The KIDS Act: what it means for US schools

The proposed Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act) is working its way through the US legislative process, and it's an important development for schools, even though it isn't written with schools in mind.

The Act targets platforms, not schools; but that's not the whole story

As currently drafted, the KIDS Act does not frame independent schools as a directly regulated party. Its obligations sit with the organizations building and operating the digital services children use: social media platforms, messaging services, gaming platforms, AI chatbot providers, data brokers, and other online service providers.

Impact on schools: No school will need to file a KIDS Act compliance report. But schools are the ones selecting, approving, integrating, and supervising many of the digital tools students use for learning every day. When a vendor's obligations under the Act change how that tool collects data, targets content, or exposes a child to a chatbot or recommendation system, the school that approved it inherits the consequences, reputationally, if not legally.

Parents will not ask who is legally responsible, they will ask what the school checked

This is the heart of the indirect impact. Parents don't distinguish between "the platform's legal obligation" and "the school's judgment call." If a tool a school has approved turns out to fall short of emerging child online safety standards, parents, boards, and regulators will ask the same question: what did the school do to check?

Impact on schools: Schools will increasingly need a documented answer, not a verbal assurance, to questions such as:

• Which EdTech tools are we using with students?
• Which vendors use AI, chatbots, messaging, recommendation systems, profiling, or advertising?
• Which tools collect student data, and for what purpose?
• Which vendors have made statements about compliance with the KIDS Act, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), or state student privacy laws?
• What due diligence did the school complete before approving the tool?
• What can we show parents if they ask how a platform was assessed?

Informal, ad hoc approval, a teacher likes a tool, a department signs up, nobody records why, will not hold up against that level of scrutiny.

The timeline gives schools a window, not an excuse to wait

As currently drafted, most of the KIDS Act's provisions would take effect one year after enactment, with some elements on different timelines. In practice, we believe most obligations are likely to land at the end of the 2026/27 academic year and the start of 2027/28.

Impact on schools: That's a real but short window. It's long enough to review an EdTech estate properly, but not long enough to start the process the term after the law bites. Schools that begin now will be reviewing on their own timeline. Schools that wait will be reviewing under pressure from parents, boards, or headlines.

What schools should be doing now

• Build or update the EdTech inventory. Start with a complete, accurate list of the tools in active use,  not the tools that were approved three years ago and never reviewed since.
• Flag higher-risk vendors first. Prioritize tools that use AI, chatbots, messaging, profiling, or advertising, or that collect data from younger pupils.
• Capture vendor compliance statements. Where vendors have made public statements about the KIDS Act, COPPA, FERPA, or relevant state laws, record them against the tool.
• Document the approval decision, not just the outcome. What was checked, by whom, and against what criteria, so there's a record to show, not just a memory to rely on.
• Build a parent-facing explanation now, before a parent asks for one under pressure.

Where 9ine fits

9ine is updating its Vendor Management module to flag where vendors have made stated compliance positions in relation to the KIDS Act and related child online safety requirements, sitting alongside 9ine's existing assessment of privacy, cyber security, AI, safeguarding, and digital safety considerations for each vendor.

The goal is straightforward: help schools move from informal EdTech approval to structured, evidenced vendor due diligence, so that when a parent, board member, or regulator asks what was checked, there's a clear answer.

If you'd like to get ahead of these expectations, we'd be happy to show you how 9ine can help your school review its EdTech vendors, identify AI and digital safety risks, and build a more transparent approach for parents and leadership. Book a meeting with our team.