East Hartford schools to pilot AI tools; district outlines cautious, teacher-first rollout
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Summary
Superintendent Thomas Anderson told the Board of Education the district is one of seven in Connecticut selected for a Department of Education AI pilot. The district will initially give teachers access to selected tools, finalize a statement of purpose and monitor student use; the pilot includes roughly $100,000 for tools.
Superintendent Thomas Anderson told the East Hartford Board of Education that the district will participate in a state Department of Education pilot to test artificial intelligence tools in classrooms.
The pilot matters because it will shape what software and safeguards teachers and students use at middle and high school levels and because the district expects state funding to cover tool purchases. “We are 1 of 7 districts that was selected in Connecticut to be a part of the AI pilot by the Department of Education,” Anderson said, adding the pilot comes with “about a hundred thousand dollars to pay for any of the tools that we're going to use as part of that pilot.”
Anderson said the district will not issue a fixed policy immediately because AI tools and platforms are evolving. Instead, an AI committee has been meeting to draft a position statement that will list which tools may be used, explain acceptable classroom uses and protect student and staff privacy. “All staff and students already sign off on a user agreement to have access or utilize the school's computers as hardware, but also for any software,” Anderson said. He said the district will finalize the statement with feedback from about 60 administrators at an upcoming leadership meeting.
The superintendent described a phased approach: first give teachers access so they can evaluate classroom uses (such as curriculum development, lesson planning and formative assessments), then open tools to students under defined rules. Anderson said the pilot will examine test-security questions for assessments and emphasize equity of access. "So it's really about making sure the security so we think of an assessment, making sure the test security is there and how all those pieces work," he said.
Board members asked whether the initial phase will be teacher-only and whether students' feedback will be part of evaluation. Anderson said the first phase focuses on teachers but that student engagement and feedback will drive classroom practices: "It'll be the teachers in the classroom, but it's going to come from the students as far as what are the needs that they have." He also said the committee will consider privacy and whether data entered into third‑party systems could violate student or staff rights.
The board did not take a formal vote on the AI pilot at this meeting. Anderson said he will circulate the district's position statement after the leadership review and bring further updates to the board as the pilot progresses.
The item signals the district's intent to move cautiously: prioritize teacher preparation, enumerate approved tools and build protections for assessment security and student privacy.