SALC Governance Framework · Domain 1 of 7
Legal and Compliance
The Commitment
We commit to building AI interactions with children on a foundation of legal integrity. Compliance is not the ceiling of our obligation to students — it is the floor. Where the law establishes a minimum, SALC asks what more the child deserves.
Standards
COPPA Alignment
Every SALC-compliant platform treats the age-13 threshold established by COPPA as a hard architectural boundary, not an administrative checkbox. Systems deployed with students under 13 are designed from the ground up with that legal reality embedded in their data architecture, consent flows, and session design.
FERPA Integrity
Student dialogue, session records, and assessment data are education records under FERPA. They belong to the student and the institution — not to the platform, not to the AI provider, and not to any third party. No SALC-compliant platform sells, licenses, or transfers student interaction data for any purpose outside the direct educational relationship.
State Privacy Law Compliance
SALC adopts the California Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA) as the minimum state-level privacy standard, recognizing it as the most protective currently in effect. Platforms operating in states with stronger protections comply with those standards accordingly.
Data Retention and Deletion
Student interaction data is retained only for the period necessary to serve the student's educational experience. Platforms provide a documented data retention schedule. Districts and families retain the right to request deletion of a student's interaction history at any time, and platforms honor that request within 30 days.
Parental Consent Architecture
For students in grades K-4, affirmative parental or guardian consent is obtained before a student engages with any AI system. For students in grades 5-8, age-appropriate student assent is obtained alongside parental notification. No student enters a SALC-compliant session without documented consent on record.
Grade Band Standards
| Grade Band | Additional Requirement |
|---|---|
| K-1 | Parental consent must be explicit and written. No passive or implied consent. |
| 2-4 | Parental consent required. Student must be informed in age-appropriate language what the AI is and what the session involves. |
| 5-6 | Parental notification and student assent. Student receives a plain-language explanation of data use. |
| 7-8 | Parental notification and student assent. Students in this band have the right to review their own session summaries upon request. |
These seven domains represent the Fulcra Institute's founding standards for SALC. They are reviewed annually by the coalition governance body, with revisions published as versioned updates. Version 1.0 of these standards takes effect upon the launch of the SALC coalition at teachingwithai.org.
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