PENDER COUNTY — How students and educators utilize generative artificial intelligence in the classroom is being addressed in a local school district.
READ MORE: ‘It should scare everybody’: Brunswick school board debates future of AI in classrooms
Pender County Schools is revising policies as educational services and expectations continue to modernize with AI becoming more prevalent. Generative AI allows users to input words, images, audio, video, or code into a program to create new, similar content.
“It can be thought of as an educational tool but can also be misused, just like any other educational tool out there,” Assistant Superintendent Kevin Taylor told the school board at its April 29 meeting.
Published by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a study found disciplinary actions rose in student bodies from 48% in 2022 and 2023 to 64% in 2024 due to AI plagiarism.
Taylor said policy changes are needed so the district can explicitly lay out its expectations when and if using the technology. While the new policy addresses irresponsible use — prohibition of AI for plagiarism, bullying and privacy violations — it more broadly suggests how teachers and students can benefit from it in positive, responsible ways as well. AI has been used in educational settings to generate curricula ideas, help personalize assignments for students with various learning needs, provide multilingual resources, and by proxy implement time-saving measures for teachers.
Changes at PCS are being made to address AI in policies:
- 4310: Integrity and Civility
- 3225/4312/7320: Technology Responsible Use
- 3220: Technology Educational Program
Staff also have been working toward the creation of a brand new policy, 3221, specific to generative AI guidance.
Director of Digital Learning and Media Craig Lawson and Director of Technology Services Loren Macon have been conducting research for months now. Lawson said the goal of including AI directives in policies is important to safeguard student privacy, academic integrity, and ethical technology use.
It’s also ensuring students remain competitive in a global workforce.
“Leaders hiring candidates are looking for some level of AI use,” Lawson told the board of education members. “It’s out there, it’s being used a lot. We’re trying to get ahead of this as much as we can.”
Taylor and Lawson presented data from a 2024 work trend index annual report by Microsoft and Linkedin. It indicated hiring executives are 71% more likely to choose someone with AI skills over someone who doesn’t have the skills but is more experienced in a field, while 66% would not hire someone who didn’t have them.
Taylor said the district is fostering a commitment toward creating technologically responsible and digitally literate students. In the last year, they heard from students who have requested clearer boundaries on when it’s appropriate to use AI in the classroom.
“But they’ve also been worried about if they’re equipped for jobs in future,” Lawson said.
Which programs are safe to use also was addressed, since the AI models and companies are rapidly evolving and starting up. According to Ascendix, there are roughly 70,000 AI companies worldwide, with around 25% located in the United States. Lawson told the Pender school board members not all AI models can be treated the same.
“So [DeepSeek] the whale icon” — Lawson pointed to a slide for board members to see numerous AI company logos — “that’s a product from China where the data privacy and safety rights may not be at the level as businesses here in the US. So with foreign generative AI tools, we are worried about safety and students utilizing them.”
For Pender school staff, it means protecting student data on school devices, networks, and other digital platforms and communication tools, addressed in the policies.
Pender County leaders aren’t the only district to take up policy changes and assess how AI will impact schools into the future. The Brunswick County Board of Education began addressing its policies last fall.
New Hanover County Schools has listed on its website that all “NHCS staff and students will follow all rules and recommendations outlined in the NHCS Guidance on the Use of Generative AI in Our Schools.”
Lawson said Pender has taken “a wait-and-see approach,” to be more thoughtful, plus it wanted to assess guidance from the state.
Vera Cubero, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction technology consultant and an author of the statewide AI guidebook, told Port City Daily last fall students will be using AI for the rest of their lives. Thus she said schools need to embrace opportunities on how to best teach them to do so.
“Education must adapt to the reality that generative AI is here to stay, and it is in fact harder not to use AI now than it is to use it because it is so ubiquitous in all our productivity apps, devices, search engines, etc.,” she said at the time. “We simply cannot avoid it and learning to work with it is a necessary job skill.”
Pender County’s policies align with NCDPI’s guidance. Lawson added the importance of tackling AI in schools is being echoed more broadly, coming from “the top down.”
“We’re seeing there are concerns we can meet demands of the future, especially as it relates to competitiveness in hiring globally, from the highest level of government down to local government,” he said. “Folks are seeing how disruptive generative AI is and the importance of addressing that in our school systems.”
Lawson referred to proposed legislation regarding AI in Raleigh.
In March, Senate Bill 640, “AI Ethics and Literacy Across Education,” was put forth by Democratic senators that would require the North Carolina State Board of Education to devise standards on teaching AI basics in K-12 schools. This includes educating on its real-world applications, issues surrounding it socially, economically and legally, and how human bias impacts AI models.
The legislation was referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations where it remains, along with S.B. 619, “AI Academic Support Grant Program.” Sponsored by New Hanover County Sen. Michael Lee, S.B. 619 was put forth to allow public schools to pair up with Khanmigo from Khan Academy. The application utilizes AI for teachers to receive help with lesson-plan development for grades six through 12.
The information that Lawson and Moren researched to create Pender’s policy changes has been presented to parents, staff members, teachers, and students for feedback. The two engaged in an AI training as well at a recent rotary club meeting, so they have been immersed in the content. They also met with the policy committee about changes.
“The importance here is being critical thinkers and evaluating what is being told and what is the actual truth,” Taylor said, noting while earlier versions gave wrong answers more frequently, the evolving technology has become more accurate.
Yet, he said it still takes analytical thinking for proper use.
In addition to equipping students for a tech-driven future, supporting educators for instructional effectiveness was broached. Taylor said the goal is to trust teachers to prescribe the tools and judge when they should be used, whether for research or resources. For example, he saw AI would be approved in the same way a calculator is or is not allowed in math class.
“We’re not suggesting opening the flood gates,” Lawson clarified, noting common themes of over-reliance on AI also were touched on when speaking with stakeholders. Other topics brought up included how to use AI for rubrics, when students can cite information in assignments, and identifying what the appropriate use of AI is for assignments and in the classroom.
Taylor said the key is figuring out proper balance but the team noted many optimistic opportunities.
“This could allow teachers to create more engaging activities quicker, utilize tools to support creative thinking and help come up with resources in less time,” Lawson said. “These tools are so much more effective than even a few months ago.”
The new AI policy also touches on underrepresented groups have accessibility to the programs.
Lawson told the board while policy changes were at the heart of the discussion, he wants to eventually provide guidance and resources for students, staff and parents.
The policy goes before the school board for its first reading on May 13. Chair Beth Burns, Vice Chair Don Hall and member Jennifer Hansen, present at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, had little feedback.
“There is so much to this,” Burns said. “These policies that AI will be affecting, I know you guys will be reviewing them constantly as AI continues to grow and technology continues to advance.”
“A lot of us, we know something about this,” Hansen said, “but we don’t know a lot about it, so I appreciate this.”
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