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Board gets update on anti-bias task force work; district testing NotebookLM to simplify code of conduct
Summary
Administrators reported implementation steps from the April 2024 anti-bias task force: student listening sessions, a move to Panorama survey tools, Tech-Free Tuesdays, curriculum updates and recruitment outreach; they demonstrated a NotebookLM prototype that answers plain-language questions about policy 5130 but said attorney review and Ed Law 2-d checks are required before public use.
The Syosset Central School District provided a progress report on implementing recommendations from its anti-bias task force and demonstrated how the district is experimenting with AI to make discipline policy more accessible.
Administrators described a five-subgroup implementation approach covering the student experience, code-of-conduct and DASA reporting, curriculum, recruitment/hiring/professional development, and community outreach. They said the district has held regular student cabinet meetings and is moving from ThoughtExchange to the Panorama platform for a nationally normed belonging survey to provide research-based, field-tested metrics.
On student experience, administrators highlighted initiatives including Tech-Free Tuesdays in middle schools during lunch to promote in-person connection, multicultural expos run with PTAs, cross-district "Breaking Borders" events, peer mentoring and a small cohort of students participating in the Witness Project alongside Holocaust survivors.
The board also heard that recruitment efforts included in-person job fairs and outreach to universities with affinity groups; administrators said the district currently has 36 teacher vacancies and has received more than 3,500 applications in the past two months.
On the code of conduct, the administration described a NotebookLM prototype that ingests policy 5130 as a single source and returns plain-language answers to parent and staff questions. "The goal of this prototype would be to eventually have that outward facing, so that the community would have access to a tool like that," Mr. Steinberg said. Administrators stressed they are intentionally "breaking" the prototype with tough questions to identify failure modes and consulting attorneys about legal exposure before making any tool public. They also raised Ed Law 2-d compliance and data-security questions for any AI tool that would host district policy or user queries.
Board members asked when a user-facing plain-language code might be available; administrators said that prior plain-language code processes have been inclusive and time-consuming (the 2018 process spanned more than a year) and that a summer/fall timeline for groundwork and a broader fall rollout could be feasible if legal and technical issues are resolved.
Administrators said they would report back with survey timing for Panorama, summaries of student cabinet meetings and a deeper explanation of procedures for donated instructional materials; no formal action was taken at the meeting.
