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District quarterly strategic update: AI pilots, wayfinder bus testing and $93 million middle-school referendum proceeds
Summary
The board received its quarterly long-range plan update: the district is piloting AI tools and drafting guidelines, testing a student 'wayfinder' bus tracking system, and reported receiving $93,000,000 from the first bond/borrowing for middle-school referendum projects.
District administrators gave a quarterly strategic plan update that highlighted three broad areas: exploration and piloting of artificial intelligence tools for staff productivity and classroom support; testing of a bus-mounted student tracking system called Wayfinder; and progress on middle-school referendum construction funded by a recent borrowing.
Administrators said Mike Jaber, the district’s coordinator for instructional technology, is leading pilots of several AI tools and has worked with students to draft AI guidelines that will be considered by administration. The stated aims are to identify tools that can increase staff productivity and reduce teacher workload; staff said final recommendations will include resource requests should the board approve ongoing purchases.
On transportation, district staff reported ongoing Wayfinder testing on a subset of buses. Officials said the system uses a small tap card attached to student backpacks; when students tap boarding and exiting the bus the system logs the location. Staff told the board Wayfinder is intended to reduce uncertainty when parents report that a child did not arrive home and to improve attendance auditing; they said the system remains in a troubleshooting phase before districtwide rollout next year. Officials also said they will implement verification procedures — for example, questions drawn from the district transportation database — when parents call to confirm a child’s status.
On facilities and capital work, the board heard an update on middle-school referendum projects and related planning. The district reported it received $93,000,000 from its first borrowing, and said those proceeds are now invested pending design and construction. The core planning team has toured peer schools and is finalizing floor plans; administrators said a broader teacher-and-department review of classroom details is underway and public updates will follow when firm designs are ready.
Board members asked about community information sessions and were told that the district will schedule public updates when plans are firm; staff noted a brief update had already been released but that design details are not yet ready for public review.
The strategic update also noted other district projects in the communications and HR pipeline: a two-way parent communication platform and a new district website (planned for rollout before next school year if possible), and an automated reference-check system that administrators said had already reduced hiring friction by returning checks in hours instead of days.
No formal votes were taken during the strategic-plan presentation itself; staff said items requiring board approval (for example, resource allocations for AI tools or final construction contracts) will be presented separately.
