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Committee advances AI guardrails, limits elementary use and sends policies to full board
Summary
At its May 11 meeting the Concord School Board communication and policy committee moved updated acceptable-use and generative‑AI (EHAG) drafts to the full board after hearing staff proposals that ban AI in elementary classrooms, pilot district-hosted models at the high school and require protections for student data.
The Concord School Board communications and policy committee voted May 11 to forward updated technology and generative‑AI policy drafts to the full board after a detailed presentation from district staff on how the schools plan to manage AI use.
Terry Wolf, who led the staff presentation, told the committee the district's AI committee — convened for two years — reached a "strong consensus that we don't think we should be using AI in elementary schools." Wolf said the district favors embedding digital‑literacy lessons at the elementary level rather than deploying AI tools in classrooms.
Wolf outlined a tiered approach: elementary students would receive digital‑literacy instruction; middle schools would continue targeted lessons about risks and algorithmic behavior; and high schools would host pilots and consistent classroom expectations. "The high school is where so much of the discussion around AI is going to be," Wolf said, describing planned pilots including one AP classroom and experiments with commercial tools such as CoPilot and Gemini.
Wolf also said the district has built an internal model: "Our IT department has built its own large language model," he told the committee, adding that keeping data "behind our own firewall" is a key safeguard. He reiterated a strict data‑privacy boundary: "No student data is allowed," a point members repeated as a nonnegotiable protection.
The committee reviewed a repeal‑and‑replace update to Acceptable Use policy 5‑42 (last revised in 2004) and a separate EHAG (generative‑AI) draft adapted from the New Hampshire School Board Association. Members suggested minor formatting edits, cross‑references between the two documents, and broader language so the policies remain relevant as technology evolves.
Committee members also discussed prohibited uses including deepfakes and how the district would coordinate enforcement with existing bullying, harassment and legal avenues. Members emphasized flexible, age‑appropriate discipline and consistent classroom norms so teachers treat AI use uniformly.
Two separate motions passed by voice vote: the committee approved forwarding the revised acceptable‑use policy and the EHAG/generative‑AI draft to the full board for consideration. Chair Cara Meeker and other members said staff and teacher representatives would be invited to the full‑board discussion to explain classroom implications.
The committee asked staff to prepare handbook updates over the summer to reflect policy changes and to return to the committee or full board with clarifications about enforcement, training and pilot results.
