The Morton Community Unit School District 709 Board of Education reviewed policy updates tied to a new state law that took effect July 1 and discussed district guidance for staff use of artificial-intelligence tools.
The board's administrative presenter said the new ESS law creates a requirement in the school code that districts provide supports to students who are parents, expectant parents, or victims of domestic violence and to designate both a building-level resource person and a complaint resolver with training. The presenter said districts already have many supports in place but must formalize policies, procedures and training.
The matter matters because the law imposes specific duties and at least one training requirement: the presenter said the statute calls for an eight-hour training requirement for the designated building resource person(s) and complaint resolver(s), but the presenter and board attorney indicated the training material and some procedural details had not yet been developed. The presenter said the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) is working on training guidance and the district's board attorney recommended approving the policy now and updating it later when the state or IPA issues additional guidance.
Board members and policy-committee members also reviewed changes to the district's Access to Electronic Networks policy that add five required items and direct the district to produce an AI plan. The presenter said the student handbook already covers most student-facing AI guidance but that the district will create an administrative procedure for staff use, training and oversight; administrative procedures do not require board approval and can be revised by the administration.
Policy committee members Christiana (policy committee member) and Diane (policy committee member) emphasized the need for clear teacher guidance on appropriate and ethical AI use and said the district should avoid relying on AI to substitute for proper instructional oversight.
No final board votes on these policies occurred during the discussion; the presenter said those draft policies will be placed on the consent agenda for board approval at tonight's meeting, and future press updates or legal clarifications will be brought back to the policy committee if needed.
Ending: The board set these draft policy changes for the consent agenda and asked the administration and policy committee to continue work on implementation details, training plans, and any future updates after state guidance is published.