Anne Arundel parents, teachers urge school board to restrict AI in classrooms

Several Anne Arundel County parents and teachers are begging the school board to follow other large districts around the country and ban artificial intelligence from classrooms — at least for now.

“Why are we rushing to embrace AI blindly?” asked Hillary Klemmt, a parent affiliated with the Schools Beyond Screens coalition, at a board meeting this week where members considered the first draft of an AI policy. “Why are we using children as guinea pigs when there is so much at stake?”

Anne Arundel County Public Schools is among handful of Baltimore-area school districts that missed a Thursday deadline to adopt a policy governing AI use, set by state legislators earlier this year. The school system’s draft policy requires AI tools to be vetted for educational value before adoption and emphasizes that the technology may not replace employees’ duties. It also directs the district to establish expectations, conditions and limitations for students’ use of AI.

But members of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education who spoke at the meeting bristled at the idea of rushing to regulate something so complex, and Superintendent Mark Bedell has indicated that he wants to hear from his community before he weighs in on this debate.

“What’s concerning to me is that there is a legislative deadline, because this is an incredibly complicated issue,” said board member Joanna Bache Tobin. “While I think the draft we received is a very good start, I urge the community to look carefully at this.”

Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County have not yet introduced AI policies, let alone passed them, although Howard gave high school students access to Google Gemini earlier this year. Then there’s Fredrick County, whose school board voted earlier this year to ban students’ use of AI outright.

Nationally, a debate rages whether AI might save us all or kill us all. No one seems to agree whether to embrace the new technology or restrain it. Gov. Wes Moore last month unveiled a series of proposals to regulate the AI industry in Maryland.

Supporters of AI use in schools say it can provide students personalized learning and instant feedback. But no one who holds this view spoke at the meeting.

During her testimony, Klemmt argued thaty the technology cannot be used responsibly at school and must be prohibited until all the potential advantages and drawbacks can be studied fully. She also warned that AI could threaten student-teacher relationships and students’ access to physical books.

Middle school art teacher Elizabeth Koons told board members flatly — “AI has no place in the classroom.”

School librarian and parent Suzanne Marcinkiewicz cautioned that AI may be just as dangerous for students as social media. Both products, she noted, are designed to mine users’ data and keep them engaged for as long as possible.

“AI is a constantly evolving for-profit industry that even teachers do not fully understand,” she said.

The series of community meetings hosted by Bedell are set to take place over the next few weeks. He has said he plans to gather feedback about AI use in schools and the state-mandated classroom cellphone ban set to take effect next school year.

The board plans to finalize and adopt an AI policy by mid-December.