by Gabriel Esteban ‘27

Within the last two years, many generative AI chatbots have quickly emerged and now can be found throughout everyday life. ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Snapchat AI and many more promise to make some everyday tasks easier, such as writing emails, making schedules, and creating spreadsheets. However, the impressive capabilities of these programs also create massive challenges in the educational system, particularly regarding academic dishonesty. These AI engines can write entire essays in mere seconds, and the fast nature of the answers they provide also allows for students to take pictures of assignments or assessments and have it answer questions.

MCPS currently is drafting regulations, guidelines, and policies for the use of these AI Chatbots. Last fall, MCPS released a working draft of the regulations for public comment. The Board of Education (BOE) stated that it is looking to find the best ways to integrate AI to enhance education while also making sure that both students and staff use the resources responsibly, “preserving human judgement and integrity.” Since the creation of this draft, there has not been any new edits or information regarding when a concrete policy will be made public.

There currently is very little guidance on what the expectations are for AI use by either teachers or students. “We were given very little guidelines coming into the school year. It was very much like the Wild West,” said Christine McKeldin, the department head of social studies.

MCPS has made some moves to lay the groundwork for planned regulations and policies regarding AI. “We [school administrators and department chairs] had training from someone within the MCPS central office … who went over guidelines, not only here at Sherwood but in the [entire] county,” noted Lynnette Evans-Williams, the head of the English department.

After this training, Sherwood’s instructional leadership team met over the summer, reviewing a presentation to lay the foundations for AI use. The presentation includes the county’s stance on AI, mainly talking about teachers and the responsible ways AI can be used by them, such as sending emails, setting up assignments and discussions for English, as well as generating practice problems for math and science.

McKeldin agrees with the usefulness of AI for teachers. “AI is great with that,” she said. “I’ll put in an idea [for a project], and I upload what I’d like my students to do… and I upload what I’d like my objectives to be and it’ll give me different ideas and already have the directions created for me.”
Another area prioritized in the presentation to Sherwood’s leadership was transparency with students.

“Going with what the county has said … have open conversations with students about how they can use it and when they should not use it,” explained Evans-Williams. ”If you find a student has used AI to write their entire paper then, whatever the school’s consequences say, that’s what you should follow”.

Similarly, teachers in their respective departments also have open conversations about AI in their classrooms.“Each department meeting I try to encourage a different teacher in the department to present a way they used AI for themselves as well as a way they’ve encouraged their students to use AI,” said McKeldin

According to the presentation, MCPS planned on launching an “Eye on AI Learning Series” for staff and students. As of the publication of  this article, no new information has come out about this document.