001Oh, and I forgot my computers. And I didn't even have a chance to Larson. our wonderful tech desk. Whenever you're ready, we can begin. Great. Good afternoon and I call this listening session to order. We will turn it over to the clerk for roll call. Member Banks >> here. >> Chair Durer present. Member Laughler here. Vice Chair Loal >> here. >> I'm Clerk Mel, I'm here. Treasure Sidowski >> here. >> Member Williams >> here. >> Superintendent Maggus >> here. >> Assistant Superintendent Bonds >> present. >> Deputy Clerk Zunich here. Board Secretary Pakquette >> here. >> And it looks like we have student rep Kina Mat. Oh, I always mess it up. >> Mala >> here. >> Wonderful. Roll call is complete. Thank you. Now we will call on member Saddowski for our 11 rules of
002civility. This school board recognizes 11 tools of civility that will provide increased opportunities for civil discourse in order to find positive resolutions to the issues that face our community. These tools include pay attention, listen, be inclusive, don't gossip, show respect, be agreeable, apologize, give constructive criticism, take responsibility, be honest and care for others, and show your evidence, share your reasoning. >> Thank you, Member Sidowski. We will now have our clerk read the guidelines for our listening session. >> Wonderful. Welcome. If you have handouts for the board, please give them to our school board secretary, Pquette. Persons addressing the board will have three minutes total. When speaking, the use of negative personally identifiable language is not permitted. Persons addressing the board may not merge their time in order to allow one person to speak for more
003than 3 minutes. The clerk of the board will start the stoplight timer, which is here at the start of each person's time. Green means go, yellow means wrap-up, red means stop. When the red light does come on, the chair will gavel to signal you to end. And in the interest and respect for every listening session speaker, please hold any commentary during the speaker's time until they're finished. Thank you so much. >> Thank you to the clerk and I look forward to inviting up Ava Larson. Is Lindsay Youngman here? Welcome Lindsay. Can you remind me what is the blinking? How many more seconds is that? >> I think it's 30. >> Okay. Okay. Hi everyone. I'm here to make sure we keep discussing the decision to put Google Gemini on high schoolers Chromebooks. Since I spoke
004to you last month, I've tried to practice what I preach to my UMD students and learn as much as I can with an open mind. What I found has only alarmed me more deeply. I started by re-watching the initial board presentation about the AI rollout and I read the two sources linked at the end. The first is a 2023 column from the Minnesota Schoolboards Association that simply says schoolboards must commit to learning more about this technology. The second source is a PowerPoint from the Minnesota Generative AI Alliance for Education. It makes generalized claims about efficiency and career and college readiness, but it does not site any sources showing students AIU strengthens their cognitive development. In fact, it doesn't site a single source period. That same presentation without any updates was included in the March 2nd
005PD materials for teachers. Meanwhile, a Google sponsored study has found that the most recent AI chatbots, including Gemini, are still only 69% accurate, and databased reports are coming out weekly showing AI harm students learning. There's the study showing adolescents who had AI help on a creative assignment and then had it taken away performed far worse than their peers on a later creative task. There's a study that compared undergraduates who used AI study tools and those who used nonAI study methods and surprised them with a quiz after 45 days. The nonAI group outperformed the AI group in every single respect. Researchers concluded that unlike a calculator that offloads specific tasks, AI offloads entire cognitive processes. Finally, there's the 100page Brookings Institution report focusing specifically on 13 to 17 year olds that concludes after focus groups with
006students, teachers, parents, and technologists across 50 countries and a review of over 400 studies, we find that the risks of utilizing generative AI in education overshadow its benefits because the risks undermine children's foundational development and may prevent the benefits from being realized. Their data points to what they call a great unwiring of students mental capacities with the routine use of AI not only harming students cognitive development but actively placing children at risk of cognitive decline. I know we believe in being a data-driven district and I also know our current reading scores at all grade levels are an emergency until the board can present a strong foundation of actual data that this AI rollout will improve reading skills and critical thinking rather than making the situation worse. You have a responsibility to students, staff and parents
007to please rethink this plan. Thank you. >> Thank you. We will now welcome Amber Green Sky to the podium please. >> Welcome Amber. >> Thank you. >> We hear a lot from this administration about recent unfunded mandates on education and I support and advocate for fully funded public schools. Not all mandates are unfund funded. However, in 2023, our legislature found that a more adequate education is needed for American Indian people in the state of Minnesota, and funding for American Indian education increase significantly to provide for programs specially designed to meet the unique educational and cultural related academic needs of these students. When a district like ours has over 800 state identified American Indian students, they're required to have a dedicated American Indian education coordinate. This is to pro promote communication, understanding, and cooperation between the
008schools and the community. ISD79 is eligible for more than $400,000 in American Indian Education state aid this school year and is apparently refusing to meet their obligation to provide a dedicated American Indian education coordinator. At tribal consultation with Font Black, I heard that there were no qualified applicants. Attending the MIA conference last week in Minnesota Indian Education Association, I learned that promoting liaison from within the American Indian Education Department resulted in strong programs for American Indian students. As an Apac member, when reviewing the job description between June 30th and July 8th, um I advocated for promoting from within the American Indian Education Department to promote and ensure program stability and longevity. I personally provided a letter of recommendation and completed a reference check for one applicant. Again, at the MIA conference, Dr. Dr. Jane Harststead
009received a lifetime achievement award and told me herself she applied for this position in our district. I cannot think of a more highly qualified candidate. I'm disturbed by the refusal to hire an American Indian education coordinator when the position is fully funded through our American Indian Education grants. According to the standard operating procedure for hiring AIE staff, the names of finalists that were interviewed are public data. My request for this info was denied and blame was placed on this school board as you all did not select any finalists for interview. My understanding is that is that this is designated to this school board delegates that authority to the superintendent. My question tonight is if our local involved American Indian community is not qualified for this role and neither is a doctor of education with a
010lifetime in Indian education, who is? And what implicit biases are you all supporting as schoolboard members in allowing these statutes to be ignored? Thank you. >> Thank you. One last call for Ava Larson. That concludes the listening session for March. Thank you.