Ohio statewide school AI policy mandate (2026)

State of Ohio — statutory requirement that ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS adopt a formal ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POLICY, operative as the 2026-27 school year began. REPORTED AS FIRST IN THE NATION to require AI policies in public schools. COMPLIANCE ROUTES: a district must EITHER customize its own guidelines OR ADOPT THE POLICY CREATED BY THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. THE DEFAULT-MODEL OPTION IS THE DESIGN FEATURE THAT MATTERS: a bare mandate to draft an AI policy imposes its heaviest burden on small and rural districts with no technology staff and no capacity to assess vendor claims, and predictably produces either non-compliance or copied text of unknown provenance. Supplying a state-authored model makes compliance achievable at every district size and establishes a floor \u2014 a district that does nothing else still lands on the state's policy. SCOPE: official guidelines governing how STUDENTS AND STAFF use AI in the classroom, with districts balancing classroom integration against privacy, academic integrity and foundational learning safeguards. COMPARISON: Maryland AI Ready Schools Act, SB 720 (2026) (the Maryland AI Ready Schools Act) requires every local education agency to adopt an AI policy within 120 DAYS of MSDE guidance and additionally directs the state to publish a RUBRIC AND EVALUATIVE TOOLS for assessing AI products \u2014 a procurement-capacity provision Ohio's mandate is not reported to include. Ohio is credited as first; Maryland's is the more elaborate framework. RELATIONSHIP TO THE EXISTING INDEXED ENTRY: AI Model Policy for Ohio Districts and Schools records the ODE model policy itself. THIS ENTRY RECORDS THE STATUTORY MANDATE THAT MAKES ADOPTING A POLICY COMPULSORY \u2014 the two are distinct instruments and should not be merged: the model policy is the content, the mandate is the obligation. DOWNSTREAM: Ohio district AI policies already indexed include Blanchester OH schools AI policy EDEC (Jun. 29, 2026), Cleveland Metropolitan School District, shaker-heights-ai-2025, Columbus City Schools AI Policy (teacher discretion, plagiarism rules) and toledo-oh-ai-2025; those predating the mandate were voluntary.