Anne Arundel County teachers and parents raised concerns before the school board this week about artificial intelligence's potential effects on student learning and critical-thinking skills. The board held the first reading of its draft AI policy on Wednesday, opening a debate that will stretch into December as the district weighs how closely to regulate the technology in classrooms.
Teachers Warn Of Eroding Skills
Amanda Nickelson, an art teacher at Brooklyn Park Middle School, told the board that AI diminishes students' creativity, communication and critical-thinking skills, according to CBS News Baltimore. Hillary Klemmt urged the board to let students think, problem-solve and compose sentences on their own rather than leaning on generative tools, warning that quick AI-generated answers may short-circuit actual learning and long-term memory. Joanna Tobin added that the pace of technological change makes it difficult to predict how AI will ultimately affect students' education.
Some parents went further, asking the district to consider a moratorium on AI use in schools altogether. The station's report notes that these parents said they do not want students to become guinea pigs while educators and administrators work out how to navigate the technology. The concerns were voiced directly to board members during Wednesday's meeting, the outlet reported.
A Policy Years In The Making
The board's policy committee met earlier this month to shape the proposal now known as Policy DM. The committee convened Oct. 6 and discussed several policies, including the AI measure, that would move forward as first-reader items, according to Citizen Portal. That outlet reported the committee sent Policy DM, along with Policy AA and Policy KBA, to the full board for consideration.
The Maryland General Assembly passed legislation requiring statewide AI safeguards alongside locally tailored responsible-use policies, per the CBS Baltimore report. Under that mandate, the Maryland State Department of Education must establish statewide guardrails, tool-evaluation rubrics and educator training, while individual school districts, including Anne Arundel, must adopt their own customized responsible-use policies. The outlet identified Oct. 22, 2026 as the deadline tied to that requirement, though the Capital Gazette has reported that Anne Arundel County Public Schools will miss the state deadline mandating districts to adopt an AI policy by that date — a discrepancy the available reporting does not resolve.
What State Guidance Already Requires
Separate from the local policy debate, Maryland's education department has already published its own Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools policy, which supplements the state's broader AI guidance, according to the Maryland State Department of Education. That policy states plainly that “generative AI systems require human oversight,” and it assigns responsibility for a tool's use and results to the person operating it rather than the system itself.
The state policy also sets firm limits on how student information and automated decisions can be handled. It says agencies must “never train AI with student data unless approved,” and it bars AI from making final calls on matters like discipline or eligibility, stating that “no final determinations about awards, funding, eligibility, legality, compliance, disciplinary actions, or any other policy or program decision-making may be performed by an AI.” Any AI system used by MSDE, or any AI feature added to an existing tool, must be reviewed and approved by both MSDE and the Maryland Department of Information Technology, the department's policy states.
Anne Arundel is not alone in running behind the state's timeline. Howard and Baltimore counties, along with Baltimore City, were also expected to adopt their state-mandated AI policies late, according to a Baltimore Sun report.
Community Meetings And A December Vote
The school board is scheduled to hold a second reading of the proposed policy on Dec. 2, with plans to formally adopt it Dec. 16, per CBS Baltimore's reporting. Before that happens, the district will hold a string of community meetings, all beginning at 6 p.m., to gather public input on responsible AI use in schools.
Those sessions are scheduled at North County High School next Tuesday, Glen Burnie High School on Nov. 2, Northeast High School on Nov. 5, Arundel High School on Nov. 10, Southern High School on Nov. 12, Annapolis High School on Nov. 17 and Meade High School on Nov. 19. The schedule gives parents and teachers like Nickelson and Klemmt several more chances to weigh in before the board casts its final vote.
Not all the research on generative AI in education points in one direction. A meta-analysis published in PubMed Central notes that requiring students to construct their own queries to get useful feedback from generative AI can actively cultivate initiative in knowledge exploration and divergent thinking — a nuance that complicates the binary of banning the tools outright versus embracing them freely, and one the board will have to weigh as it finalizes Policy DM.
