5505 – ACADEMIC HONESTY

The Board values honesty and expects integrity in the District’s students. Violating academic honesty expectations erodes the trust between teachers and students as well as compromises the academic standing of other students. So that each student learns the skills being taught, and is judged solely on their own merits, the Board prohibits any student from presenting someone else’s work as their own, using artificial intelligence platforms in place of one’s own work, providing unauthorized assistance to another student, and cheating in any manner.

All schoolwork submitted for the purpose of meeting course requirements must be the individual student’s original work or the original work of a group of students for group projects. It is prohibited for any student to unfairly advance their own academic performance or that of any other student. Likewise, no student may intentionally limit or impede the academic performance or intellectual pursuits of other students.  

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:

1. plagiarism (of ideas, work, research, speech, art, music, etc.);
2. forgery of another’s work;
3. presenting the results that are the product of an artificial intelligence (AI) platform as one’s own;
4. downloading or copying information from other sources and presenting it as one’s own;
5. using language translation work of someone else or using technology when the expectation is doing one’s own translation;
6. copying another person’s work;
7. allowing another person to copy one’s own work;
8. stealing another person’s work;
9. doing another person’s work for them;
10. distributing copies of one’s work for use by others;
11. distributing copies of someone else’s work for use by others for academic gain or advantage;
12. intentionally accessing another’s work for the purpose of presenting it as one’s own for academic gain or advantage;
13. distributing or receiving answers to assignments, quizzes, tests, assessments, etc. 
14. distributing or receiving questions from quizzes, tests, assessments, etc.

Use of Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing Tools For School Work

In order to ensure the integrity of the educational process and to promote fair and equal opportunities for all students, except as outlined below, the submission of work as one's own for a grade that is solely/wholly generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools (collectively, “AI/NLP tools”)  is strictly prohibited, as doing so undermines the learning and problem-solving skills that are essential to academic success and that the staff is tasked to develop in each student.  When students have questions, or are in need of assistance, they are encouraged to develop their own knowledge, skills, and understandings through discourse rather than relying solely on AI/NLP tools.  Students are invited to speak with both their teachers and their peers for clarifications. 

Unauthorized use of AI/NLP tools, including the submission of work as one's own that is solely/wholly generated by AI/NLP tools, is considered a form of plagiarism and any student found using these tools in a prohibited manner will be disciplined in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct. 

Notwithstanding the preceding and following specific instruction on the ethical and responsible use of such tools, students can use AI/NLP tools in the school setting. in compliance with the School District of Shiocton Student Education Technology Acceptable Use Policy and for the following purposes:

1. Research assistance: AI/NLP tools can be used to help students quickly and efficiently search for and find relevant information for their school projects and assignments.
    
2. Data Analysis: AI/NLP tools can be used to help students to analyze, understand, and interpret large amounts of data, such as text documents or social media posts. This can be particularly useful for research projects or data analysis assignments – e.g., scientific experiments and marketing research.
    
   1. Students are responsible to review the AI/NLP generated information for accuracy and appropriateness, including fact checking.
   2. When using AI/NLP tools to collect information, students are encouraged to consider the potential biases and/or limitations of the generated information.
       
3. Language translation: AI/NLP tools can be used to translate texts or documents into different languages, which can be helpful for students who are learning a new language or for students who are studying texts written in a different language.
    
4. Writing assistance: AI/NLP tools can be used to improve student academic writing by providing grammar and spelling corrections, as well as suggesting alternative word choices and sentence structure.  AI/NLP tools can be also be used to brainstorm ideas or generate a simple draft from which students then leverage their own knowledge and skills to edit and refine.
    
   1. If AI/NLP generated work is utilized, students will use the proper citation of the source.  Use of AI generated content without the proper citing will be considered plagiarism.
   2. AI/NLP tools should never be used to disclose or access private information of the student, other students, staff members, or any other person. 
       
5. Accessibility: AI/NLP tools can be used to help students with disabilities access and understand written materials. For example, text-to-speech software can help students with specific learning disabilities or visual impairments to read texts and AI-powered translation tools can help students with hearing impairments understand spoken language.

Staff and Administration have the responsibility for monitoring students’ work for compliance with this policy.  Students have the responsibility of reporting concerns to their teacher or Principal.

All teachers, beginning in the elementary grades, will educate students as to what constitutes academic dishonesty and what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in District schools regarding academic integrity. Such education shall reference this Board policy.

Students who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary consequences.

Teachers are authorized, in consultation with their Principal, to apply appropriate consequences for violations of this policy. Disciplinary consequences for significant violations may include removal from the class with a failing grade, removal from student leadership positions, elimination of honors recognition, loss of membership in honor organizations, as well as other disciplinary consequences appropriate to the nature of the violation. 

Parents shall be contacted as soon as practicable to report any alleged acts of academic dishonesty by their child.

Repeated violations of this policy will result in additional disciplinary consequences, up to and including suspension and expulsion. 

Student and/or parent appeals of disciplinary consequences resulting from violation of this policy may be made within five (5) business days to the Principal whose decision shall be final. If the Principal was the staff member responsible for the disciplinary consequence being appealed, then student and/or parent appeals should be directed within five (5) business days to the District Administrator whose decision shall be final.

A summary of this policy shall be included in the Student Handbook and the Employee Handbook.

Revised 4/21/25

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