A district advisory committee found AI saves time for teachers and improves learning when it supports differentiation, engagement and feedback.

The committee also found AI use must be defined and intentional. Its report states the district should avoid overreliance on the tool, one-size-fits-all rules and using AI as a replacement for teachers.

Superintendent Stu Moeckel gave an update on the district’s artificial intelligence committee’s progress at Thursday’s School Board meeting. The committee is composed of teachers, administrators, parents and community members. 

He said the district is emphasizing teacher-focused needs like confidence, coaching and readiness. 

The board also discussed the potential Shadow Ridge and Holladay Woods developments. They are both reinvestment housing incentive districts, which are used to attract developers and bring housing to undeveloped property. 

In these districts, the increase in property taxes goes to the developer to pay for incurred costs or debt service on bonds. 

Resident Richard Campbell, who said he was on the Planning Commission for 20 years, presented to the board and spoke against the RHID districts. He said the market will work itself out, and reinvestment developments would make the district lose money.

“The role of the School Board and the district is the responsible use of taxpayer dollars, and nowhere in our mission statement or anything in the board directives does it talk about being involved in real estate,” Campbell said. “…I would hope you would want your legacy to be, ‘We’re the ones who stopped this.’”

Campbell also suggested the district support one development but submit adverse effects for the other.

Moeckel said later in the meeting that the developments would not cost the district money because the plot would retain the same value if the houses aren’t built.

Board member Tony Barron said he supports the RHID district because the developer is able to take on the infrastructure cost of the project.

“Trying to find housing just for people to come in and enjoy the great things we have here is a challenge,” Barron said.

Member Joe Hurla said that while he has concerns with the RHID, he doesn’t “know that we can see this development happen without the RHID.” He said he is concerned that developers will go elsewhere if the RHID does not go forward. He also mentioned the district’s declining enrollment.

“This is the necessity to make sure that we start seeing some of this growth happen,” Hurla said.

Moeckel said he also fears developers going elsewhere if the district is not on board with the current plans.

Member Heather Whalen said she doesn’t like the districts and supports Campbell’s idea of going forward with one development but not the other. However, she said she thinks it is the lesser of two evils and the board probably has to move forward with it.

Overall, the board took no action and will not submit a complaint for either housing district.

The board also discussed the EPIC survey, which is given to teachers in Kansas and focuses on issues like teacher retention. The survey found teacher engagement in Eudora is strong and comparable to or better than statewide norms. It also found retention risk is low and stable.

The survey also found the district’s workforce is relatively young, with over 80% of educators having five or fewer years in the district.

Areas of improvement included feedback, professional growth, and teachers feeling like their voices and opinions matter. Member Claire Harding said this matched the district’s specific survey.

“Specifically, ‘I wish that my voice was heard a little bit more,’” she said.

In other business, Technology Director Ron Long gave an update on the district’s IT use and developments since last February. 

He said YouTube has been the top site students are visiting on provided district Chromebooks for the past 90 days. Google search and Google Classroom are the second and third most-visited sites. Long said there are 200 posts per month on Google Classroom.

Hurla asked if the YouTube activity is mainly educational or personal. Long said there is educational YouTube use, and 44% of the activity across all sites is educational.

In that same 90-day period, students were most active on their district devices from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Non-educational activity increased after 4 p.m., though.

Long said the district is seeing an increase in its cloud storage, and Barron asked why. The district is approaching 30 terabytes of storage on Google Drive.

Long said it is due to the ease of storing files and from the video production class at the high school. He also said no one deletes anything anymore.

Long said the district uses Google Workspace for Education, which provides 100 terabytes of storage for free. He said the district will have to have conversations about deleting files when getting closer to that number.

Some future IT plans include developing the emergency notification systems, a firewall upgrade and Wi-fi expansion.

Director of Food and Nutrition Services Nicole Parks gave an update as well. She said the district buildings have been fully staffed since October. She said breakfast participation has grown because of more items and a grab-and-go program, where students who arrive late to the preschool and elementary school can get something to eat.

Harding asked if there are logistical hurdles to implementing the grab-and-go breakfast program at the middle and high schools. 

Parks said the program is less applicable for high school students because they stop at Sonic or other food stops on their way to school. She said it could be implemented for middle school students, though.

She also said school lunch participation is increasing because of greater variety and a fun lunch experience, like cutting grilled cheese into the shape of dinosaurs.

The district has had a fruit and vegetable grant for the past few years used to pay for produce for students outside of regular mealtimes. Parks said they quickly go through blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.

“A lot of the kids are really, really enjoying it,” Parks said. “During the day, it’s just an extra snack on top of the snack they bring from home.”

Moeckel said Parks has done an amazing job leading and elevating the district’s nutrition programs. He highlighted the fruit and vegetable program.

“It gets those kids healthy snacks in the grade school, and it exposes them to new foods,” Moeckel said.

In other business, the board is planning facility tours for March. 

Whalen said she would like to see how building administrators are using the features funded by the district’s bonds, like the new playground.

Barron said he would like to see how mechanical upgrades have increased the buildings’ operational efficiencies. 

Also during the meeting, Adam Brickner was hired as the assistant baseball coach and Madison McGinness was hired as the assistant softball coach.

Jerimiah Andrews resigned as the assistant wrestling coach, Rayah Foltz resigned as the assistant volleyball coach and Matthew Eckelman resigned as the assistant middle school football coach. 

First grade teacher Jasmine Crame is resigning at the end of the year. 

The board went into executive session about personnel for 70 minutes. No action was taken.

Reach reporter Bella Waters at [email protected].