001Good evening. Today is Monday, May 18th, 2026, and we are in room D205, and it is 7:47 p.m. Um, before we have roll call, we are going to have the pledge of allegiance and it is how elementary. Good evening everyone. I am the proud principal of How Elementary. My name is Matthew Rudo. Uh, and with me are just a few of our amazing students at How Elementary. So, I'm going to introduce them one by one. They're going to come up and they will lead us in the pledge this evening. So, to my right, I have Jake Herszog. Come on up. We have Molly Mallister. And then I have her older sister Maggie Kira Herszog, Delaney McGee. I have Declan Spitznagle and his sister Lydia and Mason McGee. All right, here please stand for the pledge.
002I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you so very much. >> You're very welcome. Uh if I may, I just want to share a couple uh exciting things. We've had a really wonderful school year uh this year. All of our students have worked exceptionally hard. Uh so I would like to thank not only my friends here in attendance, but all of our students at how uh shout out to all of our amazing teachers and support staff as well as our PTA and our families. Uh our community is amazing and they do everything to support our students. Um, so it it's just been a really wonderful experience this year. Uh, all
003of our students, our our PBIS theme is skate for success at how elementary. Uh, it's a little skateboard theme that I enjoy selfishly. Um, and I think the kids are enjoying it as well. Uh, but skate uh means a lot. It it's it's staying safe in our building. Um, it's continuing to to be kind uh to others. always accountable, totally trustworthy, and what's the last one who can help me? What is it? >> Excellent every day. So, our our students uh exhibit those those assets each day, and we work hard to to strive to always improve. Um so, I want to thank all of you for for doing that. And again, on behalf of How Elementary, we thank you so much. Feel free to come up and take pictures if you would like. You have
004if you wanted to take a picture like >> the group wanted to take a picture if anybody wanted one. >> I did get some pictures. >> Awesome. Making sure. >> You're welcome. >> Came back. Roll call, please. Mrs. Berdick, >> here. Dr. Campanero >> here. >> Mr. Clocky >> here. >> Mrs. CrarAel >> here. >> Miss Flecher >> here. >> Mrs. Gellman >> here. >> Miss Given >> here. >> Mr. Hoffman >> here. >> Reverend Dr. Strauss. >> Miss Antonunis >> here. >> Mr. Adams >> here. >> We have seven members present this evening. Thank you. I move that it be resolved the board approves the minutes of the discussion meeting held on April 6, 2026 and the regular meeting held on April 13th. >> Second. All in favor? >> I I >> Okay, we
005will start with our board reports. And up first, we have our middle school representative reports. >> Good evening. Thank you so much for inviting us to speak tonight. My name is Image Mallister. I'm an eighth grade member of our student council's executive board. My name is Eleanor Mitchum and I am also an eighth grade member of Melon Student Council. My name is Hazel Hernandez and I'm an eighth grade member of our student council. We hope to update you on the happenings of our student council since our last update to the board in the middle of March. Before spring break, we sponsored a crazy socks day for Down syndrome awareness. Following spring break, we sponsored a red, yellow, and blue day for autism awareness. Students who participated received spirit slips for a chance to win prizes.
006On Tuesday, April 7th, our student council was thrilled to attend the PASC region B conference at Deer Lakes High School. Delegates participated in various leadership workshops and networking sessions with other student councils from the area. We also attended a general session with guest speaker Charlie Batch. The day was a fun and valuable experience for our membership. Additionally, in April, AR council created positivity posters to hang throughout the building. Some of these posters offered words of wisdom as PSSA testing approached, and others sought to put a smile on the student body's faces. We also had hoped to leave sidewalk truck messages at the Melon entrance for students at the conclusion of PSSA testing, but the weather unfortunately did not cooperate. The month of May brought te teacher and staff appreciation week at Melon. Our student council
007sponsored an appreciation station where students were able to write a card, write a thank you note card for our wonderful Melon staff. We provided blank thank you cards for students in the main lobby. Students could then take cards and write a personalized message before returning the cards back to the appreciation station. Hundreds of cards were then delivered on Thursday, May 7th. Additionally, our members pushed two snack carts, also known as woot wagons around on the morning of May 5th. Our melon staff was able to grab some snacks and drinks, compliments of student council. It was a big hit and we were so pleased to see our staff feeling the extra appreciation as the year comes to a close. Our student council celebrated our last meeting of the year with an ice cream social in the
008cafeteria. We are also sponsoring one final spirit week during the last week of school. Our countdown to summer spirit week includes Aliba spirit day on Monday, 80/ neon day on Tuesday, wacky wardrobe Wednesday, and Hawaiian day on Thursday. We are proud of the work our student council has done this year and are looking forward to the summer. Thank you so much for listening. >> Thank you. >> Next we'll have board report. So, as we gather tonight to finalize the 2026 2027 operating budget, I first want to extend sincere gratitude to our district leadership team, administration, faculty, staff, and finance team for the tremendous amount of time, collaboration, and thoughtful planning that goes into this process each year. Budget season is never simply about numbers. It's also about priorities, people, opportunity, and ensuring we continue to
009provide exceptional experiences for every student who walks through our doors. Thank you to everyone who has contributed their expertise, leadership, and commitment throughout this process. I also want to take a moment to let all of you know that on May 6th, I had the opportunity to speak on behalf of our district with our Alageney County tax reassessment for the Alageney Council. If you understand how our tax base is happening here and how it is raised, we urge you to reach out to the Alageney County Council as well. Um, in support for us to have a fair CLR ratio. Um, as we all know, last month we had a pretty exciting time here in the city as we had the NFL draft and I wanted to take a moment to celebrate a few outstanding members of
010our Mount Lebanon community as they continue to make us proud beyond the halls of Lebo. Congratulations to Alex Tesca as well as JB Nelson for their opportunities to go to mini camp for Pittsburgh Steelers as well as the Kansas the Kansas Chiefs mini camp. What an incredible accomplishment and reflection of the dedication, perseverance, and talent developed here and our community. And of course, I know all of Lebo will be waving their terrible towels high in the sky for Eli Hiden as he begins his next chapter with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's been exciting watching our students and graduates continue to pursue their dreams at their highest levels. And I know probably a lot of you are probably in those stands from 2018 to about 2021. So you probably had the opportunity to see all three of
011them. As we quickly approach graduation season, there is an unmistakable energy throughout the district. One filled with celebration, reflection, excitement, and anticipation for what's next. This time of year always serves as a reminder that while academics remain at the core of our mission, the true heartbeat of our district is people, relationships, memories, and milestones that shape the student experience along the way. I would also like to take a moment to extend a big thank you to our very first student school board representatives, Henry and Julia. Having student voices at the table this year has been an incredible milestone for our board and you both have set a phenomenal precedent for everyone and will follow in your footsteps. To Henry, congratulations on your upcoming graduation. Thank you for all of your leadership and your dedication. We
012do have a small token of appreciation and special gift for you tonight to celebrate this major milestone and we wish you the absolute best in your next chapter. and to Julia, thank you for your outstanding year of service. We are so incredibly excited to welcome you back to the next school year to be with us and to continue your great work. Thank you both for your time, your insights, and your commitment to our school community. And we hope that you have a wonderful and welldeserved and restful summer. And in terms of our inclusivity calendar, AsianPacific American Heritage Month is this month. This commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7th, 1843 and marks the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10th, 1869. The majority of
013the workers who laid the tracks on the project were Chinese immigrants. It's also Jewish American Heritage Month, which was held in May due to the highly successful celebration of the 350th anniversary of American Jewish history in 2004. This month recogniz recognizes the diverse contribution of the Jewish people to American culture. Is also mental health awareness month. This aims to raise awareness and educate the public about mental illnesses and reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illness. And with Memorial Day on the horizon, we honor and remember the brave men and women who have served our country. Your sacrifice and dedication to protecting our freedom will never be forgotten. Thank you for your service. And in terms of district highlights, Mount Lebanon has earned the best communities for music education award for the 19th year. A round
014of applause for all of our students, staff, and supporters for their commitment to music education. And the Mount Lebanon Summer Enrichment Program is open to students entering grades 4 through 8 for the 202627 school year. Explore this year's exciting offerings in our course catalog, which is available on the district website. And that's all I have in my report. Thank you so much, Mrs. CrarAel. Um, next up, we are going to provide an update on instructional technology here within the school district. And joining us this evening are several members of our staff who will be giving updates about different components of instructional technology. Um before we begin, uh I think it's very important for the public to know that educational technology within our district is something that we use intentionally to enhance learning, expand opportunities, and
015prepare students for life beyond our classrooms. Technology does not replace our instruction. We have the very best teachers who care deeply about our students, and we're very fortunate to have that here within our district. Technology only supports and strengthens student learning. And we're committed to a thoughtful balance of teaching technology skills, building digital literacy, and promoting responsible online behavior. And to prepare our students for a career in college, we believe in thoughtful exposure to evolving tools including AI, digital collaboration, and real world applications of technology. And our goal is that our students will leave Mount Lebanon School District as competent use users of technology who can navigate tools effectively, critically evaluate information, and use digital resources responsibly. This evening, our agenda will start with an overview of a portrait of a learner. We'll then talk
016about technology in our classrooms, career education and work readiness, digital citizenship, wellness and safety, educational technology investment, key takeaways, and then have time for questions from the board. In addition to this presentation which will be posted online, you'll also notice that there is an appendix to the presentation which gives a presenter directory, one edtech application vetting um services that we use, current web filters in place, and then software costs um by use. I'm going to turn it over now to Dr. Davis who will kick us off with the portrait of a learner. >> Evening Dr. Freeze, Miss CrarAel, members of the board, it's a pleasure to be with you tonight. So, through our accreditation with the Middle States Association of Elementary and Secondary Schools, there has always been an expectation that we have a portrait
017of a graduate. In 2015, which was the last time that the high school was accredited by the Middle States Association, the portrait at that time was an acronym, no surprise, LBO libo. L stand for learn continu learn continuously in critical in in a critical and independent manner for the 21st century. E represented empathize and form strong relationships with others. B stood for be of good character with humility, integrity, maturity, responsibility and reliability. And O stood for offer positive change to their community and to the world. And as the board is aware, uh that was the last time the high school was accredited because in 2023 we moved towards a district accreditation. So now all 10 of our schools are accredited. And in that accreditation process, we again created a portrait of a graduate. In that
018portrait talked about uh applying knowledge, synthesizing information and solving problems in critical and independent manners. Communicate effectively in an academic career in social arenas. Strive to meet and exceed the highest of expectations. Empathize and form strong relationships with others. Advocate for oneself confidently and assertively. Exemplify good character again with humility, integrity, maturity, responsibility, and reliability. Add positive contributions to and make responsible decisions in the digital world. Thrive and persevere in new situations, even those that are uncomfortable or demanding, and offer positive change to the world. And after that accreditation, we had advanced our district's strategic plan under Dr. Freeze. And then under that strategic plan, we once again looked at a portrait of a graduate. We engaged the entire educational community and as the community would be reminded, the community at large in this process
019to try to understand what our graduates should look like. And rightfully so. In this particular process, the mind sh the mindset shifted from talking about portrait of a graduate to a profile of a learner because that profile of a learner will illustrate the fundamental skills, abilities, and dispositions our students develop throughout their K12 experience. On the screen is the outcome uh of that conversation with the community that created a profile of the learner. There were six themes that emerged and it was difficult to read. So I'll give you a highlight of the six themes that emerged to describe our profile of a learner. First, we wanted intellectually curious and creative learners. In short, students develop a sustained love of learning. Second, ethical and responsible citizenship. Students demonstrating respect, honesty, and responsibility in their decisions and
020actions. Third, collaborative communicators and leaders. Our students are communicating with clarity and purpose through speaking, listening, reading, and writing while using analytical skills to evaluate the credibility and authenticity of information. Four, resilient lifelong learners. Our students demonstrate adaptability across academic, personal, and professional pursuits. Fifth, globally minded thinkers. Our students develop empathy, cultural awareness, and critical thinking to make informed decisions about the world in which they live in the world that they're about to enter as professionals. And last, digitally literate and adaptive innovators. Students develop digital literacy and adaptability to leverage constantly evolving technologies in learning, in the workplace, and in society. This profile of a learner focuses on student agency and it positions Mount Lebanon graduates to leave school as curious and creative problem solvers, ethical and engaged citizens, collaborative communicators and leaders, resilient lifelong
021learners, and globally minded digitally literate innovators. Our students will be confident in themselves, grounded in integrity and empathy, and prepared to learn, adapt, and lead in an everchanging world. We truly believe it is our responsibility to prepare students for their future, not necessarily our past. Whether it be the previous profile of a graduate or the current profile of a learner, fundamental to both is the district's mission to provide the best education possible for each and every student. And we never lose sight of the district's core value in our educational mission. Keep expectations high. Demonstrate respect, honesty, and integrity. Focus on student centered learning. Reach goals through teamwork and collaboration. Practice continu improve continuous improvement based on research and best practices. Use data to inform our decision-making and value the contributions of our stakeholders. The mission
022and core values have always placed academic and personal readiness at the forefront preparing students to be productive members of society. So what we would like to share with the board in the community tonight is how technology serves as a tool in this educational journey. To be clear again, technology is a tool in our teachers repertoire and technology alone does not achieve the outcomes described in our profile, in our mission or in our core values. The teacher and the strategies that our teachers employ is what allows our students to make progress on their K12 journey. Our teachers meet students where they are at the beginning of the school year and then derive various instructional experiences to move them forward throughout the year. It is is technology used as a tool by our teachers to accomplish this
023goal? Yes. Is it the sole tool that our teachers use? Absolutely not. Our teachers are aware that balance matters and it's this realization technology is a tool that is used purposefully, strategically, and intentionally to accomplish some of the con concepts listed on this slide. Professional development is critical. About a decade ago, we started having intentional conversations about the professional learning needs of our educators on the topic of technology integration. Bloom's taxonomy is a framework that educators are aware of as it relates to a student's learning progression. And at this point in time, we started talking about Bloom's digital taxonomy. We shared that by adopting technology, we could find additional means for students to move from remembering, understanding, and applying towards analyzing, evaluating, and creating as listed on Bloom's taxonomy. We shared that technology as a
024tool would allow teachers to present and students to interact with content in a way that would be more meaningful and explicit than it had been in the past. This SAMR model provides a framework for the intentional integration of technology into our educational practices. And as we have helped educators move from S to R, our goal is to help students with flexible mindsets as opposed to fixed mindsets. We realized that information was becoming readily available and accessible from multiple sources at any time. The question at the time and founded in our strategic plans at the time is how do we advance our students abilities to analyze information, think critically about information, problem solve with information, be creative with information, and the list could go on. Additionally, technology adoption allowed for collaborative learning and work that engaged
025deeper learning, social skills, contextual understanding, and levels of activity to build relationships, connect them to learn with one another. Students would learn to effectively and respectfully work with diverse teams, exercise flexibility and willingness to help it make help in making the necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal. Assume assured responsibility or shared responsibility for collaboration work and value the individual contri contributions made by each member while fostering skills like oral communication, self-management, responsibility, and self-esteem. And as our practices have evolved since that since about a decade ago, our evaluation of educational technology as a tool has become more precise and refined. We are considering items such as alignment to our curriculum standards, demonstrating impact on learning, accessibility and inclusivity, data privacy and security compliance, ease of use for students and teachers, researchbased best practices, cost
026effectiveness. Additionally, our strategies around professional learning have become more pointed. coaching and collaboration through internal and external experts. Sharing best practices and evaluating those best practices for instructional impact. Pilot programs to gather input before scaling. Measuring the effectiveness to revise and improve. And as we move forward into the next decade, the structures and systems are in place throughout our curriculum review cycle to be sure that our pedigogy and strategies are focused on preparing students for the world that they are about to enter. And that includes reviewing standards and student outcomes, analyzing our instructional practices, and evaluating the digital resources and tools that we use. Our educators using the right tools and this includes but is not exclusive to technology does provide the best education possible for each and every student. As illustrations of the impact
027of our teachers being thoughtful, intentional and purposeful in their educational design, it includes access is no longer a barrier. Collaboration is increasing. Personalized pathways are becoming more readily available. Real time assessment insights are occurring and authentic engagement is in uh is emerging with this strategic ed educational design. Other benefits emerge too. Differentiated instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. Real-time assessments become possible to monitor our students progress, assist teachers with their different differentiation strategies and to offer targeted support to our students when they are in need. Authentic learning experiences become more pronounced, bridging the gap between school and the real world through immersive technology, personalized learning, access to information, and authentic assessment tools. With that introduction, it's my pleasure to welcome Dr. Jason Ramsey to the podium to continue our presentation. >> Good evening.
028As Dr. Davis said, I am the principal of Foster Elementary. Um tonight I am have the pleasure of talking a little bit about the elementary side of technology. As you can see up here um we do offer uh a variety of instructional uh tools and software but to be very clear about those tools and software. Um we use of those tools less than one hour per week per tool. Most of our instruction, most of the learning going on inside and outside of the classroom um is done without technology. The majority of the day is spent engaging with the teacher, with other students, and in real world hands-on learning. About 60% of our technology budget um is spent on the infrastructure really for teachers, not for students. Teachers use it to communicate with one another, with
029parents, with students. Um, emails, attendants, data warehousing, which is far removed from a student's uh day-to-day experience with technology. Um, all of the tools that we do use um are vetted by the district on an ongoing basis. And when I think about technology in the elementary school classroom, it's really one tool. Um, having been in in this district almost 20 years, most of which principal at Foster, I can tell you that one thing has not changed with the advent of technology, and that's the engagement, the excitement, the learning that's going on in our classroom with students each and every day. Not with technology. The last wh the last thing if you take a look on the right hand side you will see the instructional resources that we do use in our elementary school classroom into
030reading um is our new uh ELA curriculum. It is a textbook with a small online component. Foundations is our phonics uh curriculum, which not only is it a textbook that students use, but we also have manipulatives for our younger grades as well. So, there is hands-on even in phonics. Amplify Science is our new science resource. It is totally hands-on from kindergarten to fifth grade with multiple hands-on science kits in each grade level. And there is only a technology component for grades three to five. Scholastic News um is part of social studies, ELA, science and can be infused in just about every um aspect of our day. We do have hands-on material for that with an option for um the online should student be absent or we can attach to schooly for parents to engage in
031at home as well. You'll also see we included all of our special or encore classes. Almost every single one of them are teachermade, teachercreated material that is engaged with the teacher in in the classroom, not with technology, with the small amount of time that our encore special teachers have. They really want to engage the students face to face. And we also have um our math investigations which is a consumable textbook that we use and we are in a curriculum review cycle with it now as well. And then lastly which you are going to review tonight uh for the purchase of our new social studies um TCI online which is grades 3 to five. these two bullets. The first one talks a little bit um about how we are intentionally using uh in technology in our
032classrooms in the elementary. Um we do not use technology um at lunch, at recess, whether it is outdoor recess or indoor recess. We also, as you can see up here, do not use technology as a reward. Um that is the clear expectation and directive um by our administration by my colleagues and I as principles as well and we are out making sure that that does happen. You'll also see here um we wanted to total up the amount of time and the specific software uh that we do use and at the bottom what we are required uh to use for assessment. So you'll see Lexia is our reading supplement which we have grades K to five. Typically it's about 20 to 30 minutes per session totaling around 60 minutes on average or less a week. Dreambox
033is an additional math uh supplement that we have five lessons a week less than 60 minutes. However, as you can see there as part of our vetting process we will not be renewing it for the next year. Extra Math is our fact fluency program that we use 10 minutes per day which typically we weave into the classroom whether it's the very beginning of the day or it's in our Lebo time. Ames Web and the last couple ones I'm going to talk about are all assessment pieces. Ames and MAP are our district common assessments that we have grades K to five. We do it three times a year in the fall, in the winter, in the spring. And that's for everyone for Ames Webb. For MAP, it is the same thing with the exception we do
034not do it in kindergarten in the fall. And then the last three or the last two you will see. Um, Firefly is a state uh produced um practice test for the PSSA and online assessment which you'll see the last is we are required now by the state of Pennsylvania to test online for the PSSA. That's grades 3 to five uh ELA and math with science in fifth grade. So when we look at all of these pieces, this is a very very very small proportion of what we do on a daily, a weekly, and even on a yearly basis. Thank you. And now I'd like to introduce uh Dr. Joel Thompson, our high school principal. >> Good evening. Thank you uh for having me. So really kind of following up with what Jason talked about uh
035and looking at the secondary program and what it is that we are doing there. So, you know, the secondary program because the content is becoming more in-depth, our teachers are really looking for more special specialized resources for their content area for our students to interact with. So, there's not as many consistent things that we are using, but there are a few. Uh, so grades 6 to 10, we do use a program that actually Dr. Knox will talk about this evening with all of you about how she uses it, but it can be diagnostic. It can help provide individualized um plans for support and growth and enrichment for students based on how they achieve. We do two skills per week with a smart score of 80. That's usually about 20 to 30 minutes per skill. And
036uh that is in math in our language arts program, 6 to 10. Uh we also similarly do Firefly at the uh middle and high school level. Uh as Jason said though, it is a predictive tool. So Firefly is a tool that helps us. We do it early in the year. We do it usually about mid year and that helps us predict how students will do on the upcoming PSSA or Keystone exam and we use that information to then create plans to to either enrich some students who are showing that they're well ahead or to provide supports and plans uh for intervention for students who are demonstrating a need uh for growth and support. Uh as Jason also talked about our PSSA and Keystones at the secondary level are online. We are finishing up Keystones on
037Wednesday at the high school level. That's the first time we've done that online. So, we're and it's went very very well. I know PSSA is a little different story, but Keystones has gone very well. Um, we also use Schooly as our district learner management system. And one of our teachers is also going to talk about how that can benefit students, but it is a way of organizing a digital space. It's also a way of supporting students who maybe were not there in class. Um, so when we're doing group work, we're doing activities, it helps teachers organize their space, maybe give access to varying resources for students who weren't there. It gives them access to what they missed that day. And then you have the opportunity for enrichment and for support anytime, anywhere. So that 247
038access is a huge benefit to having a learner management system uh as we do in schooly and that's used widely in our secondary program. uh similar to the elementary there are intentional um uses or non-uses that are more developmentally appropriate. So at the middle level similar to the elementary uh during the lunch period they do not have access to technology and when instructional tasks complete um they're not given their their technology to then go and and you know just do whatever they want on uh and technology is not used as a reward in in the PBIS programs. Uh, I think what is important to me and the administrators I've talked to, so thanks to Dr. Freeze's leadership over the last two years, we've completed learning walks at every building in the district and that's given
039us as administrators an opportunity to anchor what we understand great learning to look like, what we understand great instruction to look like, and have conversations about the observations that we see. One question we've been asking the whole time is what kind of technology did you see used? Was it appropriate use? uh and and what level was it used? Uh I think it's very clear to all of us that our classrooms continue to be human- centered. Right? While we will talk about the uses of technology and you're going to hear some of the great ways that people are leveraging the tools available to them to support individualized, personalized, customized learning, what we're seeing though the majority of the time is student centered learning. And I have a couple of the, you know, examples of things that
040you would see in class, but small group station- based instruction, conferencing, feedback cycles, one-on-one with a teacher or with peers, right? Direct instruction, modeling, uh you have labs, those kind of experiences. That is the majority of the instruction that goes on in our classrooms. And it's evident that our teachers are making very intentional and purposeful decisions. And thinking about first, you know, what is the learning outcome, the skill, the knowledge or competency that they want kids to learn? what how are they going to assess them in learning that and then thinking about instruction and what's the best instructional approach to take after all of those questions then they might start thinking about which tool best supports them and I think our teachers do a great job of deciding this tool will help me and so
041I'll use it or it doesn't help me and I'm not going to use it and so some of the examples that you'll see tonight really highlight great uses but I think it's important to recognize that the uh the observations that we have done and we've been in every single building over the last two years. Instructional technology is absolutely a tool, but it is not the overriding uh majority of time spent in classrooms. Students are interacting with their teacher. They're interacting with one another. And our teachers are doing a great job what we pay them to do and what they excel at, which is making great decisions about the learning environment students have. So, with that, I'm going to allow uh Michaela to come up here and talk a little bit about her classroom and how
042she uses instruction or instructional technology. Hello everybody. I am a first grade teacher at Hoover Elementary and last year was my first year at Mount Lebanon and I had the honor of being a second grade teacher. So I've seen a little bit of every type of primary grade and I can say that I've used technology in all of the grades that I've been in. Um, one of my highlights from last year as a second grade teacher is we made many podcasts from their state research projects. Um, and this really is kind of a 21st century tool that everyone listens to podcasts. We're always watching things, always listening to things. So, their requirements were they had to make a threeep episode podcast. They had to be one minute each and students all had script packets and
043each packet was individualized based on the level of learner that they were. So, I had some scripts that were very scripted and it was more fill-in- thelank for those learners that needed a little bit more guidance, but then I had a really free flowing you create your script however you want for my higher learners. Then I had everything in between. So, the way I use technology for this is the students got to pick any US state. Then I worked with them to create a collection of books on Epic and through those books and they're all non non-fiction books that they were able to read through. Some of the books are read to me books and some of them they could read on their own. Again, depending on the learner. Then they were able to collect
044the facts in their packet. Again, they were able to do it based on their learning. We then used our packet to handw write a script, which I know is a little bit um outdated, so to speak, but we love to do handwriting in first and second grade. So, we continue that for sure. Then using our Chromebook recorders, they just recorded their scripts and they were able to do it at their own pace. Some of my students had a one-on-one aid that would pause the recorder, help them read the next line of their script, they would push play and they would continue with their script. Once they put it all together, though, you can't hear any difference between those learners that needed the extra assistance versus those that could do it completely independent. Um, we shared
045everything in Google Drive, another collaboration tool. We created a logo in Canva using some of the symbols of their states which you'll see a few examples. And then we worked together to create QR codes. Those QR codes were printed and hang hung on their lockers for teachers and their parents to see. We shared them on schooly and we even shared them with each other with an end Google form which each student was able to um listen to all the podcasts and then they were able to give any critiques or feedback that they had. So, it was a really cool um way for second graders to really interact with technology and non-technology. And then this year in first grade um using the HMHED Class Craft, they have a tool that I'm able to teach them vocabulary.
046You'll see on the left side they have a classroom panel. That's what the students see up on the screen and that's what I teach from. But then using my iPad, I can control what they see on their iPads. And you'll see on the student panel on the right side, that's what they're looking at and interacting with at the same time. So it gives another definition of the word which was lesson for this day. They use it in a context and then they're asked to fill in the blank to finish the prompt. And with this students are using their iPad. So we're learning how to type on the iPads. But then I do have some learners that they don't know how to spell or they're embarrassed to spell. So, we teach them how to use the
047talk to text feature, which I'm sure many people in this room probably use it to send text messages every single day. Um, but we're also learning about how to use emojis to share our ideas. And it's another tool for students that are maybe shy for um sorry, shy to write some words or maybe share their ideas. At the bottom screen, this is how I present some of their answers. It's all anonymous. I get to share ideas without anyone feeling embarrassed. But there are they are able to use some emojis. So the first one the prompt was one good use for a twig. One said you can make a little hut. The other one just has some bug emojis with a house. So our interpretation of that is you can build a little house for some
048bugs. Um both are very good answers and both exemplify what first grade vocabulary can look like and it's not just writing the definitions or using it in a sentence. It's putting context to it. And that is all I have. >> Hi, thank you so much. My name is Mie Kirk. I'm a fourth grade teacher at Foster Elementary. Uh I teach three sections of reading every day. I also have two um Mount Lebanon High School graduates, a parent to those two. Uh I'm going to talk to you a little bit about how I use technology in fourth grade. Uh one of the things that I really love the most is Schooly. Uh using Schooly has I I think of it as a communication hub for both parents and students. Where do I go to find uh
049what we're doing in reading for the week? Where do I find a newsletter? If if a parent is wondering what we're doing, what is our theme for the for the month or with our particular reading module? or what are the vocabulary words. I put all of those things in schooly uh along with any folders for novels and things like that. I will have everything listed. So, it really is a place for parents to go, for students to go and I've had students who um for unforeseen reasons are absent and and that provides a great place for them to come and find the lessons that I've done. If a student's out for a while, I will post my slides. So, Schoolooligy is really a great place and I use it every single day. Uh, another thing
050uh that Michaela was just talking about is our with our into reading, our new reading series, which we love. It has a digital component and one of the components is Classcraft. ClassCraft allows me as a teacher to control my computer and all of the student devices will have the same slide that I have. So, they can't go to another slide or they can't go to another place on their computers. If I'm teaching a vocabulary word or synonyms, they are all engaged and they are all putting um their time on that slide and students can see uh each other's responses if I choose to demonstrate it that way. It's a great formative assessment. Uh, and it goes along really nicely with our reading program. So, we have the printed material, but sometimes they like to have
051that digital component where they can be more interactive. And so, that's um what Classcraft does. My next slide um is going to show you some of the other activities that we use in fourth grade. Uh because I'm the reading teacher, um I'm constantly trying to get kids to to read independently. And in a digital age, uh we can all kind of um understand that there are so many places in our world that kind of pull them into digital things. And so for for me as a reading teacher, I really try to harness in a love for reading and independent reading. So one of our first assignments in the year is to do this assignment. It's called the booknook. And the booknook is a place for um the students to kind of find a place in
052their home that they love to read in. It can be a closet. It can be their bed. So, we talk about reading nooks and kind of set up that way where I have a lot of reading nooks because I again I want to foster that love of reading. And so, this is just a slideshow just little snippets of what the BookNook slide deck looks like. And then students get to put their uh picture of them in their nook. So every class we share each student's uh booknook and they love that particular activity. And lastly, I'm going to talk about text dependent analysis. In fourth grade, we really shift our reading focus into really digging deeper into text. uh not just understanding what characters are or the setting, but we try to think about why did
053the author do this? We want them to dig into text. And so by doing that, this requires us to kind of ask questions that that require a deeper level of understanding. So this is a student example of a response to a text dependent analysis prompt. we do uh the written graphic organizer first and then a student will type their response. So the typing part of it is really essential for them to create a message to the reader to let me know whoever's reading their text dependent analysis response and practice editing, practice organization, um and those critical skills that we start to get into in fourth grade. So lots of great things in fourth grade. Thank you so much Oh no, it's Tyler. >> Hello. Uh, my name is Tyler Blumley. I teach sixth grade world
054geography at Jefferson Middle School. uh just to share how I use technology to engage and enhance the classroom. Um these are some of the examples that you see over on the screen. But you know I think like a lot of us when technology first entered our classroom it was a learning experience for a lot of us. I remember walking in watching a kid, you know, looking at Alvin and the Chipmunks or a kid looking at what Pantalon meant in Spanish and doing translations and you start to learn and understand how these things uh, you know, are impacting impacting the day and you create barriers and you create boundaries and then you create routines. And so the routine for my class uh that I've developed over the last couple years is kids aren't allowed on their
055Chromebooks until I enter the room and I tell them that they're allowed to go on the class uh on the Chromebooks. um they are supposed to be engaging with one another. Uh the first couple first year or so maybe the first couple months kids were just going in open up their computers and just you know plowing away. There was no interaction. So we put an end to that uh on all of our in all of our classes on our team and now they are supposed we're encouraging them be out of your seat, communicate with one another, talk with one another. Uh so my routine now is they come in when I come in and it's time for me to do the attendance kind of get the classroom set up for the day. They're doing their
056daily social studies which uh as you can see over on the side it's worldle global flag and fan school. Uh these are your daily activities just like Wordle except they're geography related. There's an outline of a country. They make a guess tells you how many miles northsoutheast and west they are. And they're looking at maps every single day. They're engaging with uh with the maps with world maps. uh those those two tools, Wordle and Global, uh I've actually found have been engaging with kids and their parents at home and they see who can do it quicker just like they do with Wordle. Uh when we get into current events, we do a game called Fan School where students are developing a roster of six countries uh that relate to current events. Um they try to
057pick a a roster that is going to be uh in the news. So they're engaging with the news on a daily basis. They are competing against their peers. We have a tournament at the end. We have a championship belt at the end to see um who had the most successful. It's just like your fantasy sports but for current events. Uh that is part of the daily uh routine where they can check their fan school rosters, they can scan headlines, they can update their rosters and submit it. That takes about 3 minutes, 3 to 5 minutes after I'm done with the attendance and getting class set up. Uh after that, the computers go off to the side. Um we'll do uh other activities. um you know like when you look at a class uh for example
058in geography we're talking about apartheid in South Africa you used to have a textbook and you would have one picture now we can go and we can drop a pin on uh boundary road and we can use a 360 view and look at what the the separation was between the homelands and the townships and the white communities in apartheid South Africa you couldn't do that with you know with textbooks so it's enhancing the learning environment drastically uh we're reading a a book in class and we're able to actually follow along street by street where the character is actually going as he uh goes through the certain settings of uh South Africa. We're um we're using it right now as a collaborative piece. Uh that bottom picture is is Pipriat, which is a town just outside
059of Chernobyl. When the Chernobyl disaster occurred, Pripriak was just kind of left as a ghost town. Kids are, you know, going in immersing themselves into Pripriat. They're finding a location, uh and then they have to write a descriptive piece on it. Uh what we do with that piece is uh once the kids find that that that location on their computers, they're writing out the details that they see on paper and penc with paper and pencil. They're going in and they're writing out their sensory words in front of it. They're writing out their sentences and it's only at the very end are they actually typing onto the computer. That computer might be up, but they're just looking at that picture. Uh they're, you know, they're they're they're kind of going around the town. uh and that
060enhances it as opposed to me standing here telling them about what Propriat was like. Uh not only are they just uh consumers, they're also producers. The last unit that we do the kids really like uh it's called the global sneaker and we kind of talk about the the production of sneakers throughout the world. Uh the very last thing after we we go over the unit is they create their own sneakers. And in years past we would, you know, pass out a picture of a sneaker and they color it and they design it. Now you can go on to things like Nike ID or Adidas and and you can actually create your own shoes that you could if you wanted to actually purchase them and it gets the kids really engaged in developing their own shoe
061that they might actually be able to uh purchase. So um while we use it as a as a great resource, it's not the end- all beall. Our current events, we write everything out with uh paper and pencil and then they type it up. That typing just allows for quicker feedback as my colleagues have said, quicker feedback um and collaboration as well. And then we're also able to collaborate cross team. Um our appropriate writing assignment right now, our English teacher has access to all of that. So she's able to engage with the students as they uh produce their work. Thank you. >> Hi everyone. Um I'm going to talk to a little bit about today. I'm an eighth grade math teacher at Melon Middle School. Um as Dr. Thompson said, we um use um in the
062math classroom. the expectation is to practice two skills per week. Um, and throughout the year, um, kind of helps to keep track of how the students are doing, what their growth is, um, and support the skills that they're learning in school. I think everyone can think back to when they were in school and their math teacher may have assigned them like, you know, do one through 49 odd and you do all the problems and you come to school the next day and they're wrong. Um, and you didn't know you did 50 problems wrong. So, EXL is a tool that kind of helps us to give students instant feedback. Um, it will also uh when they answer problems, it will let them know what they're doing wrong. It will give them feedback, give them suggestions on
063how to improve their work so that they're understanding these skills. Um, in the leadup to the Keystone exams, we've used it for some uh cumulative review. So, one of the reports that I can pull um looks like this one on the board here. Uh so, these are a couple of skills that the students were practicing in the leadup to the test. And um I can tell immediately from looking at this in the morning, okay, I have three students who need to work on output outcome of compound events. So, going into class, I can group these three students. I can target that skill with those students. the other students that understood it are working on other things that they need to review for these exams. Um so it really helps me to have targeted differentiation differentiated
064instruction for individual students. Um, it also allows us to help monitor their growth, make sure that they are meeting those skills that are a little bit more procedural, um, so that they are having success on our standardized tests. Julia, >> hi. >> Hello. My name is Julia Det and I am a French teacher at the high school. Um, I'm just going to briefly talk about how language teachers incorporate technology into their classrooms. So first and foremost as the language teacher we are the masters of our craft and we try to make our classrooms as immersive as possible. However we are not teaching in the target language so or in the target culture I should say. We teach them in the target language but as soon as they leave our classroom they are surrounded by American
065culture, English etc. So it is our responsibility to expose them to as much of that target culture as possible and the only way to do that is to use technology um if we want it to be interpretive. Um so I highlighted three ways that I use technology in my class as a launchpad into student in student interactions um or as a way to use formative assessment. So the first thing that I mentioned was pair. Perk is a tool that I use um when I'm presenting and it is a way to make all of my slide decks interactive. So um my screen is mirrored on the students screens and I'm able to incorporate questions and what is wonderful about this is that one of the goals as a language teacher is to make our classroom communicative.
066But one of the parts of communication is to be able to present um either spoken work or written work. So I use perk to help with written presentation of language. So it's very small but um what I will do is I will pose a question and then students are able to anonymously answer that question. So it can be reviewing a grammatical point etc. Um facing them it's anonymous but on my screen I can see which student has submitted which answer. So, it's a very easy way for me to see who is struggling or who is really grasping what's going on. And I'm also able to use it to show the students like, is this sentence correct? Why or why not? So, it is a great way to make my instruction interactive and to keep students
067engaged. Um, the second way that I use technology most in my classroom is for voice recording applications. Um the second aspect of communication in a world language is interpersonal communication. So whether that's student and student or myself and students. Um and unfortunately I am not able to have one-on-one conversations with all of my students in a 46 minute class period. So what I'll often do if I want to get a classwide check-in is I will have discussion questions and I will group students between three to four students at a time and using schooly I will have them record their conversation. they can upload this conversation to Schooly and then I'm able to listen and it's wonderful because I'm not leading the conversation. It's studentled and technology is really helping to enhance my lesson. Um, and
068they're still interacting with each other. Um, and I'm able to also give feedback directly through Schooly as well, so I can highlight what they did really well, where they can work to improve. Um, and the last way that I use it most is with Edpuzzle. So again, I try to make my classroom as immersive as possible and I'm speaking French to the students, but I'm not a native French speaker and we are not in France, unfortunately. So I try to use Edpuzzle as often as possible. Um, and what Edpuzzle is, if you're not familiar, is it pulls videos, whether that be off of YouTube, mostly YouTube, um, and I can make them instructional. So this video in particular was filmed in a Parisian middle school and they were talking about what their favorite genre of
069film is and so they were speaking explaining why they liked something. It worked well with our unit and I was able to make the video um interactive so I was able to add comprehension questions. Uh and so this was just a launchpad. It was like a 47 minute video but it exposed them to real French speakers speaking at a real French pace. and then we used it to lead the rest of the discussion which then students turned spoke to each other what was their favorite type of movie genre and why. Um, but again, when we are in a world language classroom, most of our day is on paper. They're still writing. They're still speaking to each other. But if our classroom is going to be truly authentic, we do need to use technology to expose
070them to the French speaking world or Spanish speaking world or German speaking world, etc. Thank you. Now, Josh. >> Hi, everybody. I'm a Josh Beac, a high school physics teacher. I have a daughter over at How in second grade. Um, so, uh, one example I wanted to share with you, uh, at the start of the year in physics, we, our first topic is always motion. So, I'll just maybe the first weekend of school, I'll ask all the students to go home and record a video of a particular type of motion, something I haven't even taught yet. So, I'll say something like, "Record a video of an object moving with constant acceleration." Um, they'll show up with videos. Some of them won't work at all. Some of them will work really well. and they they don't
071really even know what they're doing with them yet, but they show up after a weekend with these videos that I asked them to record. Um, and then they're told that they'll be challenged to, you know, analyze and be able to describe everything that happened in that video. Um, I'll have them look at each other's video and pick the one they think best exhibits the motion that I had requested. And then I'll teach them how to use a software program called Verer video analysis where they you can see an image on the screen of a person shooting a basketball so that you can track the motion of the basketball um to to get position time data to analyze. So they'll analyze that motion and they'll learn that tool and then we'll use their examples um to
072describe to center everything around. So we can keep calling back the examples and they have fun with it. drop a water balloon out the window on a sibling or um you know kick a soccer ball across the field that because they were at practice so they figured they could do their homework at practice. Um but the thing I love about it most is I I really don't like putting instructions in my labs. I like students to completely just give them a single line question or something and then they can create their labs based off of that. And so, you know, I teach them how to use that technology the first week of school and um you know, they do need the opportunity to work with specialized scientific uh software because in any real engineering or
073science field, you're you're going to work with specialized software. Um so, but my favorite part of of teaching it early is once I give them that tool, they can be the ones to decide when and if they need to incorporate it again. Um, so skip ahead several months into the winter and I have a momentum lab and students are in mixed groups and I just simply ask them to prove that momentum is a conserved quantity and and they they come up to me with this idea and uh this isn't even really friends of theirs but one plays hockey and they say hey look can we all go down to the hockey rink and um use your video analysis software to record some colliding pucks on the frictionless ice and you know and I can really
074just tell them to be leaders of their own idea. Um so technology really lets us do things like that. Um this the second example I wanted to share which um is related to artificial intelligence. This is a tough topic. Um and studies are showing that students in colleges and high schools are adopting it much faster than the rest of society. And they're doing this with or without guidance of adults. And so I'm I'm trying to always find ways to incorporate AI to not just enhance the content of my lesson, but to teach a valuable uh ethics, safety or or literacy concern with artificial intelligence. So um recently I asked students to as they were preparing for my AP exam and my final to write uh to customize their own study bot. So through Je uh
075Gemini, which the school can can use safely with our school accounts or Magic School, um they could basically go in and make a customized chatbot. I've been letting them interact with ones that I've made all year and customized for them. But I think the opportunity to let them uh design one and give it a role on their own makes them more reflective about the instructions they're giving it, right? So they'll they know to put things in there like, you know, never answer my questions directly. um make me work for it more or less. Um they they could take the tips that we do on the whiteboard together to model how to solve a problem and they can they can make sure that it carries those behaviors when they ask it to do problems with them
076at home. Um and so they created a custom AI chatbot. They chose the documents to feed it uh such as like example problems or notes and then they used it to study over the past couple weeks. Um, but I had them fill out a reflection of how they used it safely and ethically, um, reflectively, and I can read all the transcripts of their interactions with their AI, um, and have conversations with them about the appropriate use. So, I was able to help them study for AP physics while also teaching them, you know, and modeling responsible artificial intelligence in in in a high school. So, You just heard several examples from our teachers about how they utilize instructional technology in their classrooms to enhance their learning. We believe that we do this or we enhance our
077learning within talk technology to prepare our students for their future. Whether it be a career, education, or the workforce, we believe that education technology is a tool that's going to help support them in their journey. Last week you heard about our curriculum review cycle and process. Part of that process was re research into what trends are happening in the future in their field. Dr. Davis and I also play pay close attention to what trends are happening in the workforce so that we can help inform departments as they go through review to address skills and competencies that students need to learn. One of the tools we look for is the future jobs report that brings together a thousand leading global employers representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industries in 55 economies from around the
078world. And what this group does is it evaluates micro trends to determine what skills, attributes, and jobs markets look like over a fiveyear span. We do this so we can help inform the curriculum that's being written. So it can help inform our teachers on how or what to use to instruct We believe but that by utilizing educational technology in this intentional, structured and purposeful way that we are preparing our students for success in their life after their time with us. What this job report shows us in terms of uh jobs over the next five years is that we are expecting growth in fields like agriculture and trades, sales and commerce, care and econ the care economy, education, green and energy. The key takeaway is that of that are that these diverse pathways are expanding and
079the human skills remain essential across the sector. These are the human skills that Dr. Davis shared with us in our profile of a graduate, the revision of a profile of graduate and now our profile of a learner. Those things don't get thrown away with every new rendition. It's what creates our culture. It's what it's what it means to be a student of Mount Lebanon and it's how our teachers plan for their instruction. What we also know from this report is that technology related job roles are the fastest growing category in terms of total employment growth through 2030. It will involve skills like analytical thinking as the most important sought after skill from employers. In addition, employers are looking for resilience, flexibility, agility skills and leadership social influence and its employees. Again, the examples you heard
080tonight show you how our teachers are planning for instruction to prepare students for life after Mount Lebanon in their career, in their future education, or in their future job. You heard about our learning management system, how we use social workflows to interact with our with ourselves, with our their peers, with their teachers, and with their families. You heard about real time engagement, real- time feedback, real- time monitoring of student progress, and you learned how we plan intentionally for access for all students to be able to um have a positive learning experience. Educational technology has taken what we knew as a single textbook that used to be the undisputed authority and we've now been able to give students the ability to scrutinize what that authority is. So they can look at other sources to say what
081it is about the original site. Uh static photos and charts are now interactive and three-dimensional. That this method of teaching has shifted from vertical reading staying on one page to lateral uh lateral reading where students are able to check multiple sources to find that truth. I now share we'll go back to Dr. Thompson for some information about how we're utilizing assistive or artificial intelligence. Thank you. Uh so the question uh how do we respond to AI? It's a big question. So uh bear with me as I try and walk us through a little bit of of how we are responding. Um but certainly it's a constantly evolving approach. Uh but three core principles have really guided us as I I kind of walk us back through our journey. The first of one is something we've
082heard throughout the night. Purposeful, evaluative, and critical in our response. So being very intentional. Another part of that response has been embedding uh ethics, safety, and literacy in all the decisions that we make. And the last is that, excuse me, this needs to be a Mount Lebanon specific response. Our context, our values, our kids. Um, and so where we are today is kind of the end of the journey there. Uh, well, end of this pathway uh that you can see, which is really moving into powerful learning, really starting to think about the classroom itself. But I want to go back to the the beginning of that road. uh which for us was uh thanks to the leadership of Dr. Davis and our collaboration with the middle states association through their responsible AI and learning uh
083initiative. So the rail as it is known is an umbrella uh that they created to help schools respond to AI and in it they had endorsements uh that you schools could go through to be able to uh learn more and and respond appropriately to artificial intelligence being now in our world. And so the first one that we did was the uh literacy ethics and safety endorsement. Uh and that was myself uh Josh who you heard from today uh Mr. Stangle uh Kurt Vos Hoy and Stephanie Kamarda all at the high school working through that endorsement and uh you know many people when they heard uh artificial intelligence they immediately went to the classroom. We need to get this in kids' hands. We need to get it in teachers hands right away. That is absolutely not
084the approach that we took. What we did was we slowed down first and we thought about our culture and our governance layer of our organization before we ever thought about how do we get this into kids hands because we knew we needed to have in place guard rails expectations for use um so that students and teachers did this safely and they did this to the benefit of the learning environment. And so thank you to the board for their leadership. Uh one of the first things that we did was we adopted policy 815.1 which gave us the guard rails we needed to know that in this organization these are kind of the rules that we need to follow. Uh we then moved to understanding that students and teachers needed to know what they could do with
085AI. Uh so we created ground rules for them uh for their expectations. We quickly saw they also needed some communication tool about when they could use it. So on the other side of that road you can see a traffic light that we designed and created um to help the communication between teachers and students about appropriate AI use. Uh all throughout the literacy ethics and safety endorsement professional growth was a key component and that professional growth was first for teachers literacy right we needed them to understand the ethics involved with AI. We needed to them to understand the implications the positives and the negatives. Um so we worked to provide uh a literacy training. We also provided training about these documents that we were creating. Uh giving them the opportunity to unpack what do the ground
086rules actually mean uh and what does the communication tool mean and how does it work. We did the same thing with students because we wanted both to have an understanding of what these were and how they could be used to support their learning. Uh and so that was and and also uh one other thing that we did provide professional growth in and in and development was a tool. Um because again we've talked a lot tonight that the tool is is just one component. It is not the whole response but AI is definitely a tool that can enhance uh educators ability to differentiate materials to provide customized and personalized learning experiences for kids. So we did a um a pilot where we had two different AI programs Brisk and Magic School. We had teachers at the
087high school use both and based on the feedback we chose magic school and have been training teachers about how to use this tool again to help themselves and also uh for the student side as Josh kind of explained a little bit just a few minutes ago. And so uh you know I'm very proud the high school because of the work that we were able to do. We were the first public high school in the world to receive the uh endorsement in literacy ethics and safety. And that really set us on a good path because again we didn't jump straight into the classroom. We thought about first how do we keep kids safe and how do we make sure that this is uh focused on governance and the culture that we have here rather than just
088trying to get it into the classroom. And so the work that we're doing this year is really directed at thinking about what is powerful learning look like. So we continued on another endorsement program, the essential learning experiences, uh still through the rail initiative through the Middle States Association. And this is where we started to really think about classroom instruction. But uh before we got to our declaration of powerful learning, which is the framework we've created for teachers to think about instruction, we went back to the strategic plan, the constituent-driven strategic plan for the priorities of this district. And we went to the portrait of a learner, which was being uh developed at the same time, the values that we have for what our learners are going to look like. And we used those two documents
089to help create this framework which was really an actionable framework that teachers could look at think about how do they actually implement instruction that leads to and aligns with our priorities in the strategic plan and that can help us develop these learners that we're talking about uh wanting to to have as our graduates and as they move through our system. And so having that framework has been hugely important. So one of the con uh parts of the essential learning experiences 25% of the high school faculty is completing action research uh that is geared at at trying to answer what does powerful learning look like in their classroom. So they had to take the declaration and try and think about how do I implement it in my classroom. Uh the power of a framework like this
090is that I have my honors linear algebra teacher so the highest level of math that we offer in the high school. uh she is doing it and importantly she's not doing she's not doing research on how to use AI in her classroom uh because that is not what the declaration of powerful learning is all about. She is trying to figure out how do I make real world connections to the math that they taught. So she now has at the end of every single unit a a real world or an authentic application of the math that they just learned. Importantly we also have our our teacher in our ABA classroom. So our students with the most significant disabilities uh in the high school with the most significant needs. Mrs. Nass is using the Declaration of Powerful
091Learning to think about how Magic School as a tool can help her differentiate to meet the unique needs of her learners. Right? So we have two very different ends of our spectrum. Uh and both trying to use this declaration of powerful learning to make the most impactful learning environment for their classroom and their kids. Uh, and so I'm excited that, you know, I'm continuing the work. Dr. Schulo has been a wonderful partner in thinking about how do we continue to expand this idea of a declaration of powerful learning, ground rules, uh, communication tools into our lower grades so that we can start to ensure that we have a consistent approach, but that it's developmentally appropriate to our students, uh, and it's accessible to our teachers as we roll it out. So, we'll continue that work
092into next year. uh but throughout you know I think throughout this whole presentation something that's important about our AI uh initiative or in our response to AI as well as uh our all classroom tech is that this this is not how do I get technology how do I get AI in kids hands as quickly as possible it's being intentional about the learning objectives the skills the knowledge the competencies that we want for kids and then thinking about the best way to do it and if technology and if AI is one of those great use it let's let's try and support kids the best that we can and if it's not then it's not and that's fine too. Um and so you know that work has been uh a great experience. Again I think Josh as
093you can see from his examples he's doing great work in this area and I look forward to continue working with our elementary partners uh as we continue to move this down to K8. So Mr. Stangle. >> Good evening everybody. I am uh Chris Stangle, director of technology, also a uh father of two recently graduated uh Mount Lebanon seniors. Um, so I can I can say with honesty as a parent and as an administrator that what I've seen in my nearly 23 years here is that Mount Lebanon has always uh placed the highest of value on safety and student wellness and citizenship. And it's my pleasure tonight to talk about uh what we have done and what we are planning to do uh in those areas as it applies to technology. Um, so, uh, some of
094these things you may have heard before. Apologies for the overlap, but, uh, we thought it was important to summarize, uh, everything in in one presentation tonight. Um, but there are two strategic plan objectives, tasks that apply to, uh, the some of the things we're talking about tonight. One is 3.4 uh, researching, developing, and implementing standards for appropriate technology and device use. Uh you've seen these uh the um uh guidelines and and rules and expectations that we've rolled out this year. At the elementary level, personal devices off and stored in lockers throughout the day. At the middle level, uh devices turned off and stored in lockers during the day. Device devices only permitted to be used uh at the teachers discretion and request. Uh and students are uh issued devices in K5. Um, currently it is
095iPads in K1, Chromebooks in grades two through five. Uh, at the secondary level, there's an expectation that students bring a charged non-selfphone device to school with them every day. That can be a iPad with a keyboard, a laptop, a Chromebook, and if they would prefer, they can borrow one from the district. Um, and that is in grades 9 through 12. Um the other strategic uh initiative um ask objective sorry uh is engaging students in conversations about data privacy, informed consent and algorithmic bias. So, we took uh uh we formed a little committee this year to investigate what it is that we do uh in grades K through 12 to this end and analyze that in terms of uh where are the gaps, where could we do better, uh where could we do more uh without
096necessarily losing track of the fact that we do already have a number of uh lessons for our students in these areas. Um so we did a uh thorough curriculum review. Um and some of the challenges were that uh this is held in the library uh curriculum for K through five. Um but in the secondary while there may be um opportunities and state standards to attach this to in English, social studies, science, um there's less of a consistent guaranteed path for a single student. Um but we want to make sure that our students in each grade level K through 12 uh have this opportunity. So uh we've rolled out >> Oh. Um I thought somebody was actually my bad. >> I'd be happy to you. >> I apologize. See See what happens when you get me
097up from behind the podium. I lose >> I lose track of all this. I'm sorry. I apologize. Thank you. Thank you Dr. I appreciate that. So um so some of the uh general topics that are covered um are uh safe, responsible, respectful online behavior, instincts when using your technology, staying safe on websites and apps, making choices with media, digital footprints, uh misuse of social networking sites and the consequences uh that can come from that. students using appropriate online behavior towards others, protective measures taken to ensure online safety, the unacceptability of plagiarism, a difference between fact and opinion, not all websites contain valid information and information literacy. So, a lot of these topics were actually already covered um before technology even came around. Um but technology highlights a lot of the ones that have been around
098and introduces new uh things to make sure of um that we are teaching our students. So in the elementary levels uh at least K through four five is on the next slide. I apologize, but um uh this is a combination of lessons that are already in Atlas that were developed by our library uh teachers and faculty um in combination with uh a number of lessons from Common Sense Media. If you're not aware of Common Sense Media, I invite you to become aware of them as a resource for all sorts of things. Um but specific to the topic tonight, they have lessons and lesson plans for every grade level um that are really well researched, documented, presented uh with clarity for teachers and even uh at home things for parents. Um so it's just it's a
099wonderful resource, Common Sense Media. Uh so a number of lessons from them are utilized in our library program and will be utilized next year. Um the next slide highlights uh the ones in grade five. Uh in grade six there's also um a subject all our students take called academic lab which is led by our middle school librarians uh that will contain some lessons. And then in middle schools at uh four of our uh uh Tuesday talks next year we'll be uh presenting lessons from common sense media. Uh those are highlighted here in the six and then on the next slide seven and eight. Um, and then at the high school, uh, we worked with, uh, Dr. Thompson to come up with, uh, a number of extended home room opportunities for our students. Um, and there's
100a there's a caveat on these high school lessons. Uh, Common Sense Media is releasing, uh, new high school content and curriculum in August, just to give us a couple weeks to prepare for the fall. Um, so likely the first lesson will be in the latter half of the quarter so we can respond to whatever these new lessons are that come out. I imagine they'll just be better. Um, but they may be different in name and and scope. So we'll take a fresh look at those uh this summer when they're released to see which ones uh are best for the high school. But at this time uh these are the lessons that we have planned to deliver uh to students at each grade level through the high school. So we're very excited about that. Um, in
101addition to that, we have a wonderful, as you know, we have a wonderful relationship with the Mount Lebanon Police Department, more so than nearly any other school district I've come across in my travels and, uh, workings with other districts. Um, and as you know, they do a wonderful program in our schools, uh, educating students in each grade level about a variety of topics, uh, safety, etc. Um but specific to technology u these lessons uh highlighted on this slide are um given by the Mount Lebanon police to our students in these grades every year. Okay. So uh this is why I brought this thing up because I can't read that far. Uh but um so we have current safeguards and guide rails that we have in place. Um Josh and Dr. Thompson actually uh mentioned policy
102815.1 that is the artificial intelligence policy. Uh early on in the adoption of the new uh standard uh policies we did policy 815 which is our network acceptable use policy. Both of those are available on board docs. Um within the confines of cyber security, data privacy, security and web filtering uh we continue to strengthen uh our systems in that regard. So we have bi-weekly bi-weekly sorry technology meetings uh with my uh network team on my in the technology department and with district administration to review uh trends and usage um surprisingly uh there is something new every day. So to have that periodic uh touch point between our network experts and our administration experts uh leads us to a number of additional safety blocks uh category blocks types of things that we can uh find that
103um our students are trying to do uh or exploring maybe in a less than perfectly safe manner. and it sort of lets us uh have a opportunity to put those blocks in place throughout the year. Um, GoG Guardian is in place. Uh, it provides not only blocking but alerts to our principles uh and administrators about uh potentially unsafe uh use andor efforts by our students. Um, they receive uh alerts for safety concerns, alerts for inappropriate use. Um those are AI generated. Um go guardian parent I have presented about about before. Um parents have the opportunity right now to sign up uh through their powers school portal and we can provide them with access to go guardian parent which is a smartphone only app. uh apologies they don't make one for a web browser that lets
104uh families set controls over the student use of managed devices and browsers outside of school hours. So if families want to block specific sites, limit internet time, see what the browsing patterns are of their students, um this app provides them with that. Um we also employ Gaggle. I've presented about before. The wonderful thing about Gaggle in my opinion is it costs just as much as any other AI tool and you get humans and in addition to uh the AI generated alerts that it generates, they go to skilled, trained, certified professionals who dig deeper into every alert that they receive and let us know with extreme certainty uh when there is an issue that we need to follow up on. There are a number of stories of um that warm my heart about uh times that
105we have kept students safe who would have otherwise been quite unsafe um without this product. So uh I'm very happy to have that deployed from grades 3 through 12. It watches students Gmails, students Google drives uh and web activity as well. Um there's been a few mentions tonight of one tech application review. uh applications that are approved for use by the district are listed on the district website under the family's technology resources section. Um those applications go through a process where they are uh requested by teachers to be used in their uh classes. They are vetted by one tech uh on a number of rubrics including uh data data security privacy etc. um that is all summed up and uh presented to the appropriate assistant superintendent who makes the decision to approve or not approve
106its use. Uh and that is a continuously evolving uh process and list of apps. Um this year we placed restrictions on tabs. Uh I'm proud to say that my team developed uh the product called Tab Warden uh which limits um managed uh district browsers and i.e. Chromebooks, etc. to a maximum of four open tabs at the elementary level and 10 at the secondary level. Um, we access to YouTube uh is prohibited except for teacher allowed uh specific videos uh as designated by our uh policy 119 109 um at the elementary levels. um across the board K12 we uh no access to YouTube shorts we found the students were sort of idally uh scrolling through those um and we continue to increase filtering capabilities to our levels there's an appendix um listed in this presentation tonight
107that has all the categories for all the different grade levels uh that we block uh we have limited access we have limited slashlimated access to AI functionality in the Google suite for all grades K through eight. Um and we've provided uh professional learning opportunities to our staff and faculty um so they can be better partners in our students safety, wellness and citizenship path. Um so we have provided a number of AI sessions at inservices. Uh Apple has been a great partner for us coming on site a number of times um to help with our K2 teachers. Um and uh last fall we offered a Libro University tech edition for families. Hope you were all there. Um now what do we plan to do uh moving forward for next year? Um, in addition to the lessons
108that you saw uh from Common Sense Media that we're going to be um deploying for our students, um we will continue to strengthen our uh security and web filtering systems. YouTube in grades 6 through 8 uh will also be limited as it is now for K through 5. So students in grades six through eight uh will only have access to uh approved curricular related YouTube videos uh that are submitted to us through a process. Uh our teachers in K1 and starting next year, grade two, uh students will be using iPads instead of Chromebooks in second grade next year. Um so our teachers in grade K2 um will be continuously trained in the use of Apple classroom. Uh it's a free application that lets them as you heard uh manage student devices uh guide student learning
109and maintain focus uh on the student iPads. Um student iPads and grades K through two will not be accessible after school hours unless it is a remote remote learning or FID day. Um GoG Guardian parent uh instead of uh making people uh sign up for it, we are going to sign everyone up for it next fall. So, if you haven't signed up for it already and would rather just wait for the fall, you will be signed up. So, everyone with a Libo ID will be signed up for this and uh we'll be sending emails about that in the fall. Um, as we do every year with our budget process, um, it is important to us to continue to evaluate our hardware distribution. A great example of that is the move uh for second graders from
110Chromebooks to iPads next year. So rather than spending money on the Chromebooks, we're going to be spending money on iPads. So every time devices come up for renewal, refresh, etc., we're taking a fresh look at what's best for students at that level uh for what we're trying to do and teach those students. Um we going to continue with professional learning and support. Oh, I'm sorry. Uh I missed the most uh the most the one I'm most looking forward to. Uh I will be uh uh putting together a committee and meeting with student councils in grades six through 12 next year uh to discuss these topics as well. So um we'll have meetings focused on data privacy, digital wellness and safety uh to student councils where we'll also be gathering feedback from them uh not just
111teaching. Um professional learning plans for next year will be extending middle state rail work uh in grades six K through eight. As you heard, uh we are going to be uh offering common sense media's educator courses to our faculty and staff. So earlier I said they have uh courses for students. They have great resources for families. They also have great resources for educators that we'll be presenting uh through inservice and other uh means next year. Uh also to assist with our success uh the K2 iPad initiative next year. Uh we added an instructional technology coach to each elementary school next year. They will be in addition not just for Apple but they will be helping a lot with that Apple initiative. They'll also be h helping with uh an increased focus on the use of
112schooly at the levels. Um and uh we will continue to receive uh on-site and remote support for math education. So uh with that I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Schuman. >> Good evening. Um I'm the director of special ed and student services and we have a lot of requests for specialized assist assisted technology for our students. Um some examples would be um iPads for visually impaired students that may need magnification or contrast. Um some students use communication such as iPads with apps for speaking um because they cannot uh speak um verbally. And this year we had an interesting thing. a parent actually shared a login to a diabetes monitoring app with us and we were able to give our nurse an iPad and we have multiple people with the app to be the
113backup to monitor that student in real time while they're in the classroom for any alarms or alerts. Um so tonight you have the final proposed um budget on the agenda and we wanted to talk about how we are using this technology as an investment. Um so as mentioned before we are uh expanding grade two for iPad with Apple classroom. We have grades three through five using the Chromebooks and 6 through 12 is bring your own technology or you may be issued a district um Chromebook. We also have classroom equipment for teachers that need to um show off their curriculum and and use these tools that they've been mentioning this evening. That usually includes a projector, interactive whiteboard, document camera, etc. Um we have technology software budget which I'm going to show you next and in
114the appendix and then the support aspect which is how our students or staff report an issue. Um the electronic protection program which is for accidental damage and then our goian parent. So to show the breakdown of software costs by type our overall total is $850,330 which is less than 1% of our overall total budget. The majority of that is for district operations. So as some things were mentioned with schooly communication, but we also have a combination of elementary and secondary software that is used by our students. And there's also a portion for K to2 district software. And then we also broke it down by login type. So once again, the majority of the software that we're utilizing are um for staff members. Um but there's also a large portion that is for families and staff
115members. The smaller portions are for student loginins. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, as we conclude tonight's presentation, one message stands out. The future of education is not about replacing teachers with technology. It's about empowering both learners and educators with tools that enhance human potential. What we heard this evening reflects a thoughtful and balanced approach to innovation in our schools. one grounded not in trends but in purpose. Our administrators and teachers emphasize the importance of using technology intentionally, purposefully, and strategically to support learning, strengthen instruction, and prepare students for the world they will inherit. At the same time, this work requires responsibility. As technology continues to evolve, so must our commitment to safety, digital citizenship, and strong digital safeguards. We have a responsibility to help students not only access technology, but also learn
116how to use it ethically, responsibly, and in ways that support their well-being and growth. Perhaps most importantly, tonight's presentation reinforced that technology should always be developmentally appropriate. The right tools used in the right ways at the right time can expand opportunity while still protecting the human connection that remains at the heart of education. This work is ultimately about preparing students for the future, not just academically, but personally, socially as well. Our schools are striving to develop resilient, lifelong learners who can adapt to change, think critically, solve problems, and continue learning throughout their lives. I want to thank our administrators and teachers for the leadership, reflection, and care they bring to this work every day. Their commitment ensures that innovation in our schools remain centered on what matters most, our students, our relationships and the meaningful
117learning experiences that prepare every child for success for the board. That is the conclusion of our update on instructional technology. Are there any questions? Thank you so much, Dr. Fes, and to all of you for coming out tonight. Um, thank you so much for also showing us how you're utilizing technology in your classrooms. It was really exciting to see. I'm really digging the podcast, by the way. I think that was that was amazing. Um, so it is delightful to just have you in and give the opportunity to tell us what you're doing and show us what you're doing. So, thank you. >> That was an outstanding presentation. I um I found it so thorough and I especially appreciated hearing from our instructors and our teachers about how passionate you are about the use of technology
118in your classes. And I just wanted to say that I have the utmost respect for what you do as professionals and your professional your background and your training and how excited you present um yourself to us as you know being excited about how you teach but even more so being excited about creating that level of excitement and engagement and like I don't know individual buyin for each one of your kids whether it was um presentations about, you know, writing bug emojis and and or whether it was a a French class being uh you know, kids being transported around the world to engage interactively with a French class. Tech, it takes technology to do that and all kinds of different ways um that that you showed that I took all kinds of notes. I was you
119probably could hear me click clacking over here, but I was writing things down. Um and learning walks were mentioned. Um Dr. Thompson mentioned walking around and talking um with one another about what you saw with technology and whether it was used appropriately. And I wanted the community to know that the board has that opportunity to do that too. And we um several of us did that over the last month. And technology was our topic too. We were we were looking for it. We were pleased with what we saw. we were probably thanks to the parents in the community have kind of brought this up. Um, we knew kind of what we wanted to what we wanted to watch for or what we wanted to see. And I took notes after that too that what I
120saw were um a variety just such a broad variety for each child individualization. I saw kids who um were reading, they were reading, sustained silent reading in paper books and turning the pages. We went to a different classroom um in a different school and we saw kids who needed maybe that word to be highlighted or pop out at them and to sound out the syllables. We saw kids who were using their fingers to glide over the sounds that they were learning to sound out. I mean, we just saw everything from fingers to paper to um blocks to um you know, books to boards to computers and Chromebooks and all of it. Like it was so there is so much that our kids have available to them here um thanks to the the work that's been
121done by so many people. So I just wanted just to reflect back on that and thank the families who brought um their concerns to the board so that board could also um provide feedback and and watch and just um appreciation for the teachers who are doing this every day with the kids in really dynamic ways like really dynamic ways. So we appreciate you. >> I have similar notes. >> Um a phenomenal presentation from from everyone. Um I also wrote thorough, detailed, specific. Um and and you know, you can really um just hear the pride that everyone has in this work from Dr. Davis, maybe one of your final presentations to the board um and your pride on your work with um you know, portrait of a learner and previously portrait of a graduate um to
122what everyone has implemented in their own classrooms. Um, and really, uh, I've long said that I view our teachers as, as true professionals. We hire the best of the best here. And that, um, you want to have support so that you can innovate and and do, um, you know, really do your best work. Um, because what you love is watching kids learn and grow. Um, and I think that's really clear uh, here tonight. So, I appreciate everyone being here for this extra long night. Um, I really do think, uh, again, Mrs. Berdick mentioned, we've heard a lot from from the community. Um, and I think we want Libo, we all want Libo to be, um, a leader in this area. And I think this presentation really does show that that we are leading and that
123we are being um, intentional and that we're more than adequately preparing our students for what comes next, whatever that is beyond their K to2 education. Um my experience I have a child in um 11th grade and one in seventh grade is that this technology has kind of been a work in progress I think within the district. I think we rolled out one to one um really without uh deeply training our staff on what that means and how to appropriately use that. And I think Dr. Dr. Freeze and her team have made a really um put that as a really big priority and that I think you can see again in what was presented tonight that that we've made a lot of progress in that area and that is going to be a benefit for for
124our students as well. Um I will just mention some of the things that stood out to me. Um the podcast for sure. I think that's cool. I want to listen I want to listen to the podcast. Um uh Mr. Blooming mentioning about um I I want to do a world world war. I wish I wish >> I lose my kids all the time. >> Um and the fantasy um you know fantasy uh countries of the world. I thought that that sounded really cool too as well as you know having the technology away at the beginning at the beginning of class and really encouraging um that interpersonal social interactions in a social studies class. Um also I think is great. um of course the use of immersive uh ability to immerse yourself in the culture um
125in language at the high school. And then I actually have a student in Mr. Beac's class. I'm gonna actually go home and ask him about um the chat bots and um I also teach college students uh who I know use um AI to to study or to make questions for themselves. Um and I actually talk to them a lot about why that's not likely to be very helpful for them. Um but I know that, you know, they're going to do it, right? they're going to they're we know that they're going to do it. And so I think that having the opportunity to learn how to how to do that so that it's effective um or as effective as it can be is extremely valuable. And I I honestly wish that you know I think you
126know that AP course that you teach I don't think a lot of students not not the majority of high school students are taking that course. Um, but all of our students who are going to go to college, they're going to try to use AI to study and they should understand how to appropriately use it to so that it's effective. Um, so again, I appreciate everything um that everyone that everyone brought tonight. Thank you very much. >> Yeah, I just want to thank you guys for your time on a Monday um and every day. Uh I'm excited for um some of the learning that my middle and high school student have experienced and have to look forward to. Um and I also loved hearing um from Mr. angle and I know it was a whole team
127but um I know this year was a lot in our strategic plan about like taking a step back taking a a a broad and a deep look at the ways that we're using technology and then making suggestions and implementing improvements and that that's a constant cycle. So, I loved hearing about some of the emerging plans as well um for next year um just in that spirit of constant improvement and they are based on you know community and parental feedback which is great but I think more importantly they're based on um what our students are doing and need to be doing with technology um how they're using it how they're learning and what our teachers are seeing every day in the classroom. Um, so >> anyone else? >> Yeah, just real quick, I want to go
128back to where Dr. Davis started the presentation, which was uh really grounding this work in the portrait of a learner. And it really speaks to, you know, the idea that it's it's not about the technology for the sake of technology. We saw example after example of the district's focus on digital citizenship, privacy, uh, safeguards, balanced use, and very intentional implementation. You know, we we've seen various iterations of technology entering the classroom. You know, in the past few decades, seeing iPads first come in and it's very easy and people are often quick to run it, you know, the new shiny thing. And right now we're seeing AI as as this big new thing. Um, and what I'm hearing is that we're really preparing students for uh the future not by just putting them in front of
129screens uh but by helping them become uh critical thinkers uh collaborators, problem solvers and responsible digital citizens. Uh those are all skills that are important not just for students now. These are important out uh in the world when they leave uh Mount Lebanon. Um you know, the best uh software engineers at the moment aren't writing lines of code anymore. They're using their creativity and their problem solving to to do the work that they had done differently uh before. Um so I encourage the district to continue its commitment to thoughtful and meaningful technology use. Thanks. Anyone else? Okay. Student representative report. >> All the way back. >> Good evening everyone. Um first of all, as always, thank you for having us here tonight. We're excited to share some of the great things happening as we head
130into, as crazy as it is, the final stretch of the school year. Um as of last month, the high school hosted its first inaugural around the world night. And with nearly 150 community members in attendance, the event featured traditional Catholic Indian dance, a Brazilian ensemble, and fine dining from Tutotopo. Many students and families share that they learned a great deal about the different cultures represented in our community and are excited to return for next year. Furthermore, it's been a very busy month for researching and tournaments, and we'd like to congratulate the Model UN team for earning 12 awards at the University of Maryland, FBLA for competing at the Pennsylvania State Leadership Conference, the National History Day team for competing in Scranton, nine elementary school students who will perform at the PMEA District 1 Stringsfest, and
13130 middle school students for competing in Mount Lebanon High School's hackathon. Early earlier today, the senior and junior class officers had their transfer of office ceremony. The senior executive councils received their stos for graduation, swore in the junior class, and the ceremony finished with an ice cream bar. Next week on May 28th is the class of 2026's prom. The theme will be rhythm of the night, and it will take place from 7 to 11:00 at the Omni William Penn Hotel. The day before on the 27th is the senior's last day and commencement for the class of 2026 will take place on June 3rd with senior sendoff two days before on the 1st. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Off to policy committee. Do we have anything to >> I'll defer to Mr. Hoffman. >>
132You weren't here last week. So I'm happy to uh mic back on. Uh so last week the policy committee reviewed a series of policy updates focused on keeping district policies organized, consistent, and aligned with state and federal requirements. Uh the changes included updates to student and staff discrimination and harassment policies, refinements to school threat assessment procedures, and clearer protections related to employee dress, hairstyles, and religious expression. The committee also reviewed new policies covering the district's mission and shared values, studentled, non- studentent sponsored groups, um, home education, student participation in academics, in activities, and charter school oversight and extracurricular participation. Several older policies were retired because uh, the contents now covered under these new policies. Next up, we have PSBA board development liaison. >> Excellent. Um, just for PSBA, I just wanted to remind board members
133about the school leadership conference, um, which is being held October 18th through 21st at Kalahari Resorts. It's a great opportunity. Um, and this year's keynote is the president of High Point University and then civic engagement board. Um the last meeting was on May 14th. I attended um the board welcomed new members and selected new leadership for the coming year. Um again electing Noah Evans as chair and Anna Roman as vice chair. Um they discussed committee assignments and really kind of highlighted upcoming community engagement initiatives including the the Memorial Day parade on May 25th, Libo Pride on June 13th at Main Park and Junth and June 14th at Main Park. Um, and then one of the highlights of the meeting was an update from the Mount Lebanon Police Department's social worker, Jackie, um, whose role continues
134to expand throughout the community outreach, crisis convention, crisis prevention. Um, she holds weekly outreach hours at the Mount Lebanon Public Library. Um, just really helping with um, trying to get involved with partnering with local organizations and increase public awareness of these services that that she's making. being available. And lastly, the next civic engagement board meeting will take place Wednesday, June 3rd. >> Thank you, Mrs. Galman. MLF, Mrs. Berdick. >> Yes, I do have a couple um exciting points. Um, this spring the MLFE had the privilege of reviewing 11 innovative grant applications that were submitted by educators from across the district. Um, and there was a highly competitive selection process and careful deliberation and the foundation board is pleased to award $14,931.92 to support four of those winning projects. These funds will be used to expand
135student podcasting opportunities. You'll be glad to know. Um to enrich our audio libraries. Uh to provide vital professional development for our middle school orientation leaders and to launch Apple classroom initiatives for our K through1 students, some of which we heard a little bit about um earlier tonight. Also, uh the ex the uh art show was well attended and it was held on April 24th. Uh we had an amazing showcase of our students creativity and for the second year, student artists generously curated a selection of their work to benefit the MLF. We are thrilled to announce that this year's fundraiser raised $5,400 and our sincere thanks go to the high school art department and its students for their continued partnership and dedication to our mission. >> Thank you, Mrs. Berdick. PTA Council, Dr. Camp. >> Uh
136given the late hour, you all be happy to know that uh PTA could not meet last month. Um but they uh they will meet to um Wednesday this week. Um and the G Georgia Poke scholarships will be awarded to seven graduating seniors. >> Awesome. Thanks, Mr. Clock. You municipality. >> Yes. So, um, most recently at the municipality, the, uh, they are investigating, uh, having naming rights, uh, given to the ice rink, uh, for a donation of $100,000 over the course of 10 years, um, to, uh, additional enhancements at the facility. Um, as Mr. Hoffman will undoubtedly talk about the uh transportation uh came up and the use of South Garage as a mobility hub going forward. And lastly, the um they are investigating bringing the garbage collection inhouse >> potentially doing that either with by
137by the by uh the municipality itself or partnering with local municipalities. Thanks. Looking for all the good news collection. >> Talk about getting everyone excited about garbage. All right. Um, Parkway West had their graduation where I was in attendance. It was great to sit on the floor and yell for our Lebo grads. Um, and there's a lot of really great things happening at Parkway. I just want to highlight there is a senior who just graduated. She is graduating um, with a welding degree. She has the highest esteem and actually went to >> Florida. Is it Florida? >> She went to Florida and was the youngest person there that they have ever had. And she was in rooms with mainly older men, 25, 30 plus, and she was just incredible. So, it was just amazing to
138see a lot of the stories. So, if you do have students that are thinking about Parkway, I highly suggest um you really consider. They even have some seniors right now that are already making between 34 and $38 an hour um for their work. So, they're doing really great things. So, that's all I have. And Pathfinder, Miss G. >> Sure. So, we met almost a month ago because the next meeting is going to be uh in two days um which Mrs. Berdick will be attending because I have a work commitment. Um not much to report. They're working on the budget there as well. um summer uh capital project plans are underway and will be discussed this month. Um their commencement is coming up on June 3rd in the morning. So I get to do a twofer
139which is going to be really fun for me. >> I mean that sincerely. It'll be great. >> It is a great day. >> Mobility. Mr. Hoffman. >> The uh so just as kind of an overview because this is a new one for us. The Mobility and Transportation Board is a citizen advisory board to the uh Mount Lebanon Commission. It reviews street design, sidewalks, traffic safety, parking, and active transportation issues. Uh and I serve as just the liaison to that board. Couple of things happening. Uh some new sidewalks going in on Green Haven Drive uh very soon after school gets out. uh crosswalks and some faded signs are going to be replaced over the summer as well. Uh and then kind of the big item right now is the active transportation plan. And the purpose of
140this is uh it's a long range plan and was developed jointly with Dormmont. And it's intended to guide how the municipality invests in walking, biking, and safer streets. uh which routes get prioritized, how streets are designed and how safety is built in. That is currently under review and uh the municipality will be looking at that uh in June at their next meeting. Uh so anyone with thoughts or opinions, I certainly encourage you to to attend that meeting and share those with the municipality as it affects all of us. Uh, next meeting of this board of the active uh, whatever they're called, the mobility and transportation board will be uh, Tuesday, June 2nd at 6 PM. And you can uh, do that over Zoom or you can head down to the municipal building. >> Thank you,
141Mr. Hoffman. All right. Do we have any questions or comments from residents and taxpayers concerning action items for this meeting? Any of the action items for this meeting that we've discussed already? Is this the open? >> Open will be in a minute. >> Okay, gotcha. >> Okay, great. >> We don't have any unfinished business. Um, Mrs. Berdick, would you read the resolution for policy, please? >> Yes. I move that it be resolved that the board approves the revision of policies 103, discrimination, harassment affecting students. 104, discrimination harassment affecting staff. 236.1 threat assessment and 325 dress code and grooming. The adoption of policies 101 mission statement, vision statement and shared values. 122.1 non-curriculum related non-school sponsored student initiated groups. 137.1 Extracurricular participation in home education students or by home education students. 137.2 2 participation in co-curricular
142activities and academic courses by home education students 137.3 participation in career and technical education programs by home education students 140 charter schools and 140.1 extracurricular participation by charter cyber charter students we will retire the policies AE school core values IH HBH charter schools and JJJ participation in school district activities by students not enrolled in the district. >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? >> I just think Mrs. Berdick did a phenomenal job. Yes. >> Thank you for 948. >> Quite a roll call, please. >> Mrs. Berdick. >> Hi. >> Dr. Campano. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clocker. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Crabel. >> Hi. >> Miss Flecher. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Gellman. Hi, >> Miss Given. >> Hi, >> Mr. Hoffman. >> I >> All right. Next, we will have a slew of finance. So we
143will be looking at the treasures report, monthly list of bills, budgetary transfers for May, list of unusual equipment, 2026, 2027 homestead farmstead resolution 2026 2027 real estate tax resolution 2627 act 15 tax resolution property tax reassessment resolution 2627 final budget 2627 list of contracts in excess of $100 appointment of school district treasurer exoneration of real estate collection for listed properties, municipal real estate tax office audit, American fidelity supplemental benefits, workers, workers compensation insurance, 2627, insurance renewal 2627, 2627, food services, student milk prices, highspeed duplicating and cover stock paper bid, bus auction. All right, Mrs. Given, can you read the resolution? >> I've got it easy. I I move that it be resolved. The board approves the finance agenda items as stated. >> Any questions or comments? >> Second. >> Great. Any questions or comments? >>
144Roll call. >> We got to get out of here. >> Mrs. Berdick, >> I. >> Dr. Campero. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clocker. >> Hi. >> Miss Crrabel. >> I. >> Miss Flecher. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Gellman. >> I >> Miss Given. >> I >> Mr. Hoffman. >> Hi. >> All right. human resources. Mrs. or Dr. Campanero, I almost skipped you. >> I move that be resolved that the board approves the human resources agenda items. >> Second. >> Questions or comments? >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Berdick, >> I. >> Dr. Campano, >> I. >> Mr. Clardy, >> I >> Mrs. Crrael. >> I >> Miss Fleer. >> I >> Mrs. Gilman. I Miss Given I >> Mr. Hoffman >> I >> Okay, moving into curriculum instruction. We have textbook adoption, social studies curriculum agreements with
145McGra Hill and TCI, AIU comprehensive services agreement and special education addendum, AIU waterfront learning addendum agreement with AIU school-based access program standardized testing schedule for 2627 high school ski and board trip to JPE Vermont and resolution Miss Fleer. I move that it be resolved that the board approves the curriculum and instruction agenda items. Second. >> Any questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Berdick. >> I >> Dr. Campanero. >> I >> Mr. Clocky. >> I >> Miss CrarAl. >> I >> Miss Fleer. >> I >> Mrs. Gellman. >> I >> Miss Given. >> I >> Mr. Hoffman. >> I >> Thank you. Moving on into other, we do have a change for our PSBA delegate. Uh, Mrs. Gellman will not be able to go to the November 7th meeting. So, I am going to
146go in her absence for her. Okay. All right. So, we have the designation of voting delegates to PSBA and then the board meeting schedule for 2627. Resolution, please. Mr. Hoffman. I move that it be resolved that the board approves the other agenda items. >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Berdick, >> I. >> Dr. Campanero, >> I. >> Mr. Clocky, >> I. >> Mrs. Crrael, >> I. >> Miss Flecher, >> I. >> Mrs. Gellman, >> I. >> Miss Given, >> I. >> Mr. Hoffman, >> I. >> All right. And now we are at questions and comments. three three minutes. >> Thank you. Matthew Hackworth, uh Carnegie Drive here in Mount Lebanon. Uh I'm excited about the bus auction, or at least I know one of my one of my
147Mount Lebanon graduates is looking for an opportunity to reduce our rent cost. So, there's a conversion opportunity. But in all seriousness, thank you. Lots of good content here. I appreciate what you guys did tonight and and all all the folks here within the district in terms of responding to a level of concern within the community and around the use of technology and what can we do to uh improve things. Um there's definitely still things where I know I personally as a parent have a fundamental disagreement. I mean there's things I heard there where I heard that teaches you what you what you did wrong. I was like did did I hear that right? Because that is that is not true. That is absolutely not my students experience. I've reviewed how the platform works. So, I
148still think there's opportunities and and issues that that will need to be improved and addressed. And frankly, that leads me, I guess, to my my last point here, which would be that um the guiding principles sounded very good, but as far as I could discern, they were absent any insights from sort of the larger community or studies. But, I mean, perhaps those are baked in there, but I I still have questions on that. Um, and I mean I reflect back on our period of COVID where we were told to let the science guide us, but I was kind of wondering whether we really have taken account of the best possible science or studies that that would be um available to us from the broader frankly experience of the country. So uh again I thank you
149for the the time and the information that was presented tonight. I do hope that we are open to learning and revising our approach and our practices and uh that you will continue to take community input on these matters. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. >> Anyone else? Nat McClean, 600 Clemson Drive. Uh sorry to be so negative, but I only have three minutes. Um, if I could convince you that that was leaking lead, what would be the acceptable level that you would put up with? It wouldn't kill anybody. It would just lower things very very incrementally. I'm guessing it's zero. I don't know. Um what's my authority to say any of this? When I was 12, I took my first college class in computer programming. I know what I'm talking about. There's an
150endless amount of data pushing against the optimism that everybody had for whatever that was, an hour and a half. I'm not against all of it. I still work in the field. Um, I just uh I guess I'd put to you the same theoretical that's not leaking lead. Um, but what is the red line for any of you? What's too bad? I I know at the schoolboard meet I watched all the school schoolboard meetings that are on up to like 4:00 am last night and I know at the one at the that concluded last school year um there was some degree of like lamenting that test scores were still below where they were at CO. They will be lower next year. Um, like I said, I have 3 minutes. I'm sorry. Um, if you'd like to
151start start young, at least consider starting young, just get rid of personal devices. I had a second grader. I I couldn't see who was enjoying the podcast. I had a kid in that class. It was cute. Um, she's nine and can get to any YouTube video on her Chromebook that she wants to. She just doesn't go to YouTube. She learned it from her older sister who's a fifth grader that goes to Jefferson for honors math where the entire class knows how to do using a Google Lens to have Gemini just solve the problems for them. You are teaching aptitude. It's just not always the aptitude that you want to be teaching. Thanks. >> Thank you for your comment. Anyone else? >> Okay. I would just like to report that the board met earlier today at
1526:45 uh p.m. for executive session. Our next meeting will be June 8th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. right here as well as June 15th, 2026. So, I have a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second.