Howard County Schools Consider New Student AI Policy

Proposed Rules for High Schoolers

Howard County school officials are reviewing a new policy to manage how students and staff interact with generative AI. As reported by Hoodline, the proposal targets the 2026-27 school year and specifically limits student access to high schoolers in grades 9 through 12. The district intends to restrict these tools to platforms that the board has officially signed off on.

Under the proposed rules, students cannot simply use any AI tool they find online for their homework. Instead, the district's AI plan must clearly define the specific circumstances, methods, and extent to which a staff member may allow a student to use the technology. This ensures that the use of AI remains a deliberate pedagogical choice rather than an unregulated shortcut.

Teachers who choose to permit the use of AI for a specific project must tell their students the precise rules for its use when they hand out the assignment. This transparency is meant to help students understand the boundaries of acceptable use. The policy also flags certain behaviors as prohibited, such as using AI to generate harmful misinformation or to process confidential personal information.

Documentation and Academic Integrity

A major component of the new policy involves the requirement for students to be honest about their process. If a student uses an AI tool to contribute to an assignment, they are on the hook for documenting that contribution. The policy mandates that students use specific ways to credit or reference any material provided by an AI tool.

The district is taking a firm stance against plagiarism and the deception of presenting AI-generated work as entirely the student's own. By requiring citations, the school board aims to maintain academic integrity while still allowing students to explore the technology. This approach mirrors the goal of teaching students how to use emerging tools responsibly rather than just banning them entirely.

This move comes as student demand for AI tools continues to outpace official guidance. Research from RAND found that 61 percent of high schoolers reported using AI to some extent for schoolwork in winter 2025. By establishing clear documentation rules now, Howard County hopes to create a standard for how students should credit these tools in their academic careers.

Context of Maryland AI Education

Howard County is not the only district grappling with these questions. Since the autumn of 2025, Maryland's State Department of Education has been working on AI frameworks to help districts set their own rules. This is part of a broader state effort that requires districts to vet specific tools and provide necessary training for educators.

Different districts across the state are taking different paths to balance student use and teacher support. For example, Montgomery County Public Schools has focused primarily on using AI to support teacher tasks while keeping student use under tighter watch. Meanwhile, Frederick County allows middle and high school students to use Google Gemini with teacher permission but blocks all other AI platforms on school devices.

These varying approaches highlight the complexity of creating a single standard for AI in schools. Howard County's plan to restrict access to high schoolers on vetted platforms with built-in disclosure requirements appears designed to avoid the confusion seen in other areas. In Ohio, one high school turned off Gemini entirely because teachers had not received enough training to use it effectively.

Existing Access and Future Reviews

The groundwork for these new rules was laid earlier this year when the district approved Google Gemini for high schoolers. This move was intended to help students learn how to use the technology while protecting academic integrity. Students already have access to education-based Gemini accounts, which provides a baseline for the upcoming policy changes.

The proposed policy includes a requirement for the district's AI Plan to be reviewed or revised as needed. This built-in flexibility is important because the underlying technology landscape is shifting very quickly. It allows the school board to update its rules if new tools emerge or if the way students interact with AI changes significantly.

The board held the first reading of the policy on Oct. 27. The next steps involve a second reading and formal adoption, which is currently scheduled for Nov. 17, 2026. Until then, the district will continue to monitor the state-wide push for AI guidelines and the evolving needs of its high school students.