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Assistant superintendent presents year‑end discipline review; district to craft AI policy and revise code of conduct
Summary
Lee County Assistant Superintendent Kevin Ding presented a year‑end discipline report showing attendance-related issues at Lee County High, a rise in tribunal hearings and vaping incidents; the board discussed code-of-conduct changes and directed staff to craft an AI policy over the summer.
Kevin Ding, assistant superintendent of human resources, family and student services, presented the district's one‑year discipline review and outlined where school leaders plan to focus next year.
Ding told the board the district saw a modest increase in in‑school‑suspension incidents, a reduction in total ISS days, and a larger reduction in out‑of‑school suspension days. He said tribunal hearings rose by about 14% between 2023–24 and 2024–25 and that many tribunals stemmed from chronic disciplinary situations, including vaping and possession of electronic smoking devices.
"When you see student instability one ... that means just a general disrespect or failure to follow directions," Ding said, explaining the district's classification system for offenses. He described high‑school patterns as driven in part by attendance‑related incidents — "keys to the car equals making bad choices sometimes" — and cited increased instances of device possession and plagiarism or AI‑assisted cheating at Lee County High School.
Ding said the district reorganized the code of conduct last year and instituted chronic‑discipline meetings. He argued those processes have increased parent involvement and allowed administrators to escalate consequences when repeated misconduct disrupts instruction. "We want classrooms where teachers can teach and where students can learn," he said.
Board members and administrators discussed how to detect inappropriate AI use in student work. Ding said existing plagiarism systems now include AI detection capabilities but acknowledged an "arms race" between detector tools and methods to evade them. He described a two‑part plan: the board will establish the district's philosophical approach to AI over the summer, then district teams and schools will develop procedures, including potential verification steps for flagged work.
The board did not take formal action on discipline or adopt a final AI policy during the meeting. Ding said the district will circulate proposed code‑of‑conduct redlines for a 30‑day review period and work with schools to refine consistency in discipline coding and consequences.
The next steps: staff will prepare the proposed code changes and an AI policy framework for board review and public comment this summer.
