Burbio School Tracker 5/13: Second Time Around

1.  The most important individual in setting district policy is the district Superintendent, and Burbio's Superintendent Turnover Tracker measures changes in that role nationwide. This week we take a look at Superintendent Turnover in the twenty largest states. The chart below gives the percentage of school districts with more than 3,000 students who have experienced Superintendent turnover in the past year

2.  Burbio has recently rolled out our Signals Tracker, which allows clients to receive contextual answers from Burbio's school board meeting documents. This month we extend the tool to Burbio's strategic plan database, which allows queries of Burbio's extensive national database of district plans. We begin with the question, "Identify districts that are discussing Artificial Intelligence plans and priorities."
 
The speed of innovation in AI, and Federal initiatives related to its advancement, means this subject is being revisited continually. Currently the departments and initiatives through which districts are addressing AI in the strategic plans include: 

• Technology departments charged with monitoring AI tools, cybersecurity, etc.
• Curriculum applications
• Professional development
• CTE and career initiatives
• Family and parent engagement and education

The following are snapshots from plans issued in the last 9 months discovered by our Signals Tracker:

• Herricks Union Free School District, NY  states plainly, "In our district, we are yet to systematically incorporate Artificial Intelligence into our curriculum. Communication with parents, families, and students remains a challenge," before describing a four stage process for understanding and deploying AI across professional development and curriculum.
• St Lucie Public Schools, FL cites "Implementing Strategies to Address the Development of AI" as one of their strategies in the "Meeting 2030 Needs" section, citing safe use of AI, professional development and classroom implementation, and helping "students make connections between AI and career and education opportunities."
• Neshoba County School District, MS addresses AI in the Technology section of their plan, saying, "The district will respond to AI advancement through technology upgrades and replacements. Professional development opportunities on how to effectively use AI technologies in education and appropriate use by students will be provided. The district will support family understanding about AI use and expectations . . ".
• Hudsonville Public Schools, MI lists AI as a focus area in its "Curriculum" section, saying they will, "Study and implement instructional technology plans to address the impact artificial intelligence (AI) will have on staff, students, and parents . . . "   Montgomery County School District, NJ does the same, outlining a multi-pronged approach to AI in the curriculum.
• Dekalb County School District, GA addresses artificial intelligence in the "digital literacy"  performance objectives, with a goal to "Expand student learning to include the use of real-world technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality."  

For a customized demonstration of Burbio's Signals Tracker, click here to schedule a meeting.

3.  Burbio's School Bond Tracker dataset features such elements as bond amount, coverage summary, vote date, approval status, document links, and more, available via both sortable dashboards and keyword searching. This month we are updating our database based on May voting results.   
 
Burbio tracks bonds from the consideration phase through the voting phase, and we pay close attention when bonds fail, as they frequently reappear on the ballot, sometimes as soon as six months later.  Some examples from the last two weeks, showing mixed results: 

• In East Central ISD, TX, voters rejected four propositions last fall covering new school buildings to athletic facility upgrades. This Spring a stand-alone, $309 million bond was passed to build a new high school and two elementary schools. 
• Lake Stevens School District, WA resubmitted a $314 million bond that failed last Fall and it was passed by voters this Spring. The district cited lower interest rates and an expanded tax base that reduced the cost to individual taxpayers.
• In the School District of Sheboygan Falls, WI, voters rejected two bonds in November totalling almost $100 million. This Spring, after the district eliminated the second bond and reduced the size of the first to $70 million, the initiative failed a second time. 
• St. Johns Public Schools, MI, voters rejected a $92 million bond proposal last Spring. It was reissued for $99.8 million this Spring when it failed again.
• Beavercreek City Schools, OH, voters rejected a $265 million bond last Fall to build a new high school and make other district upgrades;  this Spring, the voters rejected a bond of the same amount.