Stephanie Petrie, director of the Office of Teaching and Learning, gave the committee an update on the district’s Magic School AI tools and broader AI committee activity.

Petrie said the district purchased Magic School last year and has been tracking teacher usage. She pointed to a usage spike in October tied to a professional learning day and said teachers have used Magic School features such as a chatbot, worksheet generator and multiple-choice quiz creators. “Part of the reason for that spike is we did have a professional learning day on that in that month that we had all teachers engaging using Magic School to make sure they're comfortable with it,” Petrie said.

The district is promoting Magic School as a "controlled AI environment" to teach students ethical AI use and to limit data-housing uncertainties while the district vets other technologies. “...it's really a a kind of a controlled AI environment so that we are teaching students the ethical use of AI,” Petrie said. She said the district is exploring Google applications and Gemini but does not yet have confirmation about data housing and safety comparable to Magic School.

Petrie announced a Feb. 13 professional learning day during which Magic School trainers will offer sessions for staff to support teacher and student use. She also said the AI committee will hear a presentation next week from GPT‑0, described as an AI detector, to evaluate whether a pilot or investment in detection technology is warranted given the evolving capabilities of AI platforms.

During questioning, board members and staff discussed mixed teacher and student feedback: some staff have embraced the tool while others are hesitant, and student-group feedback collected by district staff was also mixed. Petrie said the district plans to pace rollouts, emphasize consistent student experiences across schools and focus on ethical and pedagogically meaningful uses rather than broadly opening all tools without guidance.

The committee will continue AI committee work and review GPT‑0’s demonstration to decide next steps; no formal action was taken during the committee meeting.