Divisions Drafting Plans For New Technology
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and local school divisions are figuring out what that means for classrooms.
Rockbridge County Public Schools has drafted its first policy on artificial intelligence, laying out a framework for how teachers, students, and administrators can use the rapidly evolving technology. The School Board reviewed the proposal at its Aug. 12 meeting, and after some discussion, approved it last week.
Buena Vista City Public Schools outlined a three-year plan at its School Board meeting in August, aiming to build AI literacy and train staff while opting not to adopt a formal policy just yet.
Lexington City Schools has not yet drafted a policy or addressed AI in-depth at its School Board meetings, but Superintendent Rebecca Walters said the district has been working on the topic for “several years,” and will be “discussing a possible AI policy proposal in the near future.” Rockbridge County’s AI policy frames generative AI as a support tool, not a substitute for learning, emphasizing that all use must be responsible, transparent and subject to human oversight. It establishes four guiding principles — responsibility, transparency, integrity and accountability — to govern classroom and administrative use of tools like ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms.
Under the policy, teachers may integrate AI into lesson planning, research and differentiated instruction, while administrators can use it to streamline scheduling, data analysis and communication.
Students, meanwhile, may be asked to complete an “AI justification form” to reflect on when and how they used AI in their work, with the goal of ensuring originality and academic integrity. High-stakes decisions such as student placement, graduation requirements or disciplinary action would not be made with AI.
The policy also sets out clear boundaries: staff and students are prohibited from entering personally identifiable information into generative AI platforms, and any tool used in classrooms must be vetted and approved by the division. Misuse — whether plagiarism, data violations or attempts to pass off AI work as one’s own — will be subject to disciplinary action.
Technology director Paige Owens, who presented the draft in August, said the work stemmed from state-level training sessions launched last fall.
“Over the past year, Becky Bennett, Shauna Palmer, Amy Hinkle, and I participated in those training sessions and began drafting a division AI policy,” Owens said. He credited Palmer with doing “much of the heavy lifting on the initial draft,” which was then reviewed by the school division’s legal team.
Owens stressed that the policy is designed to be adaptable. “This is still very new territory for many of us,” Owens said. “A lot of possibilities are exciting, and understandably some may feel uncertainty or uneasiness about AI changes. We kind of have it set so we can make adjustments as needed and move along.”
Officials praised the document and emphasized the need for staff training before passing expectations on to students. Assistant Superintendent Timothy Martino noted, “We need some things in place. Our kids are running with it, and they’re just more of a tech savvy generation.”
Board members voiced both support and concern after taking their first look at the document. Chair Kathy Burant described it as “a really nice document” and emphasized the need for staff training before expectations can be passed on to students. Lenna P. Ojure noted that plagiarism will remain a challenge, remarking, “I think that’s a pretty big learning curve. A lot of the younger generation doesn’t even quite understand why using some of those things is actually plagiarism.”
Owens pointed out the uneven familiarity with AI among both teachers and students. “Some use it a lot. Some use it a bit. And some don’t know anything about it,” he said. Training, he noted, will be essential.
Superintendent Phillip Thompson shared anecdotes about the technology’s strengths and weaknesses. One teacher had used AI to design classroom posters featuring her dog, inspiring other staff with its creative potential.
But other comments highlighted the shortcomings of AI writing tools, with Ojure saying, “Not to mention the little bit I have done with Copilot, it makes me want to shoot my computer. The [tools] are not perfect, at least. There’s a lot to be figured out.”
Despite the uncertainty, there was broad agreement that AI is too important to ignore. As Thompson put it: “Right now, I think kids are outpacing us, our generation. But we’ve got younger teachers coming in who have kind of grown up with this and learned about it in college, and I don’t think we’ll be behind for very long.” -At its Aug. 28 meeting, the Buena Vista School Board heard a presentation focused on AI literacy and professional development. Enderly Heights Elementary Principal Devan Nicely and Assistant Superintendent Brenda Walton shared their experience participating in statewide AI training sessions last year and unveiled a three-year plan.
The presentation began with a demonstration of Chat-GPT, using screenshots of one of Walton’s chats with the program to show how quickly it could generate lesson ideas aligned with Virginia’s Standards of Learning. “For all of that [work], if we just did it the way we used to do it, we’d Google it — it would take hours and hours and hours,” Walton said. But with AI, “before we even finished a conversation, we now have everything up here we need.”
The presenters emphasized that the goal is not to replace teachers but to save them time and make learning more relevant. “It just took five seconds … [AI] makes real-world connections. Those are the biggie,” Walton said, citing an example where ChatGPT suggested using local geography like the Maury River and the Blue Ridge Mountains for measurement projects, to teach the SOL concept of scientific notation.
Nicely outlined the division’s priorities: “One of them is that it needs to be responsible while also being innovative. Equitable AI used across all the schools. And so that’s what we would like to see put in place so that our teachers are trained in how to best use it and also know the limitations of AI and some of the risks that are inherent in it.”
The division’s goals include building AI literacy among staff, supporting teachers through training, and using AI to accelerate differentiation for inclusive classrooms. Presenters stressed that teachers must still review all AI-generated material for accuracy and context.
“AI is not going to replace teachers,” Nicely said. “We’re not going to put AI in front of a classroom … You still need to know the information. It just makes it more tangible for you. And we still need to be human-centered with our work.”
Superintendent Heather Ault emphasized after the presentation that Buena Vista would hold off on creating a formal policy, stressing that the technology is continuing to evolve at a pace that makes creating strict guidelines difficult. -While Lexington City Schools has not yet drafted a formal AI policy, it is actively engaging with the topic.
Superintendent Walters said the division has been working with teachers and staff on AI at length, “as AI has become more and more prevalent,” and expects to discuss a possible policy proposal in the near future.
Walters said Lexington educators are already using AI “to help create lesson plans, learning activities, and assist with differentiation, as well as support with communication.” While the division has not yet held formal training sessions, staff have been consistently reminded about student privacy and safety.
Lexington’s instructional technology resource teacher (ITRT) shares resources through a monthly newsletter and maintains a website of AI tools that comply with federal data and privacy laws. In past years, the ITRT has presented overviews on AI, privacy requirements, and federal data laws, and the technology department has provided cybersecurity training.
Walters said several staff members will attend a fall conference on cybersecurity and take part in an upcoming webinar titled “School Cybersecurity and AI: Balancing Safety and Innovation.” Lexington also has a teacher-led professional book club reading “The AI Assist” by Nathan Lang-Raad, which Walters said has been an important step in building staff understanding of AI’s classroom potential. -All local school division leaders acknowledged that AI is a fast-moving target. Rockbridge’s policy is intentionally flexible, designed to be updated regularly as new tools emerge, while Buena Vista’s three-year plan will focus on training and community buy-in before deciding whether a policy is needed.
As Nicely put it: “AI is developing at a rapid pace. If we don’t get in now, we’re going to be left behind.”
