Like many school districts, finding funds for technology, and AI in particular, was a challenge for Llano Independent School District in Texas.
“We’re in a small rural district,” says Maurie Beasley, the district’s Network/System Administrator. “Literally, we haven’t had an increase in our budget over the last 20 years to account for any growth.”
By using open-source resources, Llano ISD has been able to create its own custom AI chatbot that provides teachers and staff access to large language models via API (application programming interfaces – rules and protocols that define how apps communicate with one another). This flexible pay-per-use approach allows the IT team to control costs while providing access to multiple AI platforms. The district does not have to invest in large upfront AI license purchases, and maintains the ability to change/update platforms and access as needed.
“Since we only pay as we use, with six teachers when we piloted last year, the highest bill we had was $687 for a month of AI usage,” says Beasley. “And that was with them utilizing it every single day.”
Creating An AI ‘Fuel Gauge’
Most school districts buy site licenses for platforms, but given Llano’s tight budget, they were looking for a more affordable approach, says Jim Beasley, the district’s Director of Technology (and Maurie’s husband). “I can’t wake up one morning with a $1,000 bill because somebody decided to run the AI all night. I can’t go, ‘Oh, oops. I got a $5,000 token bill this month.’”
A self-proclaimed “integration specialist,” he engineered “Agnes”, the district’s proprietary AI chatbot, which uses APIs to set AI usage and spending budgets for individuals to counter that. He utilized Open Web UI, an open-source environment to create the platform, and has customized it to fit the district’s AI needs.
When accessing Agnes, users are presented with a dropdown list of AI models available to them, which can be customized for individuals or entire departments. In addition to already ensuring each choice is COPPA- and FERPA-compliant, each product is marked with dollar signs (like a Yelp listing) to indicate the cost.
“So, the API first asks: ‘Do you have enough money in your monthly budget? Yes. Then you can go ahead and go through,” Jim says. “Or, ‘No. I’m sorry. You’ve exceeded your budget for the month.’”
“It’s almost like a fuel gauge,” adds Maurie. “And so, if I’m a teacher, I log into Agnes, I’m going to see I have a full tank at the beginning of the month. And then as that fuel tank goes down, that’s when I’m going to drop to a cheaper model because I don’t want to run out of what’s in my tank.”
Thanks to the flexibility of Agnes, Llano educators have access to the latest versions of AI models and tools such as GPT-5 and Gemini, and Jim can easily switch out of outdated tools or add newer ones such as ones from Anthropic. The system also allows for all the required content filtering for students.
Advice For Districts Looking To Provide AI On A Budget
“The first piece of advice I give everyone is start with what you’re trying to accomplish,” says Jim Beasley, who recommends creating a spreadsheet with what you expect from an AI platform. “Think like an IT person first. You’ve got to create accounts. You have to delete accounts. You have to be able to look at histories. You have to be able to back it up. You have to be able to restore it if it crashes. So make a list of all your standard IT functions and make sure that whatever you bring into play can do those things.”
He also suggests not developing any chatbot completely in-house because the technology is evolving so quickly, and there are quality open-source tools already available. “In my case, I like Open Web UI. There’s another one I looked at called Anything LLM.”
Beasley also cautions to not let perfect be the enemy of good when trying to create an access tool. “There is no perfect AI yet,” he says. “If you think it’s not going to give weird answers, then you haven’t looked at any of the AIs. They all have a disclaimer at the bottom.”
Ultimately, “If I don’t have a certain number of teachers using AI every single day, I cannot justify a return on my investment as to what I’m spending per year for that product,” Maurie says, “We need to do AI as cheaply as possible because we don’t have the money to go buy it anywhere else.”