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Rockingham County Board adopts AI guidelines and timeline for classroom use
Summary
The Rockingham County Board of Education approved a district AI guidelines document and adopted a timeline to phase AI literacy and teacher training into K–12 classrooms, with safeguards for privacy, age‑appropriate use and citation practices.
At a meeting at the Central Administrative Offices in Eden, the Rockingham County Board of Education voted to adopt a set of AI guidelines and a recommended timeline to introduce age‑appropriate AI literacy and teacher training across district schools.
Sherry Barnett, who presented the six‑page guidelines, told the board that the document is based on North Carolina Department of Public Instruction considerations and is intended to prepare students for a workforce that increasingly values AI skills. "AI has been around for a long time. What's new is this idea of generative AI," Barnett said, adding that students should learn how to evaluate AI outputs and cite AI when they use it. She highlighted a milestone approach that limits student access in early grades and increases responsibility by high school: "Our kindergarteners are gonna graduate in 2037. What skills do they need?" Barnett asked.
Barnett outlined a continuum for classroom assignments — from no AI use to fully AI‑empowered tasks — and recommended teacher‑defined expectations for individual assignments. The guidelines also emphasize data privacy and vetting tools for age appropriateness; Barnett said she has worked with district technology staff to screen vendors and that the guidelines are intended as a living document that will be updated as tools evolve.
Following the presentation, a board member moved to adopt the timeline and the board approved the motion by voice vote. The adoption authorizes the district to begin professional development for teachers and to schedule community and parent information sessions as the next steps.
The guidelines themselves, Barnett said, recommend starting AI exposure with guided, teacher‑driven lessons in elementary grades, moving to constrained classroom tools in middle school and to more open use with explicit instruction and citation expectations by the end of high school. Barnett also noted that the district produced an audio version of the guidelines using an AI tool and included a citation to the AI support in the document.
The board did not record a roll‑call tally for the adoption; the motion passed by voice vote. The district will return to the board with implementation details and materials for parent/community meetings.
