ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools parents are divided over artificial intelligence in the classroom, and the school board is working to address their concerns with an updated policy.
The district is holding a workshop to discuss new guidelines for AI use today, with hopes of having a policy in place before the next school year begins.
More than 5,800 parents responded to a district survey, weighing in on their concerns about AI, which grade levels should have access to it, and how comfortable they felt with their children using it for schoolwork.
Some parents say the technology has no place in the classroom.
“It’s just lazy, to use AI in schools with these kids nowadays, it’s just lazy,” mom Falice McLeod said.
Others argue AI is simply the next step forward and could benefit both students and teachers.
“So, I think if it makes things better, faster, quicker for teachers and easier for them, why not use it?” Christian Negron said.
McLeod said she is not comfortable with students using AI, worrying it could undermine critical thinking and reading comprehension.
“Because now you have kids that are using AI to answer questions on the test, using AI to read a book to them. You know, like at this point they don’t comprehend. They just hear it, but they’re not comprehending,” McLeod said.
Negron disagreed, saying keeping students away from AI tools could actually set them back.
“I mean, it’s the same thing now with coding, AI, all that stuff. It’s just the direction we’re going. To not teach them, we might even be kind of holding them back, you know,” Negron said.
The survey also revealed that some parents worried the district might use AI as a way to reduce human resources.
The district used parent feedback to update its AI guidelines. Key changes include prohibiting student data from being entered into AI programs and banning the use of deepfakes, copyright infringement, and emotional support applications.
Board Member Angie Gallo said during March’s workshop that while AI represents the future of the workforce, safeguards are essential.
“To be able to use AI effectively, you’ve got to be able to think critically, you’ve got to be able to use prompts and the correct prompts, when you’re prompting it in, the information you give back, you’ve got to have the ability to analyze that data,” Gallo said.
“And there are some harms, with AI with students that we have to discuss and we have to address and we have to put guardrails in.”
The board’s workshop is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, where members will discuss the updated draft for the policy.