or general operating budget.