Nearly a dozen Sarasota County students and parents urged the school board to limit artificial intelligence in classrooms, as WWSB first reported.

The Sarasota County School Board voted at a mid-October meeting to advertise proposed AI rules for public review. The revisions have not received final approval.

Kennedy Cole, a Booker High School student, told the board that both students and teachers are relying on the technology too heavily. "Teachers are irresponsibly using AI in addition to students," Cole said, according to WWSB. Cole pointed to Booker's arts focus, saying AI-related flyers posted around campus raised concerns about the technology's effect on creativity.

Under the proposed policy, students could use AI for brainstorming and feedback but not to replace original work. Students would have to disclose AI use. Teachers could use AI for lesson planning, but the technology could not make important decisions about students without human review. The draft also includes student-privacy protections.

School Board member Bridget Ziegler said AI could improve efficiency when used appropriately but questioned the trade-offs. "I think with AI it certainly creates some opportunity to create efficiency, but at what cost?" Ziegler said.

Cole said the technology does not necessarily need to be eliminated entirely but that schools should set clear expectations.

National survey finds similar student concerns

A RAND Corporation survey published March 17, 2026, found similar attitudes among students nationally. That survey of 1,214 young people ages 12 to 29 found that 67 percent endorsed the statement that the more students use AI for schoolwork, the more it will harm their critical thinking skills. That figure rose more than 10 percentage points over 10 months.

AI use for homework also climbed. The share of students in middle school and above who reported using AI for homework help jumped from 48 percent in May 2025 to 62 percent in December 2025, according to the RAND report. Middle and high schoolers drove the increase.

Most students who used AI expressed concern about it, yet most did not consider using AI for school-related purposes other than getting direct homework answers to be cheating, the survey found.

Whether the School District of Manatee County, which serves Lakewood Ranch families, is developing a comparable AI policy is not clear from public records. The Sarasota County School Board has not announced a date for a final vote on its proposed rules.