How Hillsborough and Pinellas schools plan to use AI
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As Tampa Bay students return to classrooms, the region's largest counties are taking uneven approaches to AI, with Hillsborough County emerging as the district with the clearest guardrails.
Why it matters: The 2025-26 school year is shaping up to be one in which educators feel that they must embrace AI to keep students competitive, Axios' Megan Morrone writes.
Catch up quick: Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) surveyed students, teachers and administrators last year about how they're using AI and its effectiveness in home and instructional settings.
- The district used that feedback to shape an AI guide adopted in June. The approach is built on six principles, among them human-centric belief, universal access and responsible use.
- HCPS partnered with the University of Florida to provide instructors with curriculum resources on AI, and the district will also offer Advanced Placement courses on the subject.
Zoom in: The district's manual outlines specific guidance for students, teachers and parents.
- Students cannot access generative AI before eighth grade without supervision. Afterward, written parental consent and teacher approval are required before using the technology on any assignment.
- Teachers should specify in their syllabus the ways AI may be used in the classroom. They are asked to engage in regular discussions about AI's role in academic work and require proper citations.
- Parents are recommended to ask teachers whether AI can be used on assignments and to model appropriate use of AI as tools to assist, but not replace, critical thinking.
The big picture: ChatGPT isn't on the district's approved AI platforms and applications list.
- HCPS allows only AI applications that have signed a DataShare and privacy agreement, ensuring compliance with local, state and federal regulations. The list includes Microsoft Copilot Chat.
Zoom out: Pinellas County Schools doesn't have an AI policy; instead, a spokesperson for the district told Axios that the Student Code of Conduct "covers the misuse of any Wireless Communication Device."
- That section forbids the use of wireless devices in ways that disrupt instruction or violate academic integrity, including using them to complete assignments.
- Earlier this year, the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association received a grant of $25,000 to explore ways to incorporate AI into schools, according to FOX 13.