Lehighton Area School District is taking a significant step this month toward implementing a comprehensive artificial intelligence policy. During Monday’s board workshop, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Gretchen Laviolette outlined the goals and components of the new policy, which is up for first reading, emphasizing the need to educate both students and teachers on the ethical and practical use of AI tools.

“This is something that I have been wanting to do for probably about a year now,” Laviolette said during the meeting. “For various reasons, it’s kind of been put on hold. But I do think it’s time for us to look to adopt an AI policy.”

The policy is designated as Policy 815.3 and titled “Use of Artificial Intelligence.”

According to the draft document, the purpose of the policy is “to ensure the ethical and responsible use of AI technologies to enhance teaching, learning, and administrative processes while safeguarding student privacy and data security.”

Laviolette explained that she developed the policy by combining sample policies from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the law firm Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams.

“I really took the two and kind of melded them into this one, taking what I thought was best for us to be addressing,” she said.

Key provisions of the policy include instructional initiatives, teacher discretion, and student safety measures.

Instruction on AI tools will be delivered across grade levels, though Laviolette clarified that AI will likely be introduced to students at the upper elementary level and beyond.

“Throughout middle school and throughout high school (we will) be doing some instruction on appropriate use of AI,” she said.

The policy also outlines a tiered system for AI use in student assignments, ranging from no AI use to full AI integration with oversight. Teachers will indicate their expectations using a stoplight model — red, yellow, or green — depending on the level of acceptable AI involvement.

According to the policy draft, “It is the responsibility of all teachers to provide students with notice of whether AI use is permitted on a particular assignment or project.”

The document outlines five levels of permitted use, from no AI involvement to full AI use with human oversight, with corresponding requirements for student disclosure.

In terms of instructional support, Laviolette noted that professional development will be offered to teachers at the start of the school year.

“We are looking to have two different sessions for the teachers,” she said. “There’s one in which they will be discussing how they can be utilizing it, I’ll say behind the scenes, in their own planning ... But then the second session will be on utilizing it with students.”

When asked about using AI in grading student work, Laviolette said, “Approved AI websites and applications may be used to assist with the grading of student work, but ... the absolutely final grade needs to be coming from the teacher.”

She provided the example of using AI to check punctuation in essays, explaining that this would handle more tedious tasks while the teacher remains responsible for evaluating the content and assigning a grade.

“I think the only reason we should be using AI is to verify that the kids aren’t plagiarizing something,” director Duane Dellecker said.

Fellow board member Jeremy Glaush reiterated the importance of teacher judgment.

“Most teachers know their students ... so they’re going to see if a student wrote something that didn’t seem like their normal writing,” Glaush said.

Beyond instructional use, the policy draft includes guidelines for AI use in school operations, such as budgeting and human resources.

“Final decision-making regarding employee evaluations, promotions, and hiring [must] be human decisions and not solely by AI technology,” the policy states.

The document also outlines compliance measures with federal regulations such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Only district-authorized AI tools may be used on school devices, and a vetting process will be implemented for new tools.

Board President Joy Beers underscored the necessity of having a policy.

“If we don’t have a policy for AI, then it will be the Wild West,” she said.

Laviolette echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the inevitability of AI in education and professional settings.

“We can’t turn a blind eye to it because it is here. It is being used,” she said. She cited a conversation with a parent who described having to use AI to complete a work project on a tight deadline.

“There are jobs that are essentially requesting it to be used,” Laviolette added.

The policy also includes consequences for misuse, stating, “Failure to comply ... shall result in usage restrictions, loss of access privileges, disciplinary action and/or referral to legal authorities.”

The policy will be up for a first reading vote later this month and then must pass a second reading before it can be implemented.