Policy, Ethical, & Legal Considerations
School leaders must prioritize policy, ethical, and legal considerations when integrating AI into educational settings to ensure a safe, fair, and effective learning environment. Adhering to relevant laws, addressing ethical concerns, and complying with data protection regulations not only protects students, educators, and families but also sustains community trust. Engaging legal counsel and involving community members—such as parents, teachers, and technology experts—further helps administrators mitigate risks and shape responsible AI policies.
Learn what Task Force Leaders say about Policy, Ethical, & Legal Considerations
Table of Contents
We identify four key areas for school and district administrators to address:
1. Approaches for Integrating AI into Existing Policies:
Determining whether AI warrants standalone policies or can be embedded within Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs), technology plans, or broader district guidelines. Where AI supplements existing tasks, current policies may suffice, though incorporating AI into existing policies can improve clarity and remove ambiguity. Where AI is used for new tasks or autonomous functions, standalone policies on AI are likely necessary
2. Policy Safeguards:
Establishing guardrails around AI usage (e.g., acceptable scenarios, prohibited activities), articulating transparency, oversight, and accountability measures, and clearly defining repercussions for policy violations.
4. Copyright Safeguards:
Providing clear guidance on the fair use of AI-generated or AI-assisted content—particularly regarding text, images, and multimedia—while maintaining academic integrity and intellectual property rights.
Resources Highlight: NEOLA
A few Florida districts have leveraged NEOLA for guidance on drafting and updating policies. Check out their website to see if it can help your district, too! If you are beginning the AI policy process – contact us to learn more about the experience of our districts!
Developing Guidelines at Your School/District
Adapted from AI for Education ‘Guide to Developing an AI Policy For Your School’
Guiding Questions
When starting to draft or refine your policies, encourage school and/or district teams to explore questions such as:
- How are students and teachers already using AI in and out of the classroom, and what benefits are they experiencing?
- What key problems of practice or areas of opportunity do teachers and staff see where AI could provide support?
- What potential challenges or risks might arise as AI is used in these areas, and how can we address them proactively?
- How have recent AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) affected teaching, learning, and administrative practices in your school?
- What successes or positive changes have been observed, and what lessons have been learned?
- What are your biggest concerns about AI use this year, and what ethical questions are most relevant to your community?
- How can these concerns be balanced with the opportunities AI presents?
- How can existing academic and behavioral policies be updated to safely and effectively include AI tools?
- What types of professional development are needed for educators and staff to effectively use AI and meet instructional goals?
- How can family outreach be enhanced to educate parents, caregivers, and guardians about AI’s benefits, risks, and role in learning?
Key Steps
Establish a Shared AI Literacy Plan
Ensure students, staff, and families have a clear, accessible foundation of knowledge about what AI is—and isn’t—through PD and community workshops.
Draft Clear, Flexible Guidelines
Define role-specific guidance and language along with acceptable and prohibited uses for AI with multiple means of representing the information to support all community members.
Engage the Broader Community
Include parents, local industry representatives, and community organizations in policy discussions and solicit ongoing feedback to refine or adapt the guidelines.
Recognize an Evolving Policy
Present AI guidelines as “living documents” and schedule regular check-ins to evaluate successes, identify gaps, and refine guidelines as new tools and challenges emerge.
What to Include
Appropriate Use of AI Tools
- Establish expectations for when and how staff may use AI, including training on the responsible use of AI tools to protect student data, ensure fairness, and maintain accountability.
- Establish consistent syllabi and/or course policies to enable transparency and accountability.
- Outline when and how students may use AI assistance on assignments or activities or whether such activities should rely solely on student-generated work.
- Address the level of teacher oversight required when students employ AI resources.
Tracking & Documenting AI Use
- Establish expectations for citing or acknowledging AI contributions (e.g., “Assisted by AI tool XYZ”).
- Promote transparency so educators and peers understand how AI shaped the final outcome.
Data Privacy & Security
- Define how students and staff should protect sensitive information when using AI tools (e.g., FERPA/COPPA compliance).
- Ensure there is clarity about when personal information (PII) or school-specific data must never be shared, such as with with external AI systems, and when it may be shared (e.g., with an internal, contracted AI tool).
Academic Integrity & Fair Use
- Identify potential areas where AI could compromise originality or honesty, and outline consequences.
- Address fair use of AI-generated materials, especially regarding copyright or ownership issues.
Common Issues to Consider
- Unreliable AI Outputs: AI may produce inaccurate responses (hallucinations) or reflect algorithmic biases.
- Ethical Implications & Biases: In addition to academic dishonesty concerns, AI may inadvertently reinforce stereotypes or inequities.
- Faulty AI Detection Tools: Tools intended to identify AI-generated work can yield false positives or negatives, sometimes harming students who are nonnative English speakers.
- Overreliance on AI: Students might overuse AI, limiting their own development of critical thinking or creativity.
Examples of AI Usage (adapted from AI for Education)
Appropriate Use
- Explain topic in a way that I can understand
- Help me brainstorm & explore ideas
- Help me study for an upcoming assessment
- Provide feedback on my work for areas of improvement
- Provide appropriate disclosure of all AI use
Inappropriate Use
- Using AI without permission from teacher
- Completing an entire assignment, homework, or assessment with AI
- Not reviewing & verifying AI response for hallucinations or inaccuracies
- Not revising the AI output so that it reflects your human voice and style
- Not being transparent about & disclosing or citing your work with generative AI
Resources
Resources for Updating Previous Policies or Drafting New AI Policies:
- TeachAI Toolkit and Foundational Policy Ideas for AI in Education
- AI for Education Policy Guide
- EDSAFE AI Alliance SAFE Framework
Kapor Center Responsible AI and Tech Justice: A Guide for K-12 Education
Strategies for Co-Designing and Introducing Your AI Policies
During Policy Updates and/or Creation
School Level
Hands-On Workshops: Encourage teachers to share how they’re already experimenting with AI, discuss challenges, and co-develop best practices.
Community Level
Virtual Learning Sessions: Coordinate parent and student nights to demonstrate AI tools and discuss school concerns.
Surveys: Share out quick, actionable surveys for parents and the community.
Class Level
Co-Create Classroom Rules: Construct a Guiding Commitments (below) with your students.
Student-Led Infographics or Videos: Encourage students to create materials explaining key AI policies or best practices, building ownership and awareness.
Introduction of AI Policies
School Level
PD Sessions: Present AI policy basics; demonstrate common AI tools; gather faculty input on potential pitfalls and successes.
AI Cohorts: Have AI Ambassador teachers lead peer workshops or learning cohorts demonstrating policies in action.
Community Level
Kick-Off Assemblies or Virtual Forums: Launch the AI policy publicly to inform the broader community and highlight responsible usage.
Make sure to have multiple accessible representations of your policies for all parents and guardians!
Class Level
Case Studies & Debates: Present real or hypothetical scenarios involving AI misuse, biases, or success stories; foster critical discussion.
Personal Scenarios & Reflection: Ask students to reflect on how they might (or already do) use AI tools in completing school assignments, encouraging honest
Community Connection for Safe and Effective Use
Strengthening AI practices in education calls for collective understanding and open dialogue among students, educators, families, and local partners. Below are two brief activities that encourage collaborative exploration of AI’s role, highlighting ethical considerations and shared responsibilities.
The Case of Generative AI: Redefining Original Work
This activity can be done in classrooms, via virtual workshops, or professional development sessions and centers on the concept of “original work” where AI tools can assist with tasks like research, writing, or problem solving.
Steps:
- Establish a scale that identifies scenarios ranging from minimal AI use (e.g., grammar checks) to heavy AI reliance (e.g., fully generated essays)
- Have participants brainstorm different scenarios and place them on the scale or spectrum indicating whether the work is primarily “student-produced” or “AI-generated”
Discussion Points
- At what point does a piece of work shift from being student-produced to AI-generated?
- How might different forms of AI support still respect original thinking and authenticity?
- What role does the data used by AI have in terms of identifying originality? Are there any copyright issues if the data used by AI was not consented for use?
The goal of this activity is to come to a shared understanding of what is “original work” and aligning that definition with your school’s integrity standards. This approach can also give students agency and voice in decision-making surrounding AI usage.
Drafting Guiding Commitments for Your School
Empower students and educators to articulate mutual rights and responsibilities regarding AI use in the classroom, ensuring balanced protections and opportunities for all.
Steps:
- Invite each group (students, teachers, admin) to propose “commitments” they believe are essential (e.g., Transparent Use, Data Privacy & Security, Student Agency).
- Combine overlapping ideas into a concise set of guiding principles—each “commitment” paired with actionable approaches:
Our school community is committed to protecting the personal and academic data of all of our members. In order to do that, we are responsible for following established data security protocols, using strong passwords, and promptly reporting any data breaches or suspicious activities.
- Compile the final statements into a one-page “Guiding Commitments for AI Integration” prominently displayed in learning spaces.
The goal of this activity is to showcase a shared commitment to fostering a learning environment in which AI and technology supports, rather than undermines, teaching and learning.
Additional Resources for Responsible Use
Check out these great resources to use at your school!
- UNESCO’s Guidance for generative AI in education and research
- TeachAI’s Foundational Policy Ideas for AI in Education
- AI for Education’s How to Use AI Responsibly EVERY Time and Education AI Policy Exploration
- Everyday AI’s EdAI Professional Development (PD) Network and Program
- Code.org’s AI and Ethics and Societal Impact and Generative AI lessons
- Foundry10’s AI Together Workshop
Relevant Laws and Policies for K-12 Florida Schools
FERPA
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: Protects the privacy of student education records & gives parents certain rights regarding student education records.
- When using AI tools, schools must ensure that student data remains under the direct control of the school or district. Personally identifiable information related to students should not be released to third parties without parental consent. Vendors (e.g., AI platforms or contracted tools) may perform institutional services for the school but must agree to comply with the same data privacy obligations.
COPPA
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act: Imposes requirements on websites and online services directed to children under 13 years of age, or that collect personal information from a child under 13.
- AI chatbots, personalized learning platforms, and other technologies collecting personal information and user data on children under 13 must require parental consent.
CIPA
Children’s Internet Protection Act: Requires schools and libraries that receive federal funds for Internet access or internal connections to adopt and enforce policies to protect minors from harmful content online.
- Schools must ensure AI content filters align with CIPA protections against harmful content.
IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Ensures students with disabilities are provided with a free appropriate public education that is tailored to their individual needs, as outlined in their Individualized Education Program (IEP).
- The use of AI as an instructional tool must be reasonable, appropriate, and individualized to support the specific needs of the students with disabilities.
- AI can offer supplemental support, such as accommodations, modifications, or assistive technologies, but it should not replace professional expertise or the IEP team’s judgment.
- Remember, the “I” in AI (“intelligence”) is not the same as the “I” in IDEA or IEP (“individual”). Ultimately, responsibility for IDEA compliance rests with the educational institution. While AI may offer opportunities within special education, it should not replace professional expertise and their individualized knowledge of students.
Section 504
A federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial assistance, including public schools.
- This protection extends to both physical and digital environments. Schools must ensure that digital content, instructional materials, and learning platforms are accessible to all students, including those with disabilities.
- Recent federal updates have reinforced the importance of digital accessibility. Known as Section 508, the new digital accessibility standards under Section 504 (2024), requires all entities receiving funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure websites, web content, and mobile apps comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This means digital content and technologies, including AI tools, must be accessible for all students, including those with disabilities.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property (IP) law, particularly copyright law, protects original works of authorship, including written content, images, music, software, and more. When using AI tools in schools, legal questions arise at each step of the process: what goes in, how the tool uses the information and its training data, and what comes out.
- Using copyrighted material as prompts or uploads to AI tools may violate copyright protections if the material is later reproduced, shared, or used beyond fair use guidelines.
- The terms of service of AI tools govern who owns the content provided to the tool, including how it can be used, and who owns the tools outputs. When AI is accessed through a district-contracted service, outputs may be considered district property, especially when created as part of an employee’s job.
- AI-generated content is generally not copyrightable under U.S. law, but use of that content may still be limited by the platform’s terms, and outputs should not contain or replicate copyrighted materials without permission.
- School personnel should not assume that all AI-generated or AI-assisted content is free to use. While fair use may apply in some educational contexts, which is an exception to general copyright protections, it has limits, particularly when content is shared publicly or reused beyond the classroom. Always review platform terms, avoid uploading copyrighted materials without permission, and work with your district to clarify ownership and acceptable use in policy and practice.
Due Process
Due process refers to the principle of fundamental fairness, ensuring that individuals are provided with fair, unbiased decision-making procedures when they are impacted by institutional decisions. When AI is used by schools in ways that might affect student or staff rights, it is important that AI not be the final authority in making decisions. Whether used to detect plagiarism, flag behavior, or support administrative decisions, AI tools should be paired with human oversight and procedural fairness.
- Schools should be able to explain, in clear terms, how AI tools are used, what data they rely on, and how their outputs inform decisions.
- Where schools have academic integrity policies, students should be provided with notice of what constitutes the unauthorized use of AI, how the policy will be enforced, and the consequences.
- AI should support, not replace, professional judgment. Educators and administrators are ultimately responsible for reviewing AI outputs, following appropriate procedures, and making fair, context-sensitive decisions.
- AI tools can support school decisions, but they cannot substitute for fairness, transparency, and professional responsibility.
Non-Discrimination
Schools must use AI in ways that uphold federal and state nondiscrimination laws, including Title VI (race, color, national origin), Title IX (sex), and Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (disability). These laws require that students and staff be treated fairly and not subjected to policies or practices–automated or otherwise–that result in unequal treatment or access.
- AI systems can reflect or amplify patterns of discrimination in historical data. Schools should discuss fairness concerns with vendors and review and monitor tools for potential bias, particularly in high-stakes areas such as employment decisions, discipline, grading, or student identification.
- The use of AI does not transfer or reduce a school district’s obligations under civil rights laws. Human oversight and corrective measures must remain in place to identify and address potential discriminatory outcomes.