Richmond Community Schools presents AI plan, selects Magic School for student-facing instruction

Richmond Community Schools staff told the Board of Trustees on Dec. 11 that the district is using a state digital learning grant to provide teachers and students with access to the Magic School AI platform and to embed AI literacy across professional development and classroom work.

The district’s e-learning team, represented in the meeting by Tim Monk and Jeremy Hill, described a sequence of training since the arrival of widely available generative AI in late 2022 and said the Magic School tool was selected because it includes a student-facing component and includes contractual protections against harvesting student data. "Let's plan instead of ban," Monk told the board, summarizing the team's approach. "We're not gonna outsource the thinking. We're just gonna outsource the doing," he added.

Why it matters: district staff framed the effort as a combination of teacher training, classroom guardrails and student-facing instruction intended to reduce an emerging digital divide between students who learn to use AI tools and those who do not. The presentation said the district received Magic School access through a digital learning grant from the Indiana Department of Education for the 2024–25 school year and is continuing building-level and corporation-wide professional development.

Details and rollout: staff told the board they provided an initial professional development for all teachers on Jan. 6, 2023, then continued building-level PD, conferences and targeted training. The district wrote the state grant last spring to fund Magic School for 2024–25 and reported ongoing PD sessions scheduled in January and additional training planned for a summer learning conference on June 12, 2025. Jeremy Hill said, "AI is a toddler," to emphasize that the technology is new and flexible guidance is needed.

Privacy and product choice: presenters said they vetted multiple vendors and chose Magic School in part because the grant required a student-facing tool and because Magic School’s terms limit broad data harvesting. Staff also said Richmond teachers have premium access to another product identified in the meeting as "Different" (provided temporarily for premium access) through Dec. and extended for teacher access through June 30, 2025; the e-learning team encouraged teachers to continue to evaluate multiple products. The team noted other partnerships mentioned in the presentation, including Ivy Tech and a news-literacy curriculum used to teach students about misinformation and AI-produced content.

Classroom practice and academic integrity: the presenters said the district is emphasizing AI literacy rather than outright bans. Monk described a framework in which teachers identify which parts of an assignment can leverage AI and which parts must be produced under direct supervision: "If you want them to write that final part on pencil and paper in front of you, good for you. They've done the work and the thinking." The team also said Magic School lets teachers and students create lessons and resources that the district can retain in Canvas and other systems.

Training and peer leadership: the e-learning team said student leaders are already assisting teachers and creating asynchronous lessons for peers, and that peer-to-peer leadership is a district strategy for closing equity gaps created by differing access to technology.

What the board will see next: staff said they will implement planned PD sessions and bring administrative guidelines and any proposed formal policies to the board for review as needed. No formal board action on AI policy or purchases was taken at the Dec. 11 meeting; the presentation was informational and focused on implementation plans and training schedules.

Ending: district staff asked the board to support continued training and said they will return with more detailed guidance and recommended administrative policies if and when the administration determines them necessary.