The MTSBA policy “boilerplate” language, which district school boards can tweak depending on their specific needs, was created in conjunction with the Office of Public Instruction and the Montana Digital Academy and was released last fall.
School boards in Missoula, Florence and Stevensville are considering adopting this recommended AI language, which is intentionally broad to continue to apply as AI technology rapidly develops.
MTSBA Director Lance Melton said while the organization has had an academic honesty policy for years, this policy is meant to serve as a guide for how best to use AI, and also factor in legal student privacy and confidentiality requirements.
The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, protects students' and parents' personally identifiable information, which includes students' names, addresses, Social Security numbers and date of birth. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, may also be applicable for student and family health information.
In an academic environment, teachers shouldn’t use a free AI tool and feed in a student exam with names to get an AI analysis of how to grade their work, Melton gave as an example.
SCHOOL BOARDS DISCUSS AI POLICY ADOPTION
The MTSBA policy establishes guidelines for “responsible, ethical, and equitable use and integration of artificial intelligence” while also “safeguarding privacy, empowering educators, promoting transparency, and ensuring human oversight.”
In discussing what AI policy language to adopt in Stevensville, the district’s AI Taskforce set out to do some independent research to ensure the policy made sense for the district. Taskforce members read a book on AI published in the last two years, they told the school board during its May meeting.
Superintendent Jon Konen said the book they read was “probably outdated” already as this technology advances so quickly, and recommended the board go with a more general AI policy so it wouldn’t need to be constantly updated. The board discussed it as an information item and will vote on whether to adopt an AI policy at a future meeting.
The Florence-Carlton School Board reviewed the MTSBA policy during their May meeting. Board Chairperson Ben Crocker described AI as “not just a moving target, a fast moving target,” and Superintendent Todd Fiske agreed.
Fiske noted other districts in Ravalli County like in Stevensville had spent so much time diving into learning about AI, including a book study.
“In the middle of the book read the third edition came out,” Fiske said. “Which speaks to how rapidly things are changing.”
Fiske included in the board’s packet an AI use guideline for teachers to use in the classroom to help communicate to students their expectations for AI use in their coursework — which includes everything from no AI use allowed, to full AI use with human oversight using a zero to four scale.
Missoula County Public Schools is considering adding language to its personnel policy which is providing guidelines for how teachers and staff can use AI in the classroom, saying it can be used as a tool for lesson planning and productivity, but shouldn’t “act as a substitute for teaching or to replace the teacher’s professional judgment.”
“Teachers and staff are expected to model appropriate and ethical use of AI tools for students,” the policy draft reads.
The MCPS policy says teachers cannot input any student names, grades or other personally identifiable information into AI tools, and teachers may be required by administration to disclose the use of AI tools.
The MCPS board previously approved adding language with guidelines for AI use with students, saying AI tools may only be used “responsibly and for educational purposes.”
The policy says AI can’t be used to cheat, but also students cannot violate copyright or other laws in using AI. It also restricts disseminating “harmful or inappropriate content” using AI.
The board will vote on whether to adopt the AI policy language guiding teacher use during a future meeting.
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