Boston Schools Prohibit Any Non-Sanctioned Uses of AI

Source Domain: www.govtech.com

(TNS) — Boston Public Schools laid out a new policy to tackle emerging issues of artificial intelligence in schools for the School Committee’s consideration, taking aim at regulating use in classrooms, technological literacy training and addressing harm to student through tools like deepfakes.

“This policy is grounded in a simple idea: AI must serve our values, not define them,” BPS Chief Technology Officer Lisa Irey said at a School Committee meeting Wednesday. “We must protect student privacy and be clear about the benefits of AI while ensuring students have the skills to think critically as we prepare for the future. All members of our BPS community deserve the opportunity to develop their AI literacy skills, not so that they are required to use it, but so they can recognize it, question it, and make informed decisions about it.”

The AI policy proposal builds on guidance first released by BPS in 2023 and update in 2025, as well as feedback from over 500 staff, students, families and community partners, district officials said.

Superintendent Mary Skipper said the policy was designed to give “healthy guardrails” that community members have been seeking, with sections on use guidelines, student safety protocols and protections, academic integrity expectations, and AI training and literacy requirements. The policy also provides for regular updates, with officials noting technology is “evolving rapidly.”

The policy presentation Wednesday follows Mayor Michelle Wu’s announcement in March that Boston would become the first public school district in the country to ensure AI fluency in schools with a targeted curriculum across high schools starting in the upcoming school year.

The policy prohibits a wide range of use, including a strict vetting process for any AI tools approved for use within BPS; a ban on entering any student data into unapproved AI resources; a ban on use as the…

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