Hillsborough school board approves teacher‑facing AI platform, seeks usage updates
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Summary
The Hillsborough County School Board unanimously approved a contract addendum to adopt Magic School, an AI platform for teachers, after staff outlined privacy safeguards and board members requested biannual usage reports and a future approval step before student‑facing rollout.
The Hillsborough County School Board on Feb. 10 unanimously approved an addendum to bring Magic School, an educator‑designed artificial‑intelligence platform, into district classrooms as a teacher tool.
Superintendent Van Ayers and district technology lead Gary Brady described the platform as aligned with the district’s emerging‑technology policy and its AI governance framework and said Magic School meets “top privacy standards.” Brady said the district is authorizing teacher‑facing access only and that student access is not being turned on now. “First and foremost, this is an educational tool,” Brady said, adding that the platform includes moderation features and limits on interactions to reduce risks around self‑harm, violence and hate speech.
Board members asked how the platform would be governed and monitored. Vice Chair Nadia Combs said she wants biannual reports on who is using the program and the extent of use: “I would really like to see a biannual update on the usage of the programs that teachers are using it and how much you’re using it.” Member Jessica Vaughn asked whether any move to student access would return to the board and whether parental consent or additional costs would be required. Brady said district staff and the AI governance committee would make recommendations and that staff could present updates before any student rollout.
Supporters argued the tool saves teachers time on tasks such as worksheet creation and lesson planning while keeping teachers “human‑centric” in the classroom. Brady said worksheet generation was one of the platform’s most used features in pilot classrooms, with “almost 10,000” worksheet generations during the pilot.
The board motion to approve the addendum was made by Member Combs and seconded by Member Rendon and passed unanimously. Van Ayers said Magic School will be implemented first for teachers, with district training and governance oversight; the district will revisit broader uses as the product and policy evolve.
Next steps: staff will implement the teacher rollout and report usage to the board on a schedule the board requested. The district said it would bring information back before turning the platform on for students.