Families across Marblehead will receive updated student and family handbooks before the start of school on Aug. 27, with one notable change for the elementary level. For the first time, the documents include expectations around artificial intelligence.
Assistant Superintendent for Learning Julia Ferreira said the district is relying on academic integrity expectations rather than a separate AI policy. These guidelines, already in place at Veterans Middle and Marblehead High School, are now being extended to younger students.
“Previous to our work this year, they were not in elementary handbooks,” she said.
Ferreira said the opening lines of the handbook’s academic integrity section are the most important. They emphasize that students should be able to say their work is their own unless otherwise indicated and that plagiarism is taking another person’s work or ideas and presenting them as original.
The principle itself, she added, is longstanding, but the technology driving student work has changed.
A recent Pew Research Center survey illustrates that shift, finding that 26% of U.S. teens now report using ChatGPT for schoolwork, doubling from 13% in 2023.
Marblehead began focusing more intentionally on AI two years ago, when district leaders recognized it would have a significant impact on classrooms.
That led to professional development for teachers and the creation of an AI steering committee, a group of about 15 educators and administrators led by Ferreira. The committee’s work centered on supporting students in the responsible use of AI while also equipping teachers to guide them.
Ferreira said staff training this fall will stress the importance of setting “clear parameters” in assignments about when — and whether — students can use AI. Monthly meetings will follow, giving teachers a place to ask questions and share approaches.
“We all want to prepare our students for the world after Marblehead Public Schools, which we know involves AI, but [it’s about] how they use it responsibly and within the parameters,” she said. “We’re trying to build this culture that values learning and at the same time accepts that technology is a huge part of a student’s educational experience.”
For parents, Ferreira said the guidelines will be clear in handbooks and reinforced in district newsletters.
“AI will be a feature in my next family newsletter,” she said. “We want to embrace it but at the same time recognize that the parameters are important for learning.”
She encouraged families to start conversations at home about when and how AI is appropriate to use, especially as students gain access to computers and phones.
Consequences for misuse fall under existing discipline categories for academic dishonesty.
“The expectations aren’t really changing in terms of holding our students accountable when they’re not producing authentic or submitting authentic work,” Ferreira said.
At the middle and high school levels, staff have already woven AI and digital literacy into technology-based classes and expect to step up that focus this year.
Ferreira emphasized that Marblehead’s approach mirrors what’s happening statewide. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education launched its own AI task force in 2024, and Ferreira said Marblehead’s work already mirrors its recommendations.
“I feel good about where we’re at right now, but of course, we always will continue to reflect and adapt as needed,” she said.
