Dear VSB,

Please stop using Microsoft Copilot in schools.

(Open Petition)

Why?

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1. AI is Destroying the Environment.

AI data-centers in developing areas are destroying communities, ecosystems, and resource supplies in developing nations, creating damages too vast to recount here. Further reading in Empire of AI by Karen Hao if you'd like to hear more on the subject.

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2. AI isn't Beneficial to Learning

Copilot AI (Microsoft's rebranding of ChatGPT) will be implemented inside of software like Microsoft Word next year, meaning soon you'll be able to cheat on your homework and never need to open a new tab. It goes without saying, but that isn't amazing for our ability to learn.

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3. Microsoft Doesn't Value Security

Can you think of a single month that's gone by without having any problems with Microsoft's products? Glitches aside, this is an American multi-trillion dollar company with a history of major security vulnerabilities in its closed-source software, all of which is a recipe for student data being leaked.

How Do We Stop Them?

Help Wanted!

Are you a student in Vancouver who supports our mission? Volunteer your support & shoot us an email! (stopcopilot@henryvaniersel.ca)

There are two ways. The first way is by filling out this form. It's for submitting feedback on their AI policy, and you can use it until the form is closed. The other way is by sending an email to info@vsb.bc.ca using the email generator below!

You've got Javascript Disabled!That's fine though, here's a template for you to manually fill out:Dear Vancouver School Board, I am a [Your Position Here] at [Your School Here], and it has been brought to my attention that our school board uses Microsoft's office suite product known as "Microsoft 365 Copilot" (previously "Microsoft Office 365"). Recently, I have realized that the program is problematic: it has multiple problems which means I do not believe it should be used in our schools, and I will discuss these problems now. Microsoft is an American multi-trillion dollar company with a history of security vulnerabilities and bugs (see Microsoft SharePoint Zero-Day, CrowdStrike BSOD issues, ...) which is all incredibly concerning when entrusting someone with information that can link your full legal name, age, and the school you go to, all of which is enough information to follow someone home if leaked. That is the kind of information that can make a problem online escalate into something much more dangerous, which should be avoided as much as possible. Quite recently, Microsoft has initiated the process of introducing "Copilot AI" into their office suite as a part of the recent AI craze, which I believe is antithetical to the mission of schooling: it doesn't support our learning if I have a button, now built into Word, that I can use to cheat on my entire assignment. Even if I don't use it that way, these tools are distracting; I don't believe anyone appreciates a large and colourful button perched atop their ribbon menu that moves everything around just enough to rid everyone of their muscle memory. Perhaps if not an academic concern for most students, then it may be an issue of climate impact: AI data-centers can grow to be the size of university campuses and have destroyed and will continue to destroy ecosystems in third world countries. The impact of AI towards people can also not be understated: people in Africa are forced to train models for cents a day whilst looking at the most disturbing images one could think of to "align" models for safety. Needless to say, none of this is good, and you can not fault anyone for preferring to stay away from AI for these reasons. If by any chance the VSB is not willing to switch away from Microsoft Copilot 365, I strongly advise that the plan which does not include Copilot AI is enabled as a middle ground. There are plenty of available replacements for Microsoft's suite of products, and in particular I'd like to highlight LibreOffice, an alternative office suite which is already used in the Vancouver Public Library and can adequately provide tools for typing documents, creating presentations, designing spreadsheets, and so on. Replacing Teams and Outlook is more challenging, but apps such as Element.io for Teams and Thunderbird for Outlook are strong choices. All the options listed here are privacy respecting and open source, meaning the code is available for public audit and contribution, but other solutions exist. In general, students are also fully capable of using whatever website they choose for these tasks, such as Google Docs. You can learn more at https://stopcopilot.henryvaniersel.ca Sincerely, [Your Name Here]

Timeline

Information about the latest happenings in relation to the VSB & AI.

Winter Break Ends

January 5th, 2026

The ending of winter break allows us to continue our efforts to spread our message throughout schools. We're continuing to push for Copilot to be removed.

Winter Break Begins

December 20th, 2025

Winter break starts, and happens to begin on the same day this website gets unblocked on school WiFi. (Domains <30 days old are automatically blocked). This causes a prolonged pause on reaching students, but after winter break ends, accessing the website will be much easier when in the vicinity of a school.

VSB Creates AI Policy Draft

December 1st, 2025

The VSB releases a rough draft of their planned AI policy open to feedback, accessible here. The policy would create a school system heavily involving AI, specifying use of "school-approved platforms", which likely means exclusively Copilot. A static version of the policy is listed here for archival purposes.

Student Forum Held

November 25th, 2025

The VSB holds a student forum, initially on personal digital devices that transforms into a debate about AI part way through. Throughout this debate held by two pro-AI members of staff at the board, it's let slip that, among other opinions, that AI "music" is something they consider art, that all things invented by humans are good and therefore so is AI (these people are supposed to be in charge of our education), and boredom was expressed when environmental damages of AI was mentioned. These events immediately outlined this website's requirement and created a larger push for this project.

Website is Created

November 19th, 2025

Website is created out of frustration towards the VSB's handling of AI.