When Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) decided to introduce Microsoft Copilot across the district, leaders knew success would require far more than purchasing licenses and offering a few training sessions.
As one of the nation’s largest school districts, with more than 230,000 students and nearly 28,000 staff, BCPS needed an implementation strategy to help educators and staff adopt artificial intelligence (AI) thoughtfully, consistently, and responsibly. That meant creating clear guidance and policies and building staff confidence to ensure AI could be integrated into everyday work in ways that supported teaching and learning.
To accomplish that, the district partnered with the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) to help develop a comprehensive approach to AI implementation.
“One-time training doesn’t change behavior,” said Manny Castañeda, executive director for analytics and intelligence at BCPS. “The ongoing collaboration allowed us to iterate, reinforce learning and adjust in real time. It turned this into a sustained transformation, not an event.”
Moving Beyond Individual Experimentation
Like many school systems, Broward educators had already begun exploring AI independently, but the level of use varied widely from school to school and department to department.
“AI usage was fragmented and experimental—isolated pilots, no governance, and limited scale,” Castañeda said.
The district recognized that isolated efforts alone wouldn’t produce equitable, sustainable implementation. District leaders wanted AI to become part of everyday practice while ensuring responsible use across schools and departments. They needed a scalable approach.
“Our vision was to move from pockets of innovation to a system-wide capability: secure, governed and embedded in daily work,” Castañeda said.
That vision ultimately led BCPS to deploy 20,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses to teachers, administrators and staff. According to Microsoft, it was the largest K-12 rollout of Copilot in the world. The district intentionally chose this comprehensive approach to “establish standards early, drive adoption quickly, and avoid fragmentation,” Castañeda explained. “A slow rollout creates inequity and stalls momentum.”
Building the Infrastructure for AI
Rather than treating AI as a standalone technology initiative, BCPS approached implementation as an organizational change effort. The district created an AI Task Force, which brought together students, teachers, principals, IT staff, principal-appointed AI liaisons and district administrators to help shape Broward’s approach and ensure the district’s AI strategy reflected multiple perspectives.
That work also helped establish AI as a formal district priority. On March 10, 2026, the Broward County School Board adopted AI Resolution No. 26-132, “Resolution in Support of Broward County Public Schools Advancing Education Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for BCPS,” authored by Dr. Sherri Wilson, former director of innovative learning.
NCCE helped validate the district’s direction while accelerating implementation, explained Dr. Wilson, who led the AI Task Force and AI liaisons.
Working alongside district leaders throughout the school year, NCCE supported the development of a comprehensive implementation strategy that included guidance on responsible AI use, professional learning pathways for various employee groups, AI prompt libraries and instructional resources, communications materials, leadership coaching and strategic planning. The partnership also supported communications planning and administrator training, helping ensure implementation remained aligned across departments.
“They helped us bring consistency to our policies, align around clear standards and equip staff with the practical skills needed to use AI effectively in their day-to-day work,” Castañeda said. “They’ve been true thought partners in our AI journey.”
NCCE met regularly with district leaders throughout the implementation process, helping refine resources, respond to emerging needs, and adjust professional learning as staff adoption increased. The organization also supported the district’s kickoff event and two districtwide conferences, while providing ongoing training for AI liaisons. When specific departments identified additional needs, NCCE provided targeted “pop-up” sessions.
“NCCE was critical in reviewing what we created and making sure it aligned with national trends,” Dr. Wilson said. “And training our liaison group was critical to ensure we were building the infrastructure and creating a culture of AI as well.”
Helping Staff Move from Curiosity to Confidence
Professional learning was designed to be practical and immediately applicable. Educators, administrators and operational staff participated in role-specific training sessions focused on integrating Microsoft Copilot into their daily work. Instead of simply demonstrating features, sessions emphasized real-world use cases that participants could adapt to their own responsibilities.
The impact started to become visible. For example, a curriculum supervisor shared an early success story: She created an AI agent using Copilot to develop new teacher guides in a matter of hours, rather than the weeks the work had previously required.
The example illustrated what district leaders hoped staff would discover: AI could reduce time spent on routine tasks, allowing educators and administrators to devote more attention to higher-value work.
Hermes Abrantes, a high school teacher, shared a similar experience. “Now I’m able to reinvest that time and pay more attention to those students who need differentiated learning,” he told Microsoft.
AI liaisons were appointed at each school to both participate in the AI Task Force and to redeliver NCCE’s trainings to their colleagues. Teachers who may have been more skeptical about AI could also have more informal conversations with their liaison. The goal was not simply to teach people how to use Copilot, but to make the technology feel approachable and useful.
“I’m not as afraid as before,” one educator said following NCCE training.
Most importantly, Dr. Wilson emphasized, was making sure teachers understood that Copilot was there to make their lives easier, not to take their jobs. “It starts with a conversation, not a tool,” she said. “‘Human in the loop’ is not just a slogan; it is a deliberate practice that ensures the subject matter expert remains in control of the tool.” That means honoring teachers’ expertise and helping them see how AI can enhance their professional judgment, not replace it.
“From Novelty to Utility”
District leaders viewed success as more than attendance at professional development sessions. At its peak during the rollout, nearly 66% of active users had interacted with Copilot in the previous 30 days, per Microsoft’s standard definition of Copilot usage.
Just as encouraging, Castañeda added, adoption increasingly spread through peer-to-peer collaboration. Momentum became visible as educators and staff began sharing successful AI use cases with colleagues without prompting from district leadership, signaling that AI was becoming embedded in everyday workflows.
“We’re seeing practical daily use,” he said. “It’s moving from novelty to utility.”
Dr. Wilson echoed Castañeda’s view that the breakthrough wasn’t hitting a particular technology milestone. “The key shift in our process came when district departments began collaborating and speaking the same language,” she said. “That alignment demonstrated that our vision was taking root among the leaders across the district responsible for driving the work forward.”
Building for What Comes Next
While professional learning launched the initiative, district leaders believe the work’s lasting impact will come from the structures created to support AI over time. The governance framework, district policies and support resources developed throughout the partnership now provide a foundation for continued expansion as AI capabilities evolve.
For Castañeda, long-term success will be measured not simply by AI usage, but by whether AI becomes a sustainable part of how the district works. The goal, he said, is to embed AI into everyday workflows in ways that improve productivity and strengthen instruction while maintaining thoughtful governance.
As school districts across the country continue exploring artificial intelligence, Broward County’s experience suggests that successful implementation depends on more than selecting the right technology. It requires building the structures, partnerships, and shared understanding that allow innovation to take root and endure.