Burbio School Tracker 9/3: Eye-Opening

1. Burbio's school board meeting minute database contains everything from policy trends to highly specific, contextual answers about district initiatives delivered through our Signals Tracker. This week we look at the shift in mentions in some key terminology from Q2 2024 to Q2 2025. The following chart shows the percentage of districts that mention these terms at least once in the indicated quarter.

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2. In our last two Trackers we examined state-level and district-level AI policy frameworks. We noted the speed of adoption of AI in instructional programs and teacher usage appears to be outpacing local policy guidance. With that, there are local AI training initiatives occurring nationwide for educators and administrators. This week we use our Signals Tracker - which allows clients to ask any question of our data and discover insights - to highlight AI training examples we see in districts around the country.   

Training occurs with school staff, outside consultants, and regional off-sites. Some examples: 

• Bay Village City School District, OH, conducted "AI Framework and Staff PD" on August 20th, done in conjunction with the district technology committee, featuring three different sessions, training from an outside professor, and staff from some of the AI tools the district uses. 
• In Humboldt County School District, NV, the Assistant Superintendent and the Technology Director attended AI training in Las Vegas. "Information in this area is changing so fast, that keeping up with it is almost a full-time job," notes the Assistant Superintendent. "Companies are popping up at a rapid pace, and ensuring that our students, teachers, District, etc., aren’t harmed by it, is a District priority."
• Placenta-Yorba Linda Unified School District, CA, had an 11-week partnership for Artificial Intelligence Professional Development with the Orange County Department of Education. 
• Pleasant Valley Community School District, IA, worked with a consultant to develop their AI policy, and the consultant was a featured speaker at a district-wide professional development day in August. 
• Pelham School District, NH, has an "AI Pilot Committee" that is charged with professional development for the upcoming school year. 
• Smithfield Public Schools, RI, conducted full-day AI training for 30 teachers earlier this summer. 

One issue we note is the lack of familiarity with AI among school board members with less exposure to it. From some meetings:

• In Bend-La Pine, OR, a school board member attended AI training for administrators and found it "eye-opening." 
• In Saginaw School District, MI, the President of the board concluded his end-of-school-year remarks by noting he "would like Board members to get some AI Training as well. . ."
• In Elizabethton City Schools, TN, a school board member, in approving an AI training software for teachers, noted, "We do need training on all of the AI that our children have access to. The students are already using it, and we need to be able to train them to use it responsibly. If they are not taught correctly it could potentially become a big issue . . ."

3. Burbio gathers K-12 school budgets, with a particular concentration among the largest districts in the country. Many districts publish presentations that include key priorities and metrics that can't be gleaned by looking at the district's financial statements. These documents can be particularly important early in the district's financial year and we recommend review before meeting with district leaders. Some highlights from select districts:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, NC, board presentation highlights a number of investments:

• Over $30 million for High Quality District Specialists and High Quality Master Teachers in Math and Literacy, plus over $2 million in professional development
• A new high-dosage tutoring program
• Support for their 5-year goal of increasing K-2 early literacy scores, grades 3-8 College and Career Readiness scores, and math assessments
• Just over $32 million in capital outlay with a focus on security, HVAC, and roofing

Denver Public Schools reports the following in their annual presentation:

• An increase in curriculum spending, to $12 million, from a historical average of $7 million
• A 22% increase in students with IEPs since 2019-20
• Launch of the Elevate Network in 2025-26 with 13 FTEs, with the goal of providing intensive support to a cohort of schools
• Addition of 53 health tech paraprofessionals
• Spending against their 2024 bond ($975 million) in a wide array of school upgrades with adjustments being made due to recent building closures

In an example of a smaller district, Hackensack Public Schools, NJ, highlights a number of initiatives:

• Offering differentiated professional learning to support high-quality, standards-based reading instruction, with a focused effort on strengthening foundational reading skills in grades K-8
• Continued preschool expansion, with 290 students projected for the 3 and 4-year-old programs
• Focus on K-8 literacy and math, detailing programs for elementary and middle school students in each area
• Device refresh for middle school, and focus on building and digital security