Loudoun Schools Prepare Artificial Intelligence Classroom Pilot as Device Costs Surge Past 70 Percent

LEESBURG — Loudoun County Public Schools is preparing to flip the switch on a limited Artificial Intelligence pilot for middle and high school students even as board members warn that device costs are soaring and that classroom readiness remains unsettled.

Chief Technology Officer Aaron Smith told the School Board that average classroom screentime rises with each grade — roughly twenty minutes in kindergarten and as much as two hours by tenth grade — when students use division devices. Grades six and higher already average more than an hour. A separate Smart Start pilot for early grades relies on shared laptops left in classrooms rather than one-to-one devices, which lowers screentime but complicates standardized testing logistics.

Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Neil Slevin cited a Common Sense Media finding that 86 percent of children ages 9–17 have already used Artificial Intelligence tools. He said Loudoun’s goal is not to replace student thinking but to strengthen it — teaching brainstorming, research habits, attribution, and how to spot bias and misinformation. “What do we want our graduates to be able to do in a world where AI exists?” Slevin asked the board.

The division has published a Generative AI Guide and a Generative AI Policy that Slevin said other Virginia divisions are copying. The optional pilot would give selected schools access to Gemini Notebook under Loudoun administrator controls. Schools listed for the pilot include Belmont Ridge, Brambleton, and Watson middle schools and Independence, Lightridge, Loudoun Valley, and Stone Bridge high schools, plus virtual distance learners. Slevin said the tools remain off until building leaders request activation and that Gemini Notebook would generate only from teacher-uploaded materials rather than the open internet.

Cost pressure is the other half of the briefing. Smith said Chromebook prices jumped from about $365 last year to more than $500, driven by chip and memory shortages he called unprecedented. Staff machines climbed from roughly $1,100 to more than $2,000, with higher-spec machines above $3,000 — increases above 70 percent. Those prices will hit next year’s budget even if sharing models expand.

Board member Amy Riccardi of Sterling said she worries younger students may not develop independent critical thinking before Artificial Intelligence enters the room, and she is nervous about teachers relying on fast-changing tools. Lauren Shernoff of Leesburg called rising device costs frustrating because state-required testing already depends on computers, and she urged more state technology aid. Shernoff also pressed for parent liaison plans; Slevin said each pilot school has a supervising team that will communicate with families, and that every participating school volunteered.

Chair April Chandler of Algonkian urged a slower pace, recalling past technology rollouts that outran cost analysis. She raised liability, mental health, and suicide-risk questions while acknowledging special education teachers who say Artificial Intelligence helps some students communicate. Chandler also linked the debate to data-center stress on power, land, and water in Loudoun — the same county that hosts much of the infrastructure powering the tools schools now want to trial.

Jon Pepper of Dulles said he has used Gemini Notebook and liked it, but he wants assurance that students’ authentic voices and critical thinking will still show through. Vice Chair Anne Donohue said she has significant concerns and floated a dedicated School Board committee or administrative panel on technology and Artificial Intelligence to keep tools inside Loudoun’s sandbox.

Administrators answered that monitoring will exceed vendor defaults and that teacher feedback shaped the rollout. Still, the split on the dais mirrors a wider Northern Virginia argument: Artificial Intelligence is already in teenagers’ pockets, device budgets are breaking, and localities that host hyperscale campuses are being asked to normalize the same technology in classrooms while fighting its grid impacts.

Budget staff will have to model Chromebook and staff-laptop refresh costs against other FY2028 pressures, including compensation and Special Education obligations. If the pilot expands beyond the seven named schools, procurement volumes could magnify the per-unit spike Smith described. Conversely, shared-device models like Smart Start might temper totals while changing how teachers plan lessons.

Parents’ rights groups in Loudoun have already signaled they will watch opt-out procedures, data retention, and whether prompts can leave the division’s controlled environment. Teacher associations want clear guidance on grading AI-assisted work and on workload when monitoring student use. Local tech employers, meanwhile, tell the board that Artificial Intelligence literacy is becoming a hiring baseline.

No final activation date was locked at the briefing. Building principals in the volunteer cohort will decide when to request Gemini Notebook access, and the board left open the possibility of additional policy amendments before a wider launch. For a county that has become shorthand for data-center politics statewide, the classroom Artificial Intelligence pilot is another front in the same fight over speed, cost, and control.

Email the Leesburg City Council at: council@leesburgva.gov,
Mayor Kelly Burk — kburk@leesburgva.gov,
Vice Mayor Todd Cimino-Johnson — tciminojohnson@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Zach Cummings — zcummings@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Nicholas Krukowski — nkrukowski@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Kari Nacy — knacy@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Neil Steinberg — nsteinberg@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Patrick Wilt — pwilt@leesburgva.gov,

Email the Loudoun County School Board:
April Chandler, april.chandler@lcps.org,
Anne Donohue, anne.donohue@lcps.org,
Deana Griffiths, deana.griffiths@lcps.org,
Ross Svenson, ross.stevenson@lcps.org,
Kari LaBell, kari.labell@lcps.org,
Jon Pepper, jonathon.pepper@lcps.org,
Lauren Shernoff, lauren.shernoff@lcps.org,
Sumera Rashid, sumera.rashid@lcps.org,
Amy Riccardi, amy.riccardi@lcps.org,

Email the Board of Supervisors at:
Phyllis J. Randall (Chair, At-Large) – Phyllis.Randall@loudoun.gov,
Michael R. Turner (Vice Chair, Ashburn District) – Mike.Turner@loudoun.gov,
Juli E. Briskman (Algonkian District) – Juli.Briskman@loudoun.gov,
Sylvia R. Glass (Broad Run District) – Sylvia.Glass@loudoun.gov,
Caleb Kershner (Catoctin District) – caleb.kershner@loudoun.gov,
Matthew F. Letourneau (Dulles District) – Matt.Letourneau@loudoun.gov,
Kristen C. Umstattd (Leesburg District) – Kristen.Umstattd@loudoun.gov,
Laura A. TeKrony (Little River District) – Laura.TeKrony@loudoun.gov,
Koran Saines (Sterling District) – Koran.Saines@loudoun.gov