ASHLAND — Ashland City Schools will implement its first artificial intelligence policy, which is designed to teach students and educators how to use it with academic integrity.
Software manager Anthony Bunt presented an AI policy that he developed to the board of education on Monday evening.
The policy is based on the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce model policy, Bunt said.
“[AI is] exploding in popularity. The use of it is growing every day, and I wanted to make sure that we were getting out in front of that as a district. So I’ve been spending a lot of time getting to know AI and education,” Bunt said.
Students already use and know a lot about AI and its features, Bunt said, and a district-wide policy will help teachers better understand AI, how to use it in the classroom and how to ensure students do not misuse AI.
“AI cannot replace the teacher. Students need that positive interaction, they need those role models mentors, content experts. Teachers are irreplaceable, and we know that, but we have a tidal wave of AI coming at us, so we have to figure out how to bring it in,” Bunt said.
Bunt hopes integrating the policy will help students become more AI-literate, understand when to use it and determine the difference between real images vs. AI-generated ones.
“When they get to high school, if they’re not using AI, like on a regular basis, they are really kind of behind. People are using this in their jobs now,” he said.
Bunt had high school students and staff fill out a survey about individual AI usage and opinions on it: that was Phase One in developing the plan.
Phase two includes the school board approving adoption of the policy, determining an AI software that the district will use and training staff on how to use the software.
The policy needs to be fully implemented by the 2026-27 school year, Bunt said, and he hopes to evaluate its efficacy by December.
The policy is built on seven pillars:
- Communciation
- Safety
- Quality teaching and teacher empowerment
- AI literacy and academic integrity
- Equity of access
- Anti-bully integration
- Procurement standards and data privacy
“One of the things that we’re going to have to do is find those high-quality, vetted and effective AI tools to provide our teachers, and give them the tools they need to do this. 
And again, why do we need to do it? Well, because it’s going to greatly increase student achievement if we do it right,” Bunt said.
The policy includes a “traffic-light system” for students to know when it is acceptable to use AI on an assignment, with a red light representing no usage and a green light representing heavy usage.
Bunt expects kindergarten through fifth-graders to use AI in a “discovery phase,” sixth through eighth-graders to learn how to use it more and high schoolers to use it on a regular basis comfortably.
“One thing that I think is a misconception is that AI will reduce our students’ ability to think critically, and I don’t think that’s true. I think students will use AI tools to make some processes that take a long time, take a lot less time,” Bunt said.
In other business
Director of Technology Philip McNaull shared updates to the district’s acceptable use policy, which dictates appropriate decorum regarding internet usage.
The changes include a “deepfake policy,” which prohibits misuse of AI in creating images or videos using a student or staff member’s face and body.
McNaull included a brief AI and academic integrity policy, which he plans to update again when the official AI policy is in place.
The updated acceptable use policy also informs parents that the district uses a monitoring software to track any online activity related to self-harm and violence on school devices.
The board also approved the district to seek bids for improvements to the Taft Intermediate School playground and the Ashland High School Softball field.
The softball field will receive in-field turf, bull pins, concrete work and a netted backstop, Paramore said. He said these improvements are aimed to help drainage on the field.
Taft’s playground improvements include adding more swing sets and a new playset which will replace the existing one. The playground will also resurface the blacktop.
Paramore expects each project will cost 300,000, and also expects bids to come under that number.
Bids will open in early March, and renovations would start after June 5, Paramore said.
