Fremont 25 AI team lays out cautious rollout, asks board for PD support and safeguards
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Summary
District AI team presented a year‑two update, offered an "Ethos" for responsible AI use in classrooms, requested board support for professional development and conference attendance, and warned against relying on imperfect AI‑detection tools.
Marcy Campbell, lead of the Fremont County School District #25 AI team, told the board the group has expanded from nine members in year one to a broader district team and has run pilot projects for classroom use of AI tools.
“We were here last year as a team as well on year 1 with our AI,” Campbell said, describing pilots of Magic School AI for K–8 and School AI for grades 9–12 and a plan to grow teacher “AI champions” to support colleagues. Campbell said the team has run mini professional‑development days and will present a concurrent session for instructional facilitators in April.
Alicia Sears, who presented the district’s draft Ethos for responsible AI use, said the document emphasizes ethical, transparent and human‑centered approaches and prioritizes student‑data protections. “We wanna make sure that AI is used to support academic integrity, that we’re transparent about how and when we can use AI,” Sears said.
Michelle Anderson, another committee member, described slow, deliberate classroom rollouts and the district’s decision to offer a menu of supported tools rather than forcing a single platform. Anderson said the district purchased Magic School for K–8 and School AI for grades 9–12 and that Google Gemini will remain available via existing Google licensing.
Campbell and colleagues stressed teacher oversight and platform monitoring features for student use and urged administrators and facilitators to lead parent training and community outreach. The team also cautioned against automated AI‑detection tools as unreliable: “There was actually a lawsuit in California last year with that, and the parents won the lawsuit against the district because there was not a policy put into place,” Campbell warned, arguing that teachers should verify student work through conversation and authentic writing samples.
The presentation also proposed an AI literacy challenge for staff next year and recommended stipends (supported from district technology budgets) for committee members who serve as AI champions. The team asked the board to consider sending members to national conferences to sustain momentum and to support a PD proposal in the coming year.
What’s next: the AI team will continue pilots, follow up with building facilitators after spring break, and return with more specifics about facilitator sessions and parent‑training plans.
