The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education starts with the fundamental understanding that AI is not a replacement for human intelligence or humanitarian presence in education. It is the responsibility of the education community to carefully and strategically understand how these products work, what data is collected, and where information is sourced. Implementation of AI should ensure all guidance, policies, systems, and instructional practices are grounded on ethical, equitable, and inclusive uses and meet the needs of all students. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging rapidly across numerous industries—including K–12 education. To support educators and education leaders in equitable and inclusive uses of AI in classrooms, OSPI and Mukilteo SD emphasize a human-centered approach to using this ever-evolving tool. 

Generative Artificial Intelligence refers to software tools modeled on large amounts of data to produce text, images, videos, or other digital artifacts.

AI tools provide opportunities, benefits, and potential risks. It is the responsibility of every parent/guardian, policymaker, teacher, administrator, and support staff member to ensure that the use of this transformative new technology and its future is regularly reviewed to ensure equity of access, data privacy, and safe and ethical usage are maintained at all levels. 

Some examples of generative AI include: 

• Spelling and grammar checkers 

• Translations and predictive text 

• Digital assistants like Siri and Clippy 

• CoPilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude 

• Personalize learning and feedback in real time 

• Lesson plan and assessment design with customized planning for differentiation 

• Translation between languages 

• Develop critical thinking through human input, data output, and elevated human analysis 

• Aid in creativity, simulation, and skill development 

• Streamline operational and administrative functions 

• Increasing and/or creating inequitable learning environments 

• Unauthorized access to protected user information and unauthorized data collection 

• Perpetuating institutional and systemic biases 

• Plagiarism and academic dishonesty 

• Over-reliance on technology and undermining the importance of human intelligence in education 

In K–12 education, use of AI should always start with human inquiry and always end with human reflection, human insight, and human empowerment. This model, abbreviated as “Human → AI → Human” or “H→AI→H” throughout this guidance, offers pathways for educators, school district administrators, and students to engage with AI responsibly, ethically, and safely. 

While AI tools have existed previously, commonplace access to and use of these tools has proliferated recently. The responsibility of staff is to prepare students and educators to use these tools in ways that are responsible, ethical, and safe. Students are responsible for ethical use to further their education, and staff should not use AI to make final policy or governance decisions. Instead, these tools should inform our work, with final decisions growing from the fullness of human insight. 

Our goal is not just to integrate AI into the classroom and workplace; it’s to do so with a vision that places our staff and students at the center with a priority for human inquiry that uses AI for production, but never as the final thought, product, or paper. AI is a powerful tool, but it only enhances learning if students and educators embrace an “H→AI→H” approach. 

Start with human inquiry, see what AI produces, and always close with human reflection, human edits, and human understanding of what was produced. 

As mentioned above, students, educators, and school district administrators are expected to engage with AI responsibly, ethically, and safely.

As the District integrates artificial intelligence (AI) tools into professional practice, staff are reminded that all AI-related activity conducted for district business is subject to the same legal and ethical standards as email, documents, and other digital communications. 

Public Records Compliance 
AI chat histories, prompts, outputs, and tool usage conducted for district business may constitute a public record and may be subject to disclosure under applicable public records laws. 

Student Data Protection 
Staff shall not enter, upload, or otherwise submit personally identifiable student information into any artificial intelligence tool. This includes, but is not limited to, names, identification numbers, academic records, behavioral data, health information, or other protected student data. 

Staff Data Protection 
Staff shall not enter, upload, or otherwise submit personally identifiable staff information into any artificial intelligence tool. This includes evaluative information, disciplinary records, personnel files, or confidential employment data. 

Artificial intelligence tools used for district business must be formally adopted, vetted, and approved by the District. Use of non-adopted AI tools for district business is prohibited. Staff members can access an approved tools list on the AI Guidelines page.    

Adopted tools are district-supported tools covered under an enterprise license. Data-sharing agreements are in place to protect student data, and the district can retrieve records as needed to respond to public records requests. 

Supplemental tools have either been approved by the Technology Advisory Group or are included within a district-licensed software program. Data-sharing agreements are in place to protect student data. However, staff members are responsible for providing requested public records, and depending on the tool, use may be limited to the free version. 

Failure to adhere to these expectations may result in violations of student privacy protections, personnel confidentiality requirements, and public records obligations. 

Students may use district-approved artificial intelligence tools in ways that support learning, creativity, and skill development, in accordance with Board Policies and Procedures and individual classroom expectations. 

Students are expected to use artificial intelligence ethically and responsibly. Misuse of artificial intelligence, including but not limited to the following, constitutes academic dishonesty and/or inappropriate use of technology. 

• submitting AI-generated work as one’s own 

• using AI in violation of teacher direction 

• falsifying authorship 

• generating prohibited content 

• using AI to gain an unfair academic advantage 

Such violations will be addressed under the District’s Student Conduct, Classroom Management, Discipline, and Corrective Action policies, and may result in disciplinary consequences consistent with the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook

AI detection tools can appear to offer a simple solution for identifying student use of generative AI, but current research and practical testing show they are often unreliable, inconsistent, and prone to false positives—sometimes even misclassifying entirely human-written texts as AI-generated. These tools may also introduce equity concerns, as studies have found they can disproportionately flag writing from non-native English speakers. Given these limitations, AI detection results should not be used as definitive evidence of misconduct. Instead, educators are encouraged to focus on clear expectations for AI use, build familiarity with students’ writing through ongoing formative assessment, and design authentic, student-centered tasks that reduce opportunities for misuse while supporting ethical and effective learning with AI.

As mentioned above, students, educators, and school district administrators are expected to engage with AI responsibly, ethically, and safely.  

Implementation of any AI tool (including websites) will be done carefully and thoughtfully.  

The district will gather input from the Technology Advisory Group (TAG) periodically to implement useful and relevant tools. 

Approved tools (including description, links, etc.) will be provided to staff through the MSD Staff Portal. 

Please understand that AI tools are rapidly developing and changing without notice; approval of tools may be rescinded at any time. 

OSPI - AI Guidelines  

Student’s Rights and Responsibilities 

https://www.copyright.gov/ 

Policy 2312 – Copyright Compliance 

Procedure 2312P - Copyright Compliance