District considers artificial intelligence programs for student use

During the work meeting portion of the September 9 meeting of the Kane District Board of Education, Kane District Technol­ogy Director Travis Terry addressed the school board about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in district classrooms. Noting first that AI is not going away, Terry stressed that schools need to find a way to familiarize students with AI and teach them to use it safely and ethically, adding that the teachers are asking for this. He requested the school board to approve the purchase of the pro­gram School AI for our district, explain­ing that School AI is a Utah based company that has been leading in development and usage within the class­room. He explained that student privacy is protected because all information remains inside the program, within the school dis­trict installation.

School AI has been vetted and approved for use by the Utah State Board of Educa­tion (USBE) and the Utah Education and Telehealth Network. Currently, ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Gemini are available for teach­ers, but are blocked for student use. Three Kane school principals present at the meeting spoke in favor of the Kane District adopting an AI program. The board agreed to put it on the agenda for the next board meeting.

Superintendent Ben Dalton announced that the USBE reported that the Kane District is the second highest school district in the state for the percent­age of third graders reading on the third-grade level. Reading on Grade Level (ROGL) is achieved when a student demonstrates proficiency in reading through meeting spe­cific measured criteria for the grade they are in. Third grade is very important as it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Students who are not proficient readers by this point are signifi­cantly more likely to struggle with school in the future. The USBE provides third grade Reading on Grade Lev­el (ROGL) percentages for each Local Educa­tion Agency (LEA), which includes charter schools (137) as well as school districts (42).

Dalton updated the board on various pro­grams in the district and state education events and meetings. He and Business Man­ager Cary Reese up­dated the board on the status of construction projects at Kanab High School (KHS) and Val­ley High School (VHS). They discussed the dis­trict’s capital projects 10-year plan.

The board approved the Math 99 Curricu­lum, which will be used for English as a second language students, the Valley Elemen­tary School (VES) Stu­dent Handbook, KHS Boys Basketball Play with the Pros event, VHS Future Farmers of America National Convention travel. It authorized an excep­tion for Lake Powell School (LPS) from the community council requirement, as LPS does not have enough parents to form a com­munity council. It ad­opted the 2025 Utah School Board Associa­tion Model Policies.

The board also ap­proved Certified and Provisional Contracts for employees for the 2025-26 school year. It authorized the move­ment of VHS teacher Sarah Esplin from provisional to career status.

It approved LEA (Lo­cal Education Agency) specific licensing for the following teach­ers: Kaytee Orton, Sladen Ott, and Karin Peterson. An LEA-Specific educator li­cense, including areas of concentration and endorsements, is is­sued by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) at the request of an LEA’s governing body (school board). This temporary li­cense type is utilized when all other licens­ing routes for the ap­plicant are untenable or unreasonable.

It approved endorse­ments for the follow­ing teachers: Sarah Esplin (VHS -World Geography), Kaytee Orton (KMS- Creative Writing), Karin Peter­son (VHS -Fitness for Life and Participation Skills & Techniques), Andy Roundy (Big Water School- College & Career Awareness (CCA)), Megan Smith (KMS- CCA, Digital Literacy, and VHS -Health) and Austin Walker (KHS- Green­house Management.) An endorsement is a specialty field or area earned through course work equiva­lent to at least an academic minor or through demonstrated competency. Endorse­ments are listed on the Professional Educator License indicating the specific qualifications of the holder.

The board accepted the resignations of paraeducator Kari Ma­cinnis and Girls Bas­ketball Coach Dustin Cox. It approved the hiring of the following persons, subject to a successful background check: Brian Hun­tington- custodian, Jessica Joseph- BWS Teen Center Coordi­nator, Kristy Brinker­hoff- VHS Teen Center Coordinator, parae­ducators Lindy Han­sen, Shawna Harris, Diedra Kinne, Julie Nelson, Heidi Roy, Merrill Sweet and Emmie Tait; and sub­stitute teachers Angie Cox, Randi Elswood, Renee Fonoimoana, Paige Harris, and Kyle McGuinn. Congratula­tions to all.