Fairfax County Public Schools built a Chrome extension to block AI-generated answers from Google searches on student Chromebooks. The tool closes a gap the district's generative-AI ban could not reach on its own.

The extension, called FCPS Customizer, hides Google's AI Overviews, search summaries and image-search features. FCPS's Department of Information Technology built it in-house after Google's administrator controls offered no way to turn off AI Overviews, the district said in a statement reported by WTOP. The effort follows questions raised by Dranesville District board chair Robyn Lady about how broadly the district can enforce its AI restrictions.

The district is piloting the tool at 11 elementary and middle schools and collecting teacher feedback. Full rollout to all FCPS elementary and middle schools is expected by November 2026. The Wall Street Journal first reported the district's approach.

The extension traces back to a July 16 Fairfax County School Board vote that banned generative AI for elementary students. That vote also restricted secondary students to AI use specifically authorized in writing by a principal or the superintendent. It passed 9-1, with one abstention. Lady, whose district covers McLean and Langley pyramid schools, voted yes.

She raised questions about the ban's practical reach during the July 16 debate. "I could live with it through grade eight … But I don't know what that means, because if a kid is writing a paper in Word, how do you turn off spell check?" Lady said at the meeting, according to FFXnow's July 23 report.

The FCPS Customizer addresses one piece of that problem. FCPS already blocks standalone AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on student devices.

A standard Google search now surfaces an AI-generated summary at the top of results unless a user manually adds "-ai" to the query. The new extension removes those summaries automatically.

FCPS said the extension steers students toward primary sources instead of AI-generated summaries. The district reported early positive feedback from teachers, though it did not name specific schools or share details.

The July 16 board vote also directed the superintendent to deliver a comprehensive inventory of generative AI tools on FCPS-issued devices by Jan. 14, 2027. A separate pilot for a "whitelist-only" firewall at six schools is due to the board by Dec. 10.

FCPS teachers have access to a ChatGPT for Teachers tool through a separate pilot program.