ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is setting new rules for how artificial intelligence can be used in public-school classrooms, but questions remain about how districts will put those rules into practice.
The Florida State Board of Education approved the new AI policies this week. The rules are scheduled to apply to Florida public schools beginning next July and spell out both permitted and prohibited uses of artificial intelligence.
Under the new framework, schools can use AI for educational purposes such as tutoring, providing feedback and supporting certain assignments. The rules also establish requirements for academic integrity and the evaluation of educational technology.
Parents will have a significant role in deciding whether their children use AI instructional tools. Schools must notify parents about approved AI tools, including the tool’s name, the courses where it will be used and how students will interact with it.
Parents must be given the choice to opt their child into the AI tool or receive a non-AI alternative.
The rules also place limits on how AI can interact with students.
Schools cannot use AI designed to meet students’ social or emotional needs or to simulate companionship or an emotional relationship.
The rules also prohibit certain forms of undisclosed behavior monitoring, social scoring and psychological profiling. Vendors cannot sell student data or use it to train agentic models.
That parent opt-in requirement could present challenges for schools, particularly when an AI tool becomes part of a class assignment or other regular classroom activity.
Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack addressed questions about implementation Thursday. The Department of Education says districts will have to develop transparent policies governing AI and other educational technology.
The state also plans to update its K-12 computer science standards to address responsible use of educational technology and is updating its Digital Classrooms Plan to emphasize instructional value, evidence of effectiveness and teacher training.
For schools, one of the practical questions will be how to provide a meaningful non-AI alternative when a parent chooses not to allow a student to use an approved AI tool.
The new rules are intended to create a statewide framework, but individual districts will still have to establish policies and procedures for putting those requirements into practice.
The Florida Department of Education says the goal is to allow schools to use AI as an instructional tool while maintaining student privacy, parental involvement and the role of teachers in the classroom.
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