# Google Plans School Controls to Keep Search Available With Gemini Apps Off By Simon Yoon Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/51253 Published: 2026-11-08T01:39:39.000Z Updated: 2026-11-08T01:39:39.000Z Section: Technology > Administrators can enable Google Search separately, but AI Overviews and AI Mode will remain part of Search. Google has not announced an option to disable those features alone. Google plans to let K-12 schools keep Google Search available while disabling standalone Gemini apps, but its upcoming account controls offer no separate setting for AI features inside Search. Administrators seeking to block AI Overviews and AI Mode would have to turn off Search itself. On Nov. 3, Google said K-12 student accounts would start with Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search turned off until administrators enable them. Google later clarified that each service can be enabled on its own, so turning off Gemini apps does not require schools to disable Search. That clarification narrows [an earlier report that said schools blocking AI would lose Search](). The upcoming controls distinguish access to standalone student apps from access to Search: administrators may keep the search service on, while AI features built into it remain available. Google has not announced a way to separate those Search features from the rest of the service. In practical terms, the controls separate access to the listed products while leaving Search’s AI components bundled with the search service. Google Vice President and General Manager of Education Chris Phillips described the connection at a Nov. 2 meeting with educators: “Search and AI are deeply integrated.” AI Mode and AI Overviews are designed to guide students through problems step by step as part of Google’s classroom-learning approach. Google plans to pilot Guided Learning in select U.S. schools later in November. The feature is designed to prompt students through problem-solving rather than give them direct answers. Google has not set an exact date for the account controls and plans to share more information with schools in the coming months. Neuroscientist and former teacher Jared Cooney Horvath questioned the learning rationale for integrating AI into Search, asking, “But from a pure learning angle, why?” Districts are setting different limits on classroom AI use. New York City announced Sept. 2 a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI for students in 2-K through eighth grade during the 2026-27 school year. The policy affects nearly 600,000 public school students, about two-thirds of the system’s enrollment. ## Links in this article - [an earlier report that said schools blocking AI would lose Search](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/48038)