Ohio's Model AI Policy: What School Leaders Need to Do Before July 1
Ohio districts must adopt a formal AI policy by July 1 under House Bill 96. To help, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) released a model policy to guide safe, effective classroom use of AI. The goal is simple: improve instruction while protecting academic integrity and student safety.
As ODEW Director Stephen D. Dackin put it, schools can use AI to strengthen learning-but they must do it responsibly and with guardrails. The model policy gives leaders and teachers clear direction to make that real.
What the Model Policy Covers
- How to integrate AI into curriculum without replacing essential learning
- How to evaluate third-party tools for privacy, safety, access, and effectiveness
- How to align AI use with existing policies on bullying, academic integrity, data privacy, and procurement
It's built with input from Ohio's AI in Education Coalition-educators, businesses, nonprofits, and state leaders. It also builds on ODEW's AI Toolkit released in early 2024.
About the ODEW AI Toolkit
The toolkit gives educators a practical starting point: what AI is, how it works, and examples of tools to explore. It includes classroom activities, hands-on challenges, and a 10-week project-based course. The resource also addresses ethics, bias, and responsible use-useful for staff training and student-facing lessons.
Jon Husted, then Ohio's lieutenant governor, was involved in creating the toolkit, highlighting the need for students to understand AI before entering the workforce.
State and National Momentum
In December, Chris Woolard, ODEW's Chief Integration Officer, joined the White House Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force to discuss AI's impact in classrooms with federal officials, educators, and parents. He shared Ohio's approach to implementing AI policies across all public schools and outlined the model policy's structure.
District Action Plan: How to Move Now
- Form a cross-functional team: Curriculum, IT, legal, student services, and teacher leaders. Include student and family feedback channels.
- Adopt the model policy and map it to your existing policies on academic integrity, bullying, privacy (FERPA), and procurement.
- Create clear classroom guidelines: What's permitted for idea generation, drafting, coding help, or study support-and what isn't.
- Stand up a vetting process: Review tools for data handling, age-appropriateness, accessibility, and instructional value before classroom use.
- Train staff: Offer short, recurring PD on prompts, bias, verification, and lesson planning with AI.
- Communicate with families: Share how AI supports learning, how student data is protected, and how academic honesty is upheld.
- Measure impact: Track outcomes-engagement, feedback quality, reading/writing progress, and workload relief for teachers.
Quick Rubric for Evaluating AI Tools
- Privacy & safety: Student data flows, storage, deletion, and COPPA/FERPA compliance
- Instructional fit: Clear learning outcomes, alignment to standards, teacher oversight
- Bias & accuracy: Transparent limitations, source citation options, fact-checking workflow
- Access & equity: Language support, accessibility, offline options, device constraints
- Cost & procurement: Free vs. paid features, contracts, support, and vendor reliability
Classroom Guardrails to Include
- Academic integrity: Define acceptable assistance vs. plagiarism. Require students to disclose AI use when appropriate.
- Verification: Teach students to fact-check outputs and cite sources. Build this into assignments.
- Teacher control: Use AI to support lesson planning, differentiation, and feedback-not replace core instruction.
- Digital citizenship: Address bias, fairness, and respectful conduct in AI-enabled spaces.
Helpful Resources
- Ohio Department of Education & Workforce - model policy and AI toolkit resources
- Ohio Legislature - information on House Bill 96
Professional Learning for Your Team
If your district is building PD around AI use, consider curated training to speed up staff readiness. You can explore role-based AI courses here: AI courses by job.
The bottom line: adopt the policy, train your people, and keep students at the center. With clear rules and steady practice, AI can enhance instruction while protecting integrity and privacy.
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