Florida’s State Board of Education adopted new AI rules on September 16, 2026. For K–12 districts and charter schools, the amendment to Rule 6A-1.0957 adds requirements for parent opt-in, approved AI instructional tools, student-data protections, and records of student interactions.
District school boards and charter school governing boards must adopt and implement the AI provisions by July 1, 2027, ahead of the 2027–28 school year. That replaces the January 1, 2027 deadline in the earlier proposal.
For district leaders and IT teams, implementation means connecting policy decisions to daily practice: which tools students can access, how parent permissions affect that access, and how schools document and report AI use.
フロリダ州規則6A-1.0957とは何ですか？
Rule 6A-1.0957 governs internet safety policies for Florida school districts and charter school governing boards. The existing rule addresses filtering, electronic communications, unauthorized access, student privacy, and social-media restrictions. It also requires annual board review and approval of these policies.
The AI amendment adds requirements for instructional tools made available to students for activities such as tutoring, practice, feedback, and assignments. Its definition of an AI instructional tool excludes systems that do not interact with students or that analyze, classify, predict, detect, or optimize decisions using existing data.
The Board also adopted a separate rule, 6A-14.0719, for Florida College System institutions. It addresses approved AI uses, parental notice for enrolled minors, and instructor permission for AI use on graded work. This article focuses on the K–12 requirements.
What districts must implement by July 1 2027
の K–12 rule text sets out the following requirements for district and charter-school policies.
Parent opt-in and comparable alternatives
Schools must notify parents when they approve an AI instructional tool. The notice must explain the tool’s name, grades and subjects, how students will interact with it, and how parents can object to its content.
Direct student use requires parent opt-in. When parents do not opt in, schools must provide information about a non-AI alternative that offers comparable instructional quality and access.
Districts should establish how staff will collect permissions, keep them current, and apply them to student access. Teachers also need a clear process for providing the alternative during instruction.
Restrictions on companion AI and student profiling
The rule prohibits policies that deploy AI designed, marketed, or configured to meet students’ social or emotional needs, simulate friendship or companionship, or use humanlike relationship-building features to keep students interacting.
AI instructional tools also cannot subject students to undisclosed behavior monitoring, social scoring, or psychological profiling. Tool reviews should examine the experience students receive, including features embedded in existing applications.
Additional review for younger students and instructional quality
Tools for Voluntary Prekindergarten through grade 5 require additional review for age and developmental appropriateness, legal requirements, and alignment with Florida’s academic standards. AI instructional tools must also meet requirements for accuracy, transparency, viewpoint neutrality, and accessibility.
Districts must review whether tools support student learning. Vendors must disclose known instructional limitations and available independent evaluations. The absence of an independent study alone does not prevent approval.
Teacher judgment and staff training
AI must supplement teachers’ professional judgment and preserve parents’ authority over their children’s education. District policies must address acceptable classroom use, plagiarism, and verification of student work. Teachers and administrators must receive training on AI risks, limitations, safety, and applicable requirements.
Student data and vendor review
Approved AI instructional tools cannot sell, monetize, profile, or commercially exploit student data to train commercial AI models. Districts and charter governing boards must prioritize vendors that store and process student data in the United States.
Districts should review contracts and data-use terms alongside the tool’s instructional features. U.S.-based storage and processing is a vendor-prioritization requirement, rather than a blanket prohibition on every other location.
Public tool lists interaction records and reporting
Districts must maintain an accessible public list of approved AI instructional tools and keep it and their AI policies up to date. AI instructional tools must retain student interaction records for at least 30 days to support parents’ access to education records.
Reports to the Florida Department of Education must identify the tools used, applicable grades and subjects, frequency of use, and duration of student interactions. The rule does not require reporting information for individual students or teachers.
ライトスピードのメリット
Lightspeed supports the visibility, access controls, and reporting districts need to put their policies into practice. Districts retain responsibility for consent collection, instructional alternatives, vendor approval, and required submissions.
ライトスピードインサイト™
ライトスピードインサイト helps teams identify AI applications in use, assess privacy and security information, manage approval workflows, and publish approved-app lists. Usage data can inform state reporting and reviews of how approved tools are used. Privacy-policy change alerts help teams identify when an approved app needs another review.
ライトスピードフィルター™
ライトスピードフィルター helps districts apply access rules for approved, restricted, and prohibited AI tools. Those controls can support access decisions based on a student’s recorded parent permission.
Policy Exceptions, planned for September 2026, will let districts give individual students or groups different access without creating a separate filtering policy. For example, a district could keep an AI tool blocked for students without parent opt-in while allowing it for students with permission.
Filter includes AI Prompt Capture, which records prompts and responses on supported AI platforms. A CSV export planned for Q4 2026 will support reporting and authorized records requests. Districts should confirm platform coverage and retention settings against their recordkeeping obligations.
ライトスピード教室™
ライトスピード教室 gives teachers visibility into student screens and AI activity during instruction, with browsing controls to support classroom expectations. Teachers can use that visibility to supervise approved activities and redirect students when needed.
コンプライアンスマッピング
This table maps selected requirements in 規則6A-1.0957 to supporting capabilities and district responsibilities.
| 要件 | ライトスピードサポート | District Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Parent opt-in and non-AI alternatives | Filter applies AI access rules. Planned Policy Exceptions support individual or group differences. | Collect and maintain consent. Provide comparable alternatives. |
| Approved tools and public transparency | Insight supports app review, approvals, and public lists. | Approve tools and keep notices, policies, and lists current. |
| Prohibited companion uses and vendor safeguards | Filter restricts access. Insight supports privacy and security review. | Evaluate tool design, data practices, contracts, and age suitability. |
| At least 30 days of interaction records | Filter AI Prompt Capture records supported platforms. CSV export is planned. | Verify coverage, retention, and parent-access procedures. |
| AI usage reporting | Insight provides application usage data and trends. | Compile required fields and submit reports in the state’s required format. |
| Instructional oversight and training | Classroom supports teacher visibility and browsing controls. | Train staff and assess instructional quality, accessibility, and academic integrity. |
What Florida districts should do now
- Inventory AI instructional tools, including AI features within applications already in use.
- Review tools for prohibited uses, student-data practices, accessibility, and additional VPK–5 requirements.
- Define how parent notices, opt-in records, access rules, and non-AI alternatives will work together.
- Confirm where interaction records will reside and how staff will handle parent requests and state reporting.
- Train teachers and administrators, then adopt and implement the updated policy by July 1, 2027.
