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Poway Unified elects new board leadership, confirms administrators and adopts AI policy
Summary
At its Dec. 11 meeting Poway Unified elected Michelle Okconor Radcliffe as board president, confirmed several administrative appointments including a principal and two directors, approved personnel actions and unanimously adopted revised policies on artificial intelligence after student and trustee input.
The Poway Unified School District board conducted its annual organizational elections and several personnel confirmations at the Dec. 11 meeting, and approved updates to board policy on artificial intelligence.
In organizational business, the board elected Michelle Okconor Radcliffe as president following nominations and a roll-call process; Heather Platsky was elected vice president and David Dockerty clerk. The superintendent remains board secretary and the board confirmed the 2026 regular meeting schedule.
Earlier in the night the board reported the results of closed-session personnel actions: on motions and unanimous votes the board appointed Kristen Sullins as principal of Morning Creek Elementary, Colin Young as director of human resources, and Jessica Kimbell as director of facilities design and construction; the board also approved multiple settlement agreements in pending litigation and imposed an eight-day unpaid suspension on a certificated employee (employee number 319959).
The board approved negotiated salary schedule adjustments to align classified and exempt salary ranges with the state minimum wage effective Jan. 1, 2026; it also reappointed a classified employees’ personnel commissioner and created a new assistant director of food and nutrition classification to be paid from the food services budget.
On policy, the board approved a second reading and adoption of an updated AI policy incorporating student board member language emphasizing academic integrity and “productive struggle.” Trustees and the student representative said the new policy strikes a balance between classroom innovation and guardrails to protect critical thinking.
What happens next: staff will implement the approved salary schedule changes effective Jan. 1, 2026; the administrative appointments take effect per board action; and the AI policy will guide classroom use going forward while staff reviews related policy cross-references for updates.
