BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Parents will have to sign off on students’ use of AI in public schools, according to new rules the Florida State Board of Education passed on Wednesday.
The rule would require parents to “opt-in” to using tools inside the classroom after the district reveals a tool’s name and purpose. Florida will also ban AI tools in schools that are used to meet a student’s social or emotional needs or to simulate companionship.
“We want parents to play an active role in the education of their child,” said Commissioner of Education Henry Mack. “They need to be at the table. So, parents can make an affirmative decision to use AI or let their children use AI.”
Maya Israel, a UF Professor who helped create these guidelines on the task force, said the intent was to protect data privacy, hold vendors more accountable, and give parents rights. She said implementing these rules will become “tricky” because AI tools are constantly evolving, and finding substitutes for them is difficult.
“The problem is that the AI provides a level of personalization that didn’t exist before,” said Israel. “So now it’s not as if we can say, ‘we’re just going to go back to old school paper and pencil necessarily,’ because there’s not a one-to-one relationship.”
She said there was a debate over whether parents should “opt-in” or “opt-out”.
According to a study published in January 2026 by the nonprofit Bellwether, which studies education trends, as of 2024, the number of schools and districts with AI policies doubled from 20% to 40%. But it also found that Title I and rural school districts were less likely to have policies or guidance on AI.
A spokesperson for the Lake County Schools said they were waiting for the state to issue its rules before implementing their own policy, other than offering some guidance to students and staff. But other areas, like the Orange County Public School District, had already approved their own policy on AI tools before these state rules were passed earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the Orange County Public School District said their policy is similar to the rules the state board passed, but it does allow parents to “opt out” of using AI technology, even though it isn’t written into their policy.
“While an opt-out is not directly addressed in the AI policy, parents who do not want their child to participate in a particular lesson may communicate that request directly to their child’s teacher,” said an Orange County Public School District Spokesperson. “In those instances, the student will be provided with an alternative assignment.”
The state’s rules also ban vendors from selling student data or using it to train agents or models. But the rules do allow schools to use AI for a number of reasons, including tutoring, feedback, and completing assignments with instructor permission.
The deadline for districts to comply is July 2027.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2026 Cox Media Group
