District outlines cautious AI student pilot and revamped summer programs including a redesigned third‑grade 'Lit Camp'

Lee County School District officials told the board on April 14 that the district will pilot limited, closely governed AI tools in 2026 and is redesigning summer programs to increase student engagement and remediation.

Dr. Nathan Shaker, joined by CIO Dwayne Alton and district staff, said the district’s AI strategy follows the U.S. Department of Labor’s AI literacy framework and is structured around building staff confidence before expanding student access. "We want our educators truly to view AI as a high level administrative partner," Shaker said, adding that the district’s rollout will start with pilots in targeted courses and include training and governance safeguards.

Training and pilot plan

Shaker detailed the district’s internal Ascent Challenge for staff: 566 teachers completed the initial challenge earlier in the year; 120 are participating in a second run and about 140 are in an advanced course. About 100 school administrators are participating in leadership training. The board was told the plan now is to pilot a structured 10‑week onboarding in 8–10 high schools (with English classes and select electives targeted) beginning in August and running into mid‑October; middle‑school pilots are possible later in the fall. Elementary implementation has been paused by the AI governance team.

On student access and tools

Shaker described tools such as a confined local instance of a large‑model environment (referred to in the presentation as a GEM) that will allow teachers to input benchmarks and have the system synthesize instructional needs. He said student access to external tools like Gemini and NotebookLM remains blocked in the district ecosystem until pilots demonstrate safe, supervised use.

Summer programming and Lit Camp

The district also previewed its 2026 summer ecosystem. Shaker said the district has built a continuum with three pillars: essential remediation (including an intensive, in‑person third‑grade reading program called Lit Camp), tailored care for specialized populations (virtual ESOL support and face‑to‑face extended year services for ESE students), and fee‑based enrichment institutes. The presentation said Lit Camp emphasizes engagement and fluency in a camp‑like environment and that daily schedules will move from an opening 'campfire' goal‑setting activity to shared read‑alouds and rapid 1‑on‑1 diagnostic checks. The district also reported about 650 registrants already signed up for a June summer summit featuring keynote speakers on behavioral management, neurodiversity and trauma‑informed care.

Board questions and next steps

Board members asked how teachers will be trained to distinguish AI‑assisted work from academic dishonesty and whether teachers will receive specific onboarding. Shaker said teachers will take a 30‑minute AI awareness training at the beginning of the year, continue to build capacity through the Ascent Challenge and identify teacher leaders in each building who can support peers. The district offered to schedule one‑on‑one sessions for board members to experience the Ascent Challenge and said it will provide board members with the sample prompts and materials discussed in the workshop.

The board did not vote on any AI policy at the workshop; administrators said they will return with implementation details and pilot outcomes before broadening student access.