Transylvania County Schools presented a strategic-plan update on Dec. 15 showing the district has exceeded its target for AI professional development: EdTech staff reported Goal 1.3.0.1 called for six AI training and planning sessions by June 2026, and the district has provided 19 sessions so far — six districtwide and 13 school- or group-specific sessions designed to support differentiation, multilingual learners and literacy-focused lessons.

EdTech staff said training topics included lesson planning with AI, using AI to support multilingual learners, and designing AI-assisted classroom activities that position the tool as a 'thought partner' rather than a replacement for student reasoning. "We have already surpassed that goal with 19 total trainings," the presenter said, describing districtwide and school-specific sessions at monthly Tech Connect meetings and onsite at schools.

Teachers described practical classroom uses. Robin Lavery, ML specialist at Rosman Elementary and TC Henderson Elementary, highlighted an AI tool called Diffit that she said 'allows teachers to take content and reading material and differentiate it for our ML students and also other students in the classroom' and said the tool helps remove language barriers to accessing content. Amy Galloway, media specialist at BMS, said AI helps generate questions tailored to a topic or standard and can adjust difficulty and formats; Joanna Klug, a third-grade teacher, described using Google Gemini to simplify a full chapter of curriculum text for multilingual students and then generate matching questions based on students’ access scores.

Students gave first-hand examples. Ryan Lance, a Brevard High freshman, said AI mock grading and feedback via 'Gemini' improved his writing and enjoyment of English assignments. A second student, Tyler, described using Google Gemini as a feedback assistant rather than a replacement for student work.

District staff said they will continue to provide at least one district-wide AI training monthly plus additional school-level offerings, and that they will share videos and audio clips of teacher and student reflections with the board.

Provenance: Strategic-plan presentation and teacher/student testimonials occurred during the strategic plan update session and supporting slides/videos were made available to board members.