Policy committee sends AI policy to school board for first reading

The Faribault Public School District policy committee voted April 7 to forward a new model policy titled 'Responsible use of artificial intelligence' to the full school board as a first reading.

Tech director Mike Birding attended the meeting to answer questions about the proposal and about how the district would implement the policy. Birding told the committee he had underlined several provisions that use the word "will," stressing the language imposes obligations: "Will means will," he said, noting the distinction matters for training and accountability.

Committee members asked for clarity on several items the model policy addresses. They discussed the definitions section, including a "human-AI-human" approach as a safeguard that keeps humans involved in decisions and endpoints; one member said she appreciated that emphasis, saying she liked that it "puts the human at the beginning and human at the end." Members also pressed staff on how the district would require students to indicate AI use on assignments and what enforcement or academic-integrity response would follow if students failed to disclose use.

Birding and other staff described a layered approach: training for teachers and staff, conversational responses to suspected misuse rather than sole reliance on detection software, and working to design AI-resistant assignments where educationally appropriate. Committee members pressed on vendor agreements, data retention and whether the district could retrieve content stored in third-party AI services; Birding said the district has admin controls for approved tools (for example, some Google Workspace access) but that workarounds or personal accounts could pose data‑access gaps.

Members also asked about equity and access: the policy asks districts to provide necessary devices, connectivity and assistive technologies to those who need them, and the committee discussed whether that obligation applies only on campus or also at home.

The chair said the policy will go to the full board as a first reading, giving board members at least two months to review it; the committee agreed to send the policy forward. No roll-call tally was recorded on the motion at the committee level; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.

The policy will now appear on the school board's first-reading agenda, where board members may request the item return to the committee for further revision before a second reading.