Burbio, the online service that tracks several aspects of K12 operations, has captivated District Administration readers with its reports on the subjects that are dominating school board discussions. Lately, the firm has been examining the prevalence of AI, reviewing the school board meeting minutes of 2,000 school districts that serve about 50% of the student population in the past.

In its search for terms such as AI policy, AI guidance and acceptable use policy, the upshot shot is that school boards are spending a lot more time on the broad category of artificial intelligence than policy or guidance.

‘Talking Out of School’ podcast: Why the Universal Design for Learning is so powerful

“It is worth noting how few discussions are occurring around AI policy at the district level,” Burbio reported regarding school boards and AI.

Burbio found the phrase artificial intelligence in the minutes of more than 20% of the meetings. “AI policy,” on the other hand, appeared in around 2% of the meetings. That jibes with recent District Administration reporting that has found educators are eager to adopt AI but want more guidance and training.

Here’s a rundown of Burbio’s tracking of how often school boards are discussing other hot K12 topics:

• School boarding meetings: How much time is devoted STEM?
• The four keywords that keep coming up in the biggest districts 
• Ominous signs are emerging in recent school board discussions 
• School boards are now spending more time on these 5 topics

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Cruz used an AR-15 assault rifle to massacre 17 students and staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, 2018, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the nation’s history.

An attorney for Anthony Borges, 21, who was shot five times in the attack, proposed the unusual stipulation.

Read more from Yahoo.

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Introducing District Administration’s first annual comprehensive list—in no particular order—of some of the country’s most influential, impactful leaders and innovators in K12 education. Collectively but in varying capacities they’re helping shape the future of students across the country— and around the world—by turning their passions into actions:

CIO of Fulton County Schools (Ga.), Emily Ramsey leads a team of 250 IT members who support 100 buildings for 100,000 students and staff members. She represented fellow CIOs at the White House Back to School Safely Cybersecurity Summit for K12 Schools led by First Lady Jill Biden.

The DA 100 education influencers list.

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The mystery is explained in the latest episode of District Administration‘s Talking Out of School podcast by Lindsay E. Jones, one of the leading voices on the Universal Design for Learning, also known as UDL. Jones, the CEO of CAST and a District Administration Top 100 influencer in education, works with school leaders, teachers and researchers to design learner-centered and inclusive education systems, anchored in UDL.

“Universal Design for Learning is an evidence-based framework that educators, curriculum developers—any type of learning experience designer—can use to help them reach all of the brains that they’re trying to reach,” Jones tells the Talking Out of School team.

Superintendent turnover: Hiring slowed but did not stop before the 4th

UDL is perhaps as relevant as ever as educators seek to individualize rigorous instruction for an ever more diverse population of students. “We have a history of segregating students, either for disabilities or race or other reasons,” Jones explains. “And what Universal Design for Learning does is provide an evidence-based way to acknowledge what neuroscience tells us, which is that every brain is as different as a fingerprint.”

Jones and her team at CAST are now focusing more closely on integrating UDL into career and technical education programs. A few key CTE areas are bio-manufacturing, teaching math and science with drones and “rural, outdoor education.”

CAST also assists districts with procuring accessible edtech and works with edtech vendors to certify products based on UDL principles. Resources for these, and many other topics, can be found on CAST’s website.

“Universal Design for Learning is a way that educators and school districts can prepare and design intentionally for all of the students coming into their rooms,” she concludes.

Listen to the podcast below, or on Apple, Podbean or Spotify.

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Perhaps the most notable hire occurred at North Carolina’s Durham Public Schools, which has hired Anthony S. Lewis as its next leader. Lewis has served as superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools in Kansas since 2018 and was appointed to the Kansas African American Affairs Commission in 2019.

He was previously an administrator in Missouri’s Kansas City Public Schools. “I’m in this work to improve outcomes for all students,” Lewis said on Durham Public Schools’ website.

DA’s Top 100 Education Influencers list is live!

Another superintendent on the move is Indiana’s Tara Paul, who will take the helm at the Indianola Community School District after serving as the Estherville Lincoln Central Community School District superintendent. Paul was formerly the curriculum director, ESL coordinator and equity coordinator for Columbus Community Schools.

Denton ISD in Texas has promoted Acting Superintendent Susannah Holbert O’Bara to the full-time position.  O’Bara, a district graduate, previously served as Denton ISD’s deputy superintendent and a principal. In New York, James Lupini, a longtime administrator in Depew Central Schools, has been named superintendent of the Newfane Central School District.

And in Connecticut, Suffield Public Schools has chosen as its next superintendent, Matthew H. Dunbar, who is currently an assistant superintendent in Glastonbury Public Schools.

More new superintendent hiring: 

• Brian Becher, Ayersville Local Schools (Ohio)
• Stephen Bournés, School City of East Chicago (Indiana)
• Frances Esparza, Coachella Valley Unified School District (California)
• David Foster, Cattaraugus-Little Valley Central School District (New York)
• Bill Long, Center Grove Community School Corporation (Indiana)

Superintendent turnover: Departures

• Brian Dunn has resigned from the Pine Bush Central School District (New York).
• David Foster has resigned from the Wellsville Central School District (New York).
• Charles Foust’s contract was terminated by the New Hanover County Schools Board of Education (North Carolina).
• Superintendent Silvia Ibarra will retire from Valley View ISD (Texas) later this summer.
• Monty Sabin has resigned from the Moses Lake School District (Washington).
• Susan Yom and the Nyack Public Schools (New York) have mutually agreed to separate.

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The turnaround began with Henson’s hiring in May 2020. “Let’s get rid of the jargon and the lingo, and let’s have a laser focus on children’s minds and the culture and most importantly, on the hearts of the educators who serve our children every single day,” Henson says in describing his leadership philosophy at the outset of his superintendence.

“If you have the will to win, if you are tenacious, my philosophy is we will change the trajectory of students’ lives,” Henson adds.

Henson has since helped lift Marlin ISD’s failing state accountability grade to a B-plus, recoding more academic growth than any other district in Texas, he says. Henson describes the key components of academic transformation:

1. Quality of instruction: “We had to make sure we were arming teachers with the academic and social tools to be successful.”

2. “Student achievement mindset”: “Children have to achieve in whatever they’re doing, whether it’s academically, athletically, fine arts—you all are winners. If you’re going to represent Marlin ISD, you have to achieve and compete at the highest level.”

3. Culture and pride: “It has to tug at your heart to say ‘I am from Marlin, Texas’—knowing that the media hadn’t been friendly to our district for decades, didn’t matter.”

4. Excellence is the only option. “It came down to realizing that we were going to be great in all that we do. And we committed … that we were going to provide academic and life skills to ensure every child’s potential turns into performance.”

‘School improvement is not rocket science’

Students are more likely to make progress when they can see they are making progress, Henson attests. That’s why Marlin ISD students regularly take short tests throughout the year to demonstrate their learning—to their teachers and to themselves.

“Sometimes in education, we wait too long to allow our children to know that they are getting and grasping the concepts,” says Henson, who has recently named Texas’ Region 12 Superintendent of the Year. “Hope is not a strategy. I believe that being consistent over time and being persistent in achieving will begin to build that level of confidence.”

“Our children have to need to know early on that they are brilliant, that they were smart.”

It also reflects a shift from focusing on letter grades to students’ mastery of concepts as administrators ensure teachers have the resources they need—and then the renewed energy—to serve students. “I believe school improvement is not rocket science,” he notes. “Our students, our teachers, our administrative team have the will to win—we’re going to win every single day.”

This winning culture has to be created deliberately by every adult in the district in the pursuit of what Henson calls “realistic perfection.”

“Random acts of improvement will get us nowhere,” Henson concludes. “If we can go higher, I want to go higher. I don’t want silver academically, I want gold academically.”

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Of the 2,100-plus students surveyed, only a quarter handed out As while more than one-third marked their schools with a “C” or lower on the latest Walton Family Foundation-Gallup Student Report Card.

“At a time where we need an education experience to be anything but average, we continue to see students give their schools neutral scores on the metrics that matter most,” said Stephanie Marken, Gallup’s senior partner for U.S. research.

Superintendent turnover: Superintendent turnover: 2 big districts pick new leaders

Schools received their lowest overall scores—a pair of C-plusses—for career preparedness and making students excited to learn. More specifically, schools were marked down for their efforts to help students choose careers and teach skills relevant to graduates’ future pursuits.

One in 10 students handed out an “F” for career prep and schools got more “D’s” and “F’s” than “A’s” when it came to generating enthusiasm for learning.

Low-income students—those eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at school—were the toughest graders, as they were much less likely than their higher-income classmates to give their school an “A.”

Low-income students handed their schools a 2.57 grade-point average, compared to the 2.90 GPA given by more affluent students. That gap was even wider in higher-income communities, the report notes.

Teachers fared better than schools, with two-thirds of students grading their relationships with teachers at a B or higher.

Here is  how students graded their schools in other areas:

• Using technology in new and exciting ways to help students learn: B
• Teaching in ways that adapt to unique learning needs: C+
• Helping students succeed in core subjects such as math and English: B
• Quality of teaching: B-
• Teaching critical thinking and decision-making skills: B-

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Spotsylvania County Public Schools in Virginia announced longtime administrator Clint M. Mitchell as its new superintendent. Mitchell, who has been superintendent of Colonial Beach Public Schools since 2021, has nearly 20 years of leadership experience in Virginia school systems, including stints as a principal in Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools.

Among the superintendents moving to new districts is Ohio’s Jack Fisher, who has been chosen to lead Northeastern Local Schools after serving in the same role at the Lynchburg-Clay Local School District. In California, Santa Rosa City School District has picked its next leader, Daisy Morales, who is currently the Live Oak Elementary School District’s superintendent.

‘Talking Out of School’ podcast: What’s top of mind for 15 superintendents, according to an edtech CEO

Former superintendents returning to the lead role include Christopher Irving, who is taking the helm at the East Orange School District in New Jersey after having previously led Teaneck Public Schools, according to NorthJersey.com. In the same state, former Hillsborough Township Public Schools superintendent Lisa Antunes is taking over at the Little Egg Harbor School District, TAPInto reports.

And in Texas, Grand Prairie ISD has named former Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD superintendent Jorge L. Arredondo its next leader.

This week’s first-time superintendents include Lisa Lawson, who was picked to lead Delaware’s Brandywine School District, where she has served as deputy and assistant superintendent. She was previously an administrator in the Christina School District, also in Delaware. In New York, Andrew P. Kufel was promoted to superintendent of the Lancaster Central School District, where he has worked since 2011.

One district that’s planning ahead is Ohio’s Hamilton City Schools. With Superintendent Mike Holbrook planning to retire at the end of 2024-2025, the district this week tapped Associate Superintendent Andrea Blevins to replace him.

More new hires

• Lizsette Jimenez, San Lucas Union School District (California)
• Jason Longbrake, Fostoria City Schools (Ohio)

Superintendent turnover: Departures

• Michael Bashaw Jr. is retiring from the Thousand Islands Central School District (New York)
• Jared Caylor has resigned from the Corning Union High School District (California)
• Reva Cosby has resigned from Trotwood-Madison City Schools (Ohio)
• Christopher Leone resigned from the Regional School District 20 (Connecticut)

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Arredondo and Adrian Gonzales face felony charges of abandoning or endangering a child, the newspaper reported.

The charges come more than two years after the May 24, 2022 shooting, in which a lone gunman killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers.

Read more from The Texas Tribune.

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The superintendent, Ryan Walters, who is a Republican, described the Bible as an “indispensable historical and cultural touchstone” and said it must be taught in certain, unspecified grade levels.

The move comes a week after Louisiana became the first state to mandate that public schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, which was quickly challenged in court.

Read more from The New York Times.

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