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The Broward County School Board has pushed back full implementation of an artificial intelligence platform for schools, pausing key aspects of the rollout until July as officials review concerns about privacy, cybersecurity, and student-appropriate content.
The program, MagicSchool AI, is designed to assist teachers with lesson planning and help students build artificial intelligence skills. It had been scheduled for implementation in the upcoming school year.
During Tuesday’s meeting, board member Adam Cervera called for a pause in the rollout, citing concerns about student data protection, program costs, and potential impacts on learning and student mental health.
“A pause is responsible leadership,” Cervera said.
His request came after hours of public comment, with parents, teachers, and community members divided on the use of AI in classrooms. Some speakers urged caution, with one teacher’s union representative emphasizing the need for “guardrails” to understand how AI should be used in education, while another speaker called for the program to be halted entirely.
Despite the concerns, the board did not fully suspend the program. Instead, members agreed to continue reviewing the rollout, with Superintendent Howard Hepburn expected to return in July with a detailed report addressing concerns about privacy protections, instructional impact, and student well-being.
Hepburn said the district still hopes to begin introducing the program in the fall semester, noting that schools are currently on summer break and no immediate student-facing deployment is taking place.
Jamaican-American board member Jeff Holness questioned the need for a formal pause, suggesting the review process could continue without halting preparations ahead of the planned fall rollout.
“If this is coming back in July, and the board is going to look at the written report that you’re bringing back in July, why do we need to pause anything or stop anything if it’s not being rolled out to students at all? If we have any concerns with that report, then we can address those concerns before it’s rolled out in the fall?”
The board is expected to revisit the issue in July, when officials will determine whether safeguards are sufficient for the program to proceed.
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