Massachusetts parents sue school district over student receiving ‘D’ after using AI for social studies project

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The parents of a Massachusetts high school senior who used artificial intelligence (AI) for a social studies project have filed a lawsuit against his teachers and the school after their son received detention and a “D” grade.

“He’s been accused of cheating, and it wasn’t cheating, there was no rule in the handbook against AI,” Jennifer Harris, who along with her husband, Dale, are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts’ Plymouth County District Court last month against the Hingham High School administration and the school district, told Boston 25 News. 

The lawsuit alleges that their son will “suffer irreparable harm that is imminent” over the grade that his parents say kept him out of the National Honor Society, which they claim is threatening his standing with top tier colleges. 

“So, our argument to the school was could you fail him with a 59 instead of a 53 so he can have a B minus? He’s applying to top tier schools,” Harris told the news station. “He’s applying to Stanford, he’s applying to MIT. They see a ‘C’ [grade] and it’s going in the trash.”

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The parents of a Massachusetts high school senior who used artificial intelligence while writing a social studies paper have filed a lawsuit against his teachers and the school after their son received detention and a “D” grade. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Harris said that the school “basically punished him for a rule that doesn’t exist,” saying that the school’s code of conduct handbook never mentioned the use of AI in projects until their son was punished, WCVB-TV reported. 

She added that her son argued “it’s well documented that AI is the property of the person who generated it,” WBZ-TV reported.

While the school called it plagiarism, the parents and their lawyer disagree. 

“There’s a wide gulf of information out there that says AI isn’t plagiarism,” Peter Farrell, who is representing the family, told WCVB. 

Harris told the news station that their son had already missed rolling admissions at his choice schools, adding that he had received a perfect score on his ACT. 

The parents sued the Hingham High School administration and their son’s teachers, as well as the school district.  (Google Maps)

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The student’s father argued that while the school can’t “undo” some of his punishments, they can change his grade, allow him into the National Honor Society and make it clear that he didn’t cheat on his paper. 

“You already made him redo the paper, you can’t undo the Saturday detention,” he told WCVB-TV. “But there are some things you can fix right now and do the right thing.”

The parents of a student are arguing in a lawsuit that using AI isn’t plagiarism.    (Getty Images)

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Hingham Public Schools didn’t immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Saturday, but has previously told news outlets the district couldn’t comment on ongoing litigation.