Should AI be used in Baltimore County classrooms? Here’s what school board candidates think.

As an election looms, the Baltimore County Board of Education is debating what to do about growing calls to limit or ban artificial intelligence in classrooms.

Board members are working to catch up with the requirements of a new state law requiring school systems to put guardrails around the rapidly evolving technology. Already, Frederick County Public Schools banned AI for all students in the district earlier this month.

We asked candidates in contested races for seats on Baltimore County’s school board: How should AI be used in classrooms?

Here’s where they stand.

Students should learn to use AI responsibly

Candice Logan-Washington

The District 1 candidate said AI should be treated as a tool that students can learn to use “responsibly, ethically, safely, in ways that strengthen learning rather than replace thought.”

Logan-Washington said officials should consider age, development needs, and the district’s purpose for using the technology as part of a broader conversation about screens in schools.

The technology shouldn’t replace reading, hands-on learning and human interaction, she said.

Rod McMillion

McMillion said Baltimore County students need to be exposed to AI. Part of the reason he’s vocal about supporting library media specialists in middle and high schools, who were recently required to teach two classes on top of their regular duties, is because they need to teach students how to use AI responsibly, he said.

“We don’t want them to be ignorant about it,” the District 7 candidate said.

And there should be consequences when students use it irresponsibly, McMillion said, including when they cheat on assignments.

Stacy McNish

McNish said AI is a tool that can be abused and misused, but it’s not an evil technology, as some have alleged. Educators should decide whether it’s used in class, she said.

“I can think of so many different ways that it could be utilized in school in a productive way,” the District 7 candidate said.

For example, an assignment could ask students to draft an essay, then try to duplicate that essay with AI by giving prompts to a large language model, said McNish. That exercise could help students with their critical thinking skills, she said.

AI doesn’t belong in schools

Lisa Mack

Mack said AI does not have a place in school. The former English teacher at the Community College of Baltimore County said students would benefit from learning traditional research skills instead of relying on a chatbot.

Mack said she sees AI’s benefits outside of the classroom, like when healthcare professionals use it as a second set of eyes. But students should research the “old-fashioned way.”

“I don’t think it teaches kids independent thought, and I do worry about how it limits social interaction in a classroom setting where there should be robust discussion,” the District 1 candidate said.

AI should be limited in schools

Maggie Litz Domanowski

Domanowski said students need to learn how to read books and write without AI. The technology needs to be restricted so students aren’t using it to write papers or answer their math problems.

AI can be useful, she said, and it’s not going away.

“It’s only going to get bigger and bigger, but our kids shouldn’t be learning from it,” the District 3 candidate said.

Kelli Slattery McClelland

The District 3 candidate said AI use in Baltimore County schools should be minimized until the district’s policy is in place.

McClelland said she would support a policy that protects student data and addresses how AI use can support learning. She said she’d want to know if AI was “moving the needle” on student outcomes.

Darren M. Badillo

Badillo said he’d have to do more research about how other school systems use AI before commenting on whether it has a place in Baltimore County schools. The District 6 candidate said it could have benefits but, if he were elected, he’d push for less screen time, more play and more writing with a pencil and paper.

No response

Christina Pumphrey

Pumphrey, a District 6 candidate, did not respond to an interview request.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.