Parents, teachers raise concerns about AI use in Anne Arundel County schools
The Anne Arundel County Board of Education is working to develop a policy governing the use of artificial intelligence in schools following a state mandate requiring local districts to establish responsible-use guidelines.
The board held the first reading of its draft policy during Wednesday night's meeting, where parents and teachers voiced concerns about AI's potential impact on students' learning and critical thinking skills.
"Let kids think for themselves. Let kids problem solve for themselves. Let them compose a sentence for themselves," parent Hillary Klemmt said.
That sentiment was echoed by educators who urged the district to prioritize students' creativity, communication and independent thinking as it develops its policy.
"School is meant to be a place to build our creativity, our communication, as well as develop critical thinking skills," said Amanda Nickelson, an art teacher at Brooklyn Park Middle School. "And we all know the ability for students to use AI diminishes any and all of those skills."
Parents call for caution as district develops AI policy
The discussion follows legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly requiring the Maryland State Department of Education to establish statewide guardrails, tool-evaluation rubrics and educator training for AI use. The law also requires local school districts to adopt customized responsible-use policies.
The deadline for those policies is Oct. 22, but Anne Arundel County's board is continuing to work through the details as it considers how AI should be used in classrooms.
Board member Dr. Joanna Tobin said the rapid pace of technological change makes it difficult to predict the potential consequences of AI in education.
"We're now faced with looking into a future that we have absolutely no idea what it's going to be, but that future is like weeks away, months away. Maybe a year away, not decades away," Tobin said. "And it's going to require the best thinking that we all have to consider this and try to understand where the harms we might not even imagine might be without eliminating the necessary and at times developmentally appropriate moment where our students need not be walled off from this."
Some parents are asking the district to consider a moratorium on AI use in schools rather than rush to adopt a policy. They said they do not want students to become guinea pigs as educators and administrators navigate the technology.
"A student is going to get a quick fix; they get that quick information that they need but there's no actual learning happening. There's no long-term memory," Klemmt said. "The work that we're putting in, that the kids are putting in, that struggle is how they're going to learn."
More meetings planned before policy adoption
The board has scheduled a second reading of the proposed policy for Dec. 2, with adoption planned for Dec. 16.
In the meantime, the district will hold a series of community meetings to discuss the responsible use of AI in schools. Each meeting will begin at 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27 — North County High School
- Monday, Nov. 2 — Glen Burnie High School
- Thursday, Nov. 5 — Northeast High School
- Tuesday, Nov. 10 — Arundel High School
- Thursday, Nov. 12 — Southern High School
- Tuesday, Nov. 17 — Annapolis High School
- Thursday, Nov. 19 — Meade High School
