Greeley-Evans District 6 outlines AI task force, teacher-fellow training and early classroom uses

GREELEY, Colo. — Greeley-Evans School District 6 officials on Jan. 13 told the Board of Education that an artificial-intelligence task force is developing teacher training, classroom tools and policies to support the district’s Innovation 2030 strategic plan.

The district’s assistant superintendent for secondary and k leadership, Anthony Nausplis, said AI work links to Goal 2 of the plan: ‘‘implement consistent and coherent aligned curriculum assessment and instructional practices that are research based to ensure that all students learn.’’ He described priorities to support educator practice, expand professional development and promote equitable student access.

Why it matters: District leaders said AI is already affecting jobs and classroom practice and that preparing students to use AI responsibly and to evaluate its outputs is part of college- and career-readiness work. The task force will build teacher capacity, pilot tools and issue guidance intended to keep student assignments rigorous while using AI for scaffolding and planning.

District staff said the task force is part of a Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) grant and includes four industry and nonprofit partners: Magic School (an AI tool for educators), IBM (technical training and tools), AIEDU (a nonprofit focused on AI education) and Spark Fund (hands-on robotics and AI opportunities). Dr. Degan Andrews, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said, "District 6 is proud to be 1 of only 8 school districts across the state selected to lead the implementation of artificial intelligence in collaboration with the Colorado Education Initiative." She said the partnership will support policy development, leadership strategies and educator capacity building.

Staff described a 17-person fellowship cohort—16 teachers and one instructional coach—receiving specialized training. According to the presentation, 11 fellows are training on Magic School, two on IBM Skill Builder and four on both platforms. Fellows will mentor colleagues and provide districtwide professional development; the district scheduled an initial PD led by fellows on Feb. 3.

Assistant superintendent Nausplis and Dr. Andrews said schools are piloting AI for lesson planning, generating assessments and improving educator efficiency, while also teaching students to verify AI outputs because systems can be inaccurate. ‘‘When researching, artificial intelligence does give you information, but at times it will make up information,’’ Nausplis said.

Caleb Flores, the district’s secondary multilingual learner coordinator, gave a classroom example using Magic School to create discrete translations and scaffold assignments for students new to English. Flores demonstrated how the tool produced a Spanish translation of Robert Frost’s poem and how AI can break a long science assignment into scaffolded steps without lowering rigor. He cautioned that outputs require teacher review: "If you look closely, there's a lot of misspelled words on the photo. So we have to be careful with AI, right, and just make sure we're being vigilant," he said.

Board discussion touched on teacher readiness and curriculum design. Director Campos Spitzley, who attended a CASB workshop, said professional development is essential because students often learn AI tools faster than teachers and because instruction must teach students how to craft valuable inputs for AI.

Next steps recorded in the presentation include continued PD for teachers, a February 3 introductory PD led by teacher fellows, development of an introductory AI course for students, and ongoing work to define appropriate classroom uses and teacher supports. District staff said they will return with additional implementation details and officered to answer questions from the board.

Ending: District staff emphasized this work is in the “infancy” stage and framed the task force as a combination of pilot work, teacher training and policy drafting tied to Innovation 2030.