Baltimore schools face new state AI rules, city already has guidance

Baltimore City Public Schools is already ahead of the curve on classroom AI, but a new Maryland law now turns that into a compliance deadline. Once the Maryland State Department of Education releases statewide guidance, city schools will have 120 days to align their policies, name a central-office AI coordinator, and fold AI literacy into computer science and workforce-preparation instruction.

The Artificial Intelligence Ready Schools Act, passed as Senate Bill 720 and House Bill 1057, pushes Maryland away from scattered district-by-district decisions and toward a single framework. MSDE must provide guidance to local school systems, educators, parents and students through an online platform, and the law also creates the Maryland AI Education Collaborative on Artificial Intelligence in K-12 Education. That matters in Baltimore because the day-to-day questions are practical ones: what teachers can assign, what students can use, how staff handle privacy concerns, and where human judgment still has to override an algorithm.

City Schools is not starting from zero. In November 2025, Baltimore City Public Schools published its Academic Artificial Intelligence Guidance, saying it was developed with input from staff, families and the community. The district also offers a staff training resource, the Academic Generative AI Guidance Course, on Canvas. That gives Baltimore a head start, but the state law still creates a new timeline that administrators will have to track closely once MSDE posts its guidance.

The AI rules are only one of the June 1 changes that will touch Baltimore institutions. House Bill 1578 extends Maryland’s Minority Business Enterprise program until July 1, 2031, keeping minority-owned business preferences in place for more state contracting and development work. The law also adds quarterly reporting for specified procurement programs, changes annual reporting deadlines for the Office of Small, Minority, and Women Business Affairs, and directs the office to write regulations for reviewing small-business certification. For Baltimore firms that rely on state contracts, the extension means the rules around participation, reporting and certification will stay in play for years, not months.

Baltimore election officials will also have to absorb a new polling-place law before the June 23, 2026 primary election. Senate Bill 670 and House Bill 1001 let local election officials direct on-duty police officers at polling places, and those officers must follow the election director or other designated official. The law also allows officials to deny admission to or eject challengers and watchers in some situations, and it expands authority at early voting centers and counting centers. In a city where ballot lines can get long and precincts can be crowded, the new rules will shape how election workers handle order, access and observer roles in the weeks ahead.