Huntington schools outline cautious rollout of AI tools, set classroom guardrails

The Huntington Union Free School District on March 9 detailed how it is expanding use of artificial intelligence in classrooms while emphasizing privacy, training and limits on student use.

Nancy, introduced as the district irector of data privacy, told the board the district is aiming for "equitable, engaging and personalized learning environments" by using AI to support lesson planning, adaptive learning and translation services for multilingual families. She said Magic School AI is in use across the district and integrates with Google Classroom; Google—amel/Gemini was presented as an additional option for high-school use.

"We want students to be able to create, analyze, collaborate and problem solve using digital tools," Nancy said, adding that AI can save teachers time on routine tasks and free them to focus on instruction. She offered an example of an English teacher using AI to level reading materials and add vocabulary-support images, which she said improved engagement and comprehension.

The presentation included concrete adoption numbers: the district moved from 227 to about 410 educator users of Magic School AI, and reported "generations" (AI outputs) increasing from roughly 5,600 to more than 20,000. The district described the platform features teachers use most: text rewriters, worksheet and quiz generators, and a classroom chatbot called Reyna tied to teacher-provided materials.

To limit misuse, the district said it will use a red/yellow/green guideline. Nancy explained, "red light means it's not permitted; yellow, teacher permission; and green, we're encouraging students to use AI." Examples cited: using AI to write or submit homework is red; teacher-authorized brainstorming or language assistance is yellow; guided practice and study guides can be green.

Board members raised privacy and academic-integrity concerns. A board member asked how the district prevents students from submitting personal essays that could be stored or reused by an AI vendor. Nancy responded that the district's tools are educational-suite products with heightened security and that teachers are trained not to put personal identifiers into prompts: "we are teaching students not to put any personal information," she said.

On implementation, district leaders described required professional development: tech mentors, library media specialists and computer science teachers were trained first and provided turnkey sessions to other staff; the district said every teacher has attended an AI PD session and collegial circles are planned by grade or subject next year to deepen practice.

The board also asked about infrastructure needs. Nancy said the district works with its technology staff to monitor system requirements and upgrade devices as needed; high-school students may have broader access to Google Gemini, and Magic School I can be linked into Google Classroom so teachers set parameters for student use.

District officials emphasized limits and literacy: they warned that AI can hallucinate and contain bias and stressed the importance of teaching verification, critical thinking and ethical use. The presentation closed with a pledge to develop comprehensive use guidelines covering academic integrity, transparency, privacy and equity, and to engage families in the rollout.

The board thanked presenters and signaled continued oversight as the district moves from training to more student-facing AI pilots.