GREENFIELD — After receiving feedback from students that more needs to be done to address the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and vaping in school, the School Committee voted on Wednesday to have its policy subcommittee draft changes to district policy.
A few weeks ago, School Committee members and city councilors joined Greenfield High School students in discussing AI, school budgets and substance use during the annual Youth Engaging Legislators and Officials (YELO) forum. During the forum, students expressed concerns over the growing use of AI by students and staff, and a lack of consistent efforts to prevent students from vaping at school.
School Committee member Elizabeth DeNeeve said the policy subcommittee will work to “create something more robust,” and come back to the full committee with an updated policy around vaping.
“When we talk to the students, the only thing in the policy is just that you can’t smoke on school grounds, and somebody will talk to you at some point in time to gather information about whether you smoke,” DeNeeve said. “A lot of them felt like that wasn’t enough, that they wanted vaping specifically to be in the language and they wanted consequences. They wanted something broader.”
The Greenfield High School family handbook notes that smoking is forbidden on school grounds and school buses, and smoking on school property is grounds for a short-term suspension. District policy JICH does include vapor/e-cigarettes under the list of tobacco products that are banned on school grounds.
Regarding the use of artificial intelligence, the School Committee held a first read of IJNDB, an Empowered Digital Use Policy, and directed the policy subcommittee to create an Academic Integrity Policy to go along with it.
The Empowered Digital Use Policy states, “Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used in school for educational purposes, as specifically permitted and/or restricted pursuant to administrative guidelines.”
While the policy itself is one page, stating that AI can be used in school under strict guidelines and when credited, the subsequent guidelines for implementation include more in-depth details for how and when AI tools, including generative AI, can be used.
Staff are expected to learn about the limitations and ethical considerations of AI before use, and should always check AI-produced materials and teach students to do so as well. Staff should disclose to students when AI was involved in creating materials that are used in class, and staff should only use AI tools that are available through their school email accounts, such as Canva, Gemini and NotebookLM. Staff should also not use any student names, ID numbers or other identifying information when using AI.
Students, in turn, are expected to follow their teacher’s instructions and guidelines on what AI tools, if any, may be used on an assignment, and should follow MLA guidelines for citing AI use. Students must still adhere to academic honesty and plagiarism standards, and will be subject to disciplinary action if they use AI without credit.
The School Committee is expected to continue discussions and vote on district policies at a future meeting.
