001All right, we're going to go ahead and get started. At this time, I will convene the arms on February, it's not February on March 12th, 2026 at we'll call this 5:08 p.m. The item on our agenda for tonight is a workshop from our student leadership advisor board and I'll turn over back to >> trustees. Thank you for being here tonight. Obviously, there's a buzz in the room for a certain reason, right? And it's nice to have our slab students here uh and to participate in the workshop. Dr. Jarkco does the work for us as a administrative liaison with our slab students and I know they've been working hard. So I think at this point I'll turn it over to Dr. Jarco and whomever you would like to to get rolling with our plan. >> Perfect.
002Thank you Dr. Smith. So I'll just take a quick 60-second framing. Um really I think we're in for a treat tonight. The students have worked extremely hard. as Dr. Smith mentioned in several different ways to get to the point tonight where they're collecting student voice in a different way and I don't want to get into that because Fred's going to but there's two words I would describe tonight to kind of tee us up. The first one is um proud. Just really proud of their work. Like they came together as a team in a way that made the sum of their parts u much greater right when they did the whole project. So this is part of their leadership project work. They had a little bit of work with leader and me sudden habits training and
003it's really coming to fruition. you can see them creating a really good product because the team approach. I'll also say tonight it's messy work. Um their challenge was to take a lot of feedback from a lot of students and to be able try to make sense of it. So some of that messiness may come out tonight, but they've done a really good job trying to capture the voice of the students and share that with you tonight. So proud of them. It's going to be a little bit messy. I think they'll do a great job at the same time. So no pressure, Fred. Well, good afternoon everyone. >> There is certainly a lot of pressure, but I am delighted to be here with you amongst you with this incredible group of students. Like Dr. Jaro said,
004we've worked tirelessly. On June 5th, 2025, I stood before you and I declared that SLA would meet students where they are on the campuses and that's what we've been doing. We debated our receiving tour. We ask students a series of questions that we believe that will really get them to open up about what they're they are truly feeling so that we can ensure that when you all are making decisions that they are informed and that they leave our values and beliefs and our district priorities. So I can thank you. So slap on June 5th that same day actually helped you vote on values and priorities and they are exceptional experiences inclusive culture, thriving staff, strong partnerships, maximizing resources and ensuring that the environment for students honors learning. Our priorities as a district are academic growth,
005culture, safety and discipline, marketing and engagement, talent and resources. So, we're going to be building really into those today significantly. [clears throat] Just to reiterate, we're serving as a bridge between students and district leadership. We understand and we recognize that our role is unique. It is not symbolic. It is purposeful. And so we've used our unique position to ensure that we're providing you the student voice. How can we adequately do that if we restrict that to just 13 individuals in a room when you have 55,000 students in this district? And so today, unfortunately, we don't get to share everything we've heard. We get to share the key insights and concerns and the recommendations necessary by site. Now, if you use what my CTC system teacher says, their observation skills, take a look. You will see
006that from the time we started to Lamar High School, our student participation has increased. We've gone from about 10 students to 50 because they realize the potential that comes from sharing the voices that they are their biggest advocates. Our first question is how's the transition to awake for the day with cell phones today? We understand that students, particularly those who are juniors and seniors, this was kind of a rough patch for them because they were accustomed to having their phones at a wheel at their own wheel if you would say. But of course, there were always policies that maintain your phone away while we were learning, but it was still a transition. How can we integrate artificial intelligence? The reality of that is it's here to stay. It's not going anywhere. And research suggests that
007if we don't get ahead of it, it will get ahead of us. What barriers prevent you and other students from being involved in campus? That goes back to our values and beliefs of inclusive culture. So, we can't wait to share that with you. How effective is school safety on your campus and how can it be included? Good news is that many students do feel safe on their campuses. Of course, nothing is perfect and we work every day to get it as perfect as you can. And if you could change one thing about your campus, your campus culture, what would it be? That means back into that learning environment, into that inclusive culture. to ensuring that everything we do in this district is fruitful. So with that, I am excited to turn it over to Lauren
008to discuss how students have adjusted to the cell phone [applause] [laughter] >> this way. >> [laughter] >> Hello, my name is the cell phone students have used the attention that more towards their schoolwork and socializing with each other. Socializing has been seen increasing around lunch time and hallways. Um, communication has been seen like a barrier for communication has been seen on all the campuses with both receiving the information and sharing information because the apps that were created for school related information sharing are no longer accessible and technology is being integrated into every aspect of our lives. So students are trying to transition to not having technology with them. [clears throat] [applause] >> One of the positive things we heard from the campus such as San Houston, they said, "Well, it hasn't impacted our social interaction
009that well because we have it on lock and key. We we're always socially interactive." So in that regard they stand strong. >> Okay. >> Artificial intelligence. Welcome Quinn. [applause] >> Well, please please expose my potential stuttering experience. All right. So my name is Quinn and I am the junior class president of J school high school and I will be presenting our students opinions about artificial intelligence. So many students have admitted well has used AI in their learning and as parent said earlier um AI is here to stay and [clears throat] well if we don't get ahead of it will get ahead of us. So students have a acknowledged that there are many potential benefits and disadvantages of AI. Yes, they recognize that some students may use it to cheat. They use it to be lazy
010to skip their word uh their words basically. However, they also acknowledge that AI can help with independent um thinking and learn independent thinking and just um better analysis of information. Um students uh also acknowledge that AI can help with learning and critical thinking. Um AI can be used as a personal tutor for them because yes teachers are very busy especially if they're also involved with extracurriculars with being a sponsor of different clubs and they may not have the time to personally help the students um and their struggles. And many students when they're trying to learn something new, they may simply nod at whatever the teacher said and they may not process the information yet. And when they go home, they when they get deeper deeper into their notes, they may find themselves struggling with some
011parts. They might not understand a specific concept. And AI can be used to help clear out those u clear out those confusion say and it can introduce the students to new informations to um just give them a surface level idea of what they're learning about and yes AI may not uh always provide true and scientific information factual information. Therefore, students must always stay cautious with whatever AI answers they they has given and it can help students to learn how to uh be better fact checker you know it's further explore their sources and what other articles other credible articles has said about the internation and so two students have suggested that to learn how to responsibly use AI, uh that they should have say an assembly or a meeting to just lay out how AI should
012be used in the classroom as well as in their work. And so I believe that every high school campus each year, each grade, they have this digital citizenship um assembly meeting in their library and they are thinking that AI and this usage can be incorporated into that digital citizenship. And lastly, students some some students have concerns about how AI well about the non-educational implications of AI. And for example, AI is a very energyintensive um technology. It consumes a lot of water. It consumes a lot of space. It consumes a lot of data. And so many students are worrying about um the negative environmental impact and u mental health impact of excessive use of AI and excessive incorporation of AI. So and moreover uh many students suggest that we should the AICS uh school board just
013AIS in general should create uh an an extension of uh of AI say their own AI with limited with limitations here and there to be used in campuses so that students can learn about the responsible use of AI but they should be using it and what they should be using and I believe that's everything. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. So our next topic is student experience participation. So welcome our secretary. [applause] My name is Sal. I'm the senior class president at Arlington Collegiia High School. And like mentioned, I am the slab secretary. So, I've been um I was responsible with writing down and taking notes of everything we've asked our students and what gathering for feedback. So, I definitely had the chance to work on my typing words per minute. But, um yeah, student
014experience and participation. One thing across all campuses, students value the opportunity for connection. Students are wanting to participate in clubs and get involved in their campus. So whether that's joining a club that fosters their interest or challenges them or even just building their high school resume, students want to be involved. One thing I've learned is that students love pep rallies. Honestly, at ACS, we don't have pep rallies, but seeing that they love what they what it does to boost school spirit and like boost student engagement. So that's something definitely all the high schools love to have. Um, next is the impact, awareness, and promotion of activities often limits participation. One thing we've learned is that communication, especially with the cell phone band, has changed as students have had to adjust it. How they promote their
015clubs and extracurriculars. Um, one thing we asked them, we asked students was what barriers prevent you from being involved. And one of the main things was communication. Oh, I didn't know about it. Oh, I didn't hear about this. And so, just that lack of information was causing students to not be involved. Uh the next thing is also another barrier was logistical barriers that affect participation for some students. Of course the transportation of coming back from um staying after school and having a ride home afterwards as long as the cost that come with joining a club like National Honor Society or paying for a t-shirt that your club requires. So um all this to say is that students appreciate having a platform to share ideas about the campus experience. While we were hearing these barriers as
016SLAB, using our own experience, we shared what we can do to solve them. Like um fundraisers like at ACS, we use fundraisers to cut down on the cost at NHS. So fundraisers throughout the year and just over just sharing over experiences that we can help just boost student engagement overall. Thank you guys. [applause] I may have heard something last evening about this young man that he might be the self-proclaimed best dancer in Arlington. You guys, they asked for fun and back and I'm like, this is the back. Please welcome. [applause] So um the next topic that we talked about really pertains to our priority safety and discipline and that would be campus security. We know this is a sensitive topic so we had to have a lot of vigilance and carefulness but we're glad to
017report that we've not seen their responses. Uh as far as physical aggressiveness and fighting, students report that there's been an overall decrease even at schools with a history of school violence which is great and they believe that the police response in time like according to those have been very fast, quick and effective. We then um we asked them about how things are going protocol such as it's kind of something new that's been implemented into the schools and they they've gotten adjusted to it and now it's sort of normal for them. They're able to quickly get in and get out. However, we have a few concerns with students saying that there's been a variation in like the sensitivity of the metal detectors. So, they just want that to maybe be improved so that nothing ever there.
018And given all of this feedback that we've gotten, we just really want to continue enhancing technology training, especially for the security because they are um very diligent workers and we want them to be valued not only for their skills and their talents, but also their ability to foster mutual respect, respectful relationships with students because my dad works as a security guard and he's told me like how it goes. Starting there is really difficult and to really get to a point where your job is not as hard as it is in those initial years or initial months you have to be interacting with students. You have to be kind not to feel more pressure having security in the environment. So that is definitely something that I think should be um implemented in their training is how
019to deal with students. [applause] So this is where the discussion comes in. So if you take a look at in the questions here, you now have opportunity to speak with your SL student and we get to discuss what surprises you about what what you've heard, what encourages you about what you heard. I believe there are a lot of encouraging aspects to this presentation and is there anything you might like us to know that we are not considering regarding the presenting topic. We understand that we are not experts and we are not privy to all of the information that you have. So you know there are some things that are not and what would you like us to probe on these topics on future slap listening tools. All right. Wonderful. It sounds like that we had
020some great conversations and so because you had such great conversations, you get to share this conversation with us. [laughter] So we just have a few volunteers to share what you discuss pertaining to these topics and these questions. So if you need a moment, you have a moment. >> You can do the classroom method of raising your hand. [laughter and gasps] >> Okay, Lauren. >> I'm not scared anymore. >> [cheering] >> um for the topics that they would want us to code on in the future is how students are receiving the drug and alcohol prevention information and how they would how it could be better received. >> Thank you. I'll talking and they said it would be a good idea to talk with the students that are you spoke with at the beginning of the year
021that talked about their phones or or things like that and then follow back up at the end of the year to see if their views had changed. Maybe they saw that not having a phone wasn't so bad. I've got more work done and I could actually talk to people. So kind of that that followup debriefing >> to see where you were then and where you are now. Yeah. >> See how it still applies. you may have a different opinion. >> So, can I take another >> we talked about is there anything you might like us to know that we're not considering or like any advice and just asked us to just provide more of the why of like when we're discussing it. Um we talked about like how security is improving on some and then
022has some can some share that security is not improving and so just like what is the why and what's working and what's not to help you guys [laughter] >> um as we were speaking um Dr. Smith mentioned about the last question. What would you like us to probe on is the transition periods that children or kids and students encounter in school. So that was from fifth grade to sixth grade um and then >> sixth grade to seventh grade. >> 6th grade to 7th grade and then 8th grade to 9th and then um seniors going off into their next steps after high school. And so just seeing I know we have mentioned that in a couple of our meetings but just focusing on that and seeing how we can make that transition easier um for parents
023and students. >> Yeah. I know my shift from 8th grade to 9th was drastic especially from middle school classes to high school and dual credit classes you know districts. Thank you so much for that. Great insight, President. >> Sure. So, we um something I heard in the presentation that was encouraging and we talk about it more here at the table is how much students recognize and appreciate the huge number of opportunities that they have in AISD in so many different areas. And I know folks in the district have worked very hard for a very long time to maintain those opportunities and expand them and make them high quality. And so it's great it's great to hear as a trustee and as someone who grew up in this community in the community that students recognize that
024the community cares about them that way and it's created conversations is talking about transportation. um seeing the different experiences on the different campuses, seeing if you know the schedules are good, if um it's up to AIC standard and just thinking about um our students on different campuses like TCC, CTC, CPA like and adding on to that our table discussed about one thing we would like to change about our campus culture since we didn't get to touch on that during our presentation. So our table was amazing. We're talking about how we wish we could change the student involvement numbers to make it um higher again because uh recently we have seen a decrease in the number of student participating in extracurriculars after school. Perhaps it's because of um transportation. Perhaps it's because of the fees. Perhaps
025it's because of uh they wanting to spend more time, more of their time on technology instead or perhaps because they don't know about all the clubs and organization after school. And I also believe that I've heard Fred talking about how he would like to change uh the student pride in their schools. And I find that very fascin fascinating because well I love um our district. I love our schools and I feel so proud to be able to participate in it as well as learn from it and I just love it very much and everything that it's given. >> Yes. Thank you so much. >> Would you like to be in a commercial [laughter] >> I can hear because when I came to Texas from where I was in Louisiana, I didn't know that the opportunity
026that this district offers students even existed for students at such a young age. I I shared my I was mesmerized. I was mesmerized that as a senior in high school, I can be in a law office or that I can work in a a class setup that mimics a hospital room, but that my current class mimics a courthouse. You know, these are unique opportunities that offered because of community support and because the district is so keen and supporting students. So, we thank you so much for the work that you do. We thank you for allowing us to share in this time with you to share with you what students are saying both the good and what we can improve because when we stop denying that we can improve that's when we stop. So thank you
027so much for letting us in and you know we're always here at any time. So thank you so much. [applause] [cheering] One of the things that our table talked about was about the leadership that you've given and that you found a way for more juniors to come back as seniors and to participate in this club and how they've really enjoyed that and that it's pro provided more continuity for this lab students and that they've enjoyed it. Now they're looking forward to doing and passing it off to the next group and that's because of your leadership. I equated it to what President Chapla did with us as a board that he used to meet, the president would meet one-on-one with the superintendent and when he took over becoming president, he invited the board officers to come
028in and be a part of that meeting. And so it's always grooming those people to come up behind you and teach them how things are done. And so instead of being a gatekeeper and saying, "No, this is my slapboard," you said, "This is our slapboard." And so thank you for DOING THAT. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU ALL. UM, so we're going to go into close now. So it is 5:50 p.m. and at this time we will recess and reconvene to close session in the board chambers to pursuing sections 551.071 through 551.084 and 551.089 of the Texas government code in accordance with the Texas meetings act for the top motions.