School committee adopts AI guidance for students and staff; counsel flags privacy and recording risks

The Springfield City School Committee voted to adopt revised acceptable‑use policies that add explicit guidance on generative artificial intelligence for students and staff, while committee counsel and members urged additional legal review around AI‑enabled recording devices and staff conduct.

Chief Robert Saint Lawrence told the committee the AI guidance is the product of a task force that has worked for roughly a year. "Our final document is the guidance for students on the use of generative artificial intelligence," he said, adding that the policy also strengthens cybersecurity and content‑filtering language.

Concerns about wearables and recordings Vice Chair Naylor raised a specific concern about AI glasses and whether policies name them explicitly. "Sometimes if we don't name things directly, then people will try to act as if they don't know that's part of the conversation," Naylor said, urging explicit wording on smart glasses and similar devices.

District counsel Jeremy Saint Laurent told the committee that staff use of recording devices raises privacy and statutory questions. "We did flag that as an issue... there would also be certain other statutory implications like wiretap if it's like secret recording device," Saint Laurent said, and noted potential FERPA implications and the need for parental consent before recordings in classrooms. He recommended finding a distinct policy home for staff use and incorporating it into staff codes of conduct.

Chief Saint Lawrence and others said student‑side restrictions rely, in part, on existing device and exam rules (DESE guidance was cited, including a prohibition on smart glasses during MCAS testing), and staff guidance will follow with legal vetting. Saint Lawrence said the district maintains a separate guest Wi‑Fi that isolates external users from internal resources.

What was decided The committee approved the student and staff acceptable‑use policies by roll call. Members directed staff to: publish the final documents, begin development of associated professional development for staff, and return with any refined language addressing staff recordings and wearables after legal review.

Next steps The superintendent and legal counsel will draft recommended language for staff conduct regarding recording devices and timely report back to the committee; staff also plan outreach to clarify device rules for volunteers and vendors.