Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the Academics Innovation Evaluation and Technology Committee meeting for March 12th, 2025. and I'll call to order the meeting. Before we get started, I'd like to state the committee membership. Members are Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindigal, she is committee chair. As vice chair, I will be heading today's committee as she's not here and unable to be with us. Members are Dr. Steve Gallen III and Mr. Robert Alonso. Alternate members, Mr. Dan Espino, Ms. Luisa Santos, and then our ex-officio members, Madam Chair, Ms. Rojas, and our vice chair, Ms. Colucci. Our first order of today's business is to approve the committee meeting minutes of February 4th, 2026. I hope everyone had a chance to review. Can we have a motion?

So moved.

Second? To approve the minutes. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Thanks. All right. We now move on to the agenda items, starting with the seat items. If I could get a motion to move those to the floor. Move it. Second. Thank you. I believe we have just one item. Ms. Lourdes Diaz, C1.

Thank you, Madam Chair. C1 is request that the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida approve the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, reports, and plans.

Thank you so much. Anyone have some comments?

Ms. Santos? Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And to our academics team, really grateful for all the answers you got me prior to the meeting. I did want to call out or ask a couple follow-ups. So on the... On page four of the self-assessment for Head Start, it's very important to share that we have more schools who are at 97% enrollment. So we are filling more seats. And we are deeply grateful for that. I know we're very high in enrollment already, but we're increasing. And as we know, that's not the trend in other areas. And so thank you for being an outlier in that area. It's a great thing. And yes, to Miss Aldo and her whole team, they are incredible. The work referenced in page four related to the partnership with our COPE schools and our United Way centers. Can you share what we are hoping to accomplish this year? I know it was in last year's plan and some progress got delayed, so what are we hoping to accomplish with those partnerships this year?

Yes, through the chair. So we did list it last year as a strategy, and sometimes these strategies take multiple years to execute, so we did start having conversations, particularly with United Way. We would like to see the possibility of expanding to additional sites to provide more opportunities in different communities. Right now we have them in two sites.

Three, three, three.

Three sites, three sites. And so that is something, a conversation that would take a little bit of time and contract work and so on. And then with our COPE centers, the same thing, we've been working with them on working with the materials that they provide in their classrooms and that they use with their children, but we want to... bring them even more fully into the umbrella of early childhood. So sharing our professional development opportunities with the teachers, being more frequent in their school sites, supporting the work that is done there. So it's not that we haven't done it, we've started, but we have a lot of different initiatives moving and this one is one that is still in progress.

Thank you. As you know, I happen to have both a COPE school and a United Way site within my district. And so I'm very interested in seeing those expand to both provide incredible opportunities for early learners. And so anything we can do to support you in executing those strategies, we would love to be supportive of. On PH5, again, this was in last year's report and remained in this year's report. You mentioned, you know, this blitz strategy. Last year, my comments were centered around the fact that it shouldn't have to be that in our maintenance department we have to create a fast track for anything. It should be that if it's safety to life, if it's safety, it just gets resolved. I understand that's aspirational. There's also the reality we exist in. And so can you explain this blitz model that you are working through with maintenance through the chair?

Yes, so through the chair, the model that we are looking at and I shared with you, I'll share with the board now that we have a meeting actually tomorrow with senior staff in maintenance and we're hoping to kind of get this off the ground is to try to align multiple trades visiting a classroom if there are multiple needs at one time rather than maybe having plumbing come one day or the masons come the next or whatever. Sometimes one fix requires multiple trades so being more intentional in the scheduling of those especially because these classrooms are in use with students so we want to be very cognizant of that and working around the times to have minimal disruption so that is the intent for us to work together with maintenance to see how we can identify schools that may have needs in multiple trades or multiple things so that the fix happens all at once rather than having to bring maintenance personnel out multiple times and disrupting the environment. It's a little easier if you have to, for a day, relocate a classroom of seventh graders because something is happening, a repair in the room, but we really don't, it's much more challenging to relocate a classroom in early childhood. So that's the intent behind this model. Thank you.

Sounds like a great model. I hope the meeting goes well tomorrow through the chair. I just was concerned that it's been two years now that we've talked about it and it's not even launched. And so I'm glad that we had a conversation during our budget workshop about speed and urgency and two years is a long time to get a maintenance model off the ground. and these are all urgent maintenance needs i know they've been going on and you know they've continued to fix them yes uh but i am excited to see a more improved um working uh you know system there um and then i'll close there's lots of good stuff in here so like i encourage the public to read you know lots of good progress being made i'll just call out one last one Congratulations on reaching 100% of the classrooms implementing seeds of learning and 100% of the classrooms implementing wellness promotion strategies. I know you weren't quite at 100% last year, so congratulations on reaching that and all the other great things that are in here.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Gattner, I think you wanted to comment. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Yes, I did, and I'll be very brief. I just want to say, first of all, look, I do agree with everything that Board Member Santos said about trying to get it moving, and that's important, and it would be great to see some things get completed on it, but notwithstanding that, I just want to shout out how important this is. I'm glad it's an agenda item. I'm glad it's something that's that's on our radar, and once we can accomplish this particular task, and again, I wanna support what my colleague said, but I think it's a state issue, and we need to continue to advocate. Frankly, three to five year olds are very, very important. But if there was a way, and I know, you know, when we're in an era where funds are tight, this is a tough year for us. We're aware of all that, and the state, you know, we don't have the federal money coming in that we used to. But if there was a way, and I just want to have it on your radar, I've heard proposals that we, at a state level, need to try to lower this to two-year-olds. We just don't really – I had a little background in this when I was back working on some programs in part of my academic career, educational psychology. And frankly, two-year-olds are sponges, and we don't appreciate how much they're learning, and we're still learning about how they learn. But if – That should at least be something that's a goal, even if it's not something that's going to happen tomorrow. Again, I want to stress, yes, getting this particular task across the finish line, that's the number one priority, but I would like to see that we start talking about having this extended to two-year-olds and it should be a goal and it's something that we should advocate for in Tallahassee and if someone will call it to attention of our colleague board member Alonso, it's something that hopefully the consortium might look at putting on their list of things that are important for us to achieve. we give away too much by not focusing on these very young kids. That three to five, I'm happy to see it. It's been too long coming in our society, but we should go further. That's all I have to say. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Any other board members? Okay. Can I get a motion to move the C items to our board meeting? So moved. Thank you. Motion now to move the H items to the floor. Move it. Second? Second. Thank you. Let's move on to item H6 for Board Member Colucci. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And this is an item that I've brought forth since I started on the board. It's very straightforward. It's basically that the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, recognized April 2026 as Autism Acceptance Month. We know that we have such a very, very large population of students that have autism. autism that are autistic. And I think it's very important, especially during this month, that we highlight the differences and celebrate what they bring to our learning community and to our community, period. And on another note, and I know we're going to be having an autism resource fair. on, actually, it's this Saturday. No, March 14th. I'm sorry. March 14th. And it will be held. You can look on my social media to see where it is. It will be posted. And it's going to be in collaboration with board member Espino, Commissioner Natalie Meon-Orbis, and Commissioner Rafael Rosado at Manuel Reyes Park. So I encourage all of you to go out in support of autism awareness, and I invite the community, whether your child is autistic or not, to learn about this and to see all of the resources and get a better understanding of this. So with that, I ask my colleagues for your support of this item. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Colucci. Any comments?

Mr. Geller.

Again, I'll try and be very brief, but I want to thank Vice Chair Colucci for bringing this item. It's a very important item, and I think there's so much misunderstanding in our community about what it means to be on the spectrum. We hear the word autism, and sometimes we think only of the most severely limited people, but there's so many, so many children, so many others that are on the spectrum and that through any number of things can be really fully functional members of our society. My little brother, it's funny to call him that at the age he's at now, but he served 20 years in the legislature, nine in the House, and 11 in the Senate. And when he was done, they went to him and they said, well, you know, what is it you'd like to have as a legacy? You want, like, a building or a bridge or something? He said, I want my autism bill passed that required funding from insurance companies. And they said, okay, through the Senate? And he said, no, both chambers. And they said, well, and signed by the governor. And that happened. He had to fight for it, but that happened. And there's a bill because – and now there's some coverage for that. And I was very proud of my little brother that day because a lot of times when people push stuff like that, it's because they've been personally touched and they have a family member. But we don't. Steve just thought that was – important then that was the right thing to do so we have a connection to this one vice chair and i i laud you for bringing this it's so wonderful and and the fair that you're talking about you know with all those co-sponsors that's great um let's value all these kids and let's help them and you know by doing so we help ourselves we help our society thank you very much

Thank you, Vice Chair, you have some comments?

Yes, and Board Member Geller, thank you for your kind words and to your little brother for championing such an important bill and getting it, leaving that behind as his legacy because over the years, my school was a center for children with autism. And there is, you're right, a very, very big misconception And I had students in the gifted program throughout the years that were in the spectrum. And they were brilliant kids that were math whizzes and great readers. So that's why I encourage everyone in our community to learn about this. and there's just so much out there that communities, that parents need to learn and for their kids to see what our district offers because we do have so many services for our students within the spectrum at all levels, whether it be a self-contained class or whether it be participating in a gifted program. So yes, I'm glad you brought up that point. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Hey, Madam Chair. Yes, thank you very much, Madam Chair and Madam Vice Chair. I commend you on an exemplary item. This is of interest to the entire community, not just if you have a child that's in the spectrum. And you have different levels of the spectrum, and you're absolutely right. When I go into schools, I can see unbelievable, first of all, The passion and the love that the teachers have in those rooms are absolutely exceptional. Sometimes you can have a bad day, you go in those rooms and you go, why am I having a bad day? Are you kidding me? And these teachers are just making such a positive impact in the lives of these children. And I see Angie Torres back there who heads the program. And I commend you and your team and everyone out there that is making a difference day in and day out. Because being in those classrooms is challenging, to say the least. But it brings more joy and more rewards than anybody could possibly imagine. So I am so happy to see that you're having... the item year in and year out so that people don't forget because we have more and more. When I was growing up, And again, we're not doing our math, but I don't ever remember talking about the spectrum. I didn't even know autism existed at that time. And so I don't know if it's because of the immunization or not or the food we eat or not. I don't know what the reason is, but I know that this is a very real problem and the numbers continue to grow every single year of students that are identified under the spectrum. So it's something that needs tremendous attention and I hope that the event is very successful and brings in the community because we have to, and I heard you say you have people from the elected official levels, which is great because they can certainly make a difference in every aspect that is needed to enhance uh... the autism programs that we have here in our schools and again so that our community our parents and our families get guidance because many parents do not have enough guidance on how to deal with the situation and most importantly once the kids reach a certain age Parents who have children that are autistic, and especially those that are in the spectrum at the lower levels, they don't know what to do with them. And I know this is something we have talked about in the past, and I hope that we continue to look at what we can do to assist them when they have to go out in the community and we can no longer provide the services. So thank you, and I would definitely like to be a co-sponsor to this particular item.

Thank you.

Oh yeah, add me as a co-sponsor.

Any other comments? Wait, I have a comment. Last time I checked, I think I'm the chair of the committee. I just want to echo Vice Chair Colucci, what everybody has said, but I want to highlight a couple things that are extremely important, I think, and the chair alluded to it, right? I remember starting as a school psychologist, I hate to age myself, but that was 25 years ago, and we were being very careful with the increasing number of diagnoses, and we wanted to make sure we weren't over-diagnosing. So we have definitely seen an increase in population, but I think the fair is great, and as has been mentioned, because it is such a broad spectrum, I think everybody needs to understand that spectrum and and see that they can be extremely functional. And I don't know if this is part of your fair, and if not, food for thought. I know it's short notice, but maybe for the future. Some of our universities and our career and technical programs have these specialized programs because some of them do require a different way of teaching, but it doesn't mean that they can't earn a college degree. And I think that's something that we need to start making a lot more clear to our parents and quite honestly to the community and our employers, right? Employers, businesses need to know that these individuals can be extremely functional in their work environment. So I know that Miami Dade College, I know Florida International University both have programs, and we have with the career and technical, so having those resources available as well would be fantastic. And so now, can I get a motion for co-sponsors?

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Motion to move the item as amended to the board meeting? Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you so much. And now moving on to item H11, Board Member Geller.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This item calls for us to recognize and, as usual, participate in the National Days of Remembrance, but in particular April 14th, which is Yom HaShoah, And the whole thing runs for a week from April 12th to April 19th. And one of the things I like the most about this item, frankly, is this isn't just a shout-out. I mean, shout-outs are good, and we do a lot of that. But this is really a very significant program that, involves teaching, involves people from the university, it involves people from the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, and it involves a lot of a precious but dwindling resource of Holocaust survivors, eyewitnesses. As we move into the next generation, where people are now talking about what their parents told them, we still have some actual people who lived through and survived that. And that's, I know at my daughter's school when the Holocaust survivors spoke, it's just so meaningful to these kids. And it's not just about history. I want to, you know, shout out something that our colleague Dr. Gowan said recently when we were talking about a related issue. This is about all of us standing with each other on a range of things. This is about all of us being a united front and this is about all of us teaching real history so that we can learn from the mistakes of the past and be sure they're not repeated and that they're not targeted at any group in our current environment. Of course, the Holocaust itself, well, Jews were certainly a large part of who was killed, six million, six million. But on top of that, we had so many other groups, the Romani, people who had developmental disabilities, people who were what today we call gay and lesbian, there are other words used at the time, people who just didn't measure up to the standard, people who were deemed racially inferior for other reasons, slops, 14 million, quite a collection when you sit and look at all of it. And those challenges are in our lives today. And we all have to be aware of them. And we all have to learn that silence itself is collaboration. And we all have to speak up. And I'll just tell you, that's why I'm sitting here with you today. That's exactly why I sit in this chair. So I appreciated when Dr. Gallin made that remark about everyone standing with each other. That's what this is about. And that's what remembrance is, and that's why the motto of the State of Israel is Never Again. So I would ask my colleagues to approve this important item, which, as I said, is not just a shout-out. It's a program to help bring our kids to a greater understanding. Thank you, members.

Thank you, Board Member Geller. Any comments? Vice Chair?

Thank you, Madam Chair and Board Member Geller. Thank you for this item. It's so important, and as I've said many times, that we teach history, we teach it, and I love primary sources, and when we go and we have actual Holocaust survivors speak to children, it's so powerful. And as you said, it's getting to a point where we're getting fewer and fewer. And I proffered an item, and I just want to get a quick update on it because it relates to this, the anti-Semitism task force. Where are we with that? Because that was something especially, that was a while ago, and you don't have to give me that update right now, but I would like an update on that because I think it's very, very important given what is going on in our society and across our country.

Please copy me on that too.

Yes, so yes, or maybe for the next meeting, you can have an update for us on the anti-Semitism task force, because that was a very comprehensive item about that, and it does relate to this, and this really supports the remembrance and working with our community to make sure that we never forget this. So thank you, Board Member Geller, and at the appropriate time, I'll co-sponsor this item.

Okay. Thank you, Vice Chair, and I think you brought up a good point, because we always emphasize that it's not just about raising awareness, it's about what are we actually doing, and not just recognizing a day. So thank you so much. Co-sponsors for the item? All in favor? A motion to move the item as amended to the school board meeting? All in favor? Thank you so much. Any new business from the board members? Vice Chair Colucci?

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair, for recognizing me. And I would be remiss if I didn't bring this to the attention of my colleagues. There's been a lot of articles recently submitted in the news about testimony that was given before Congress about basically how and I'll read the title of this article, Neuroscientist Urges Educators to Reconsider Technology's Reach. And this, I got the actual testimony for you from the congressional hearing, because I like primary sources, right, Board Member Geller? And you can see all of the, we have spent $35 billion across this country on technology, yet we've seen a decline in our performance. I'm not speaking as a district, I'm speaking generally as a country. Maine was the first state that adopted getting laptops for all students back in the early 2000s, and we've seen a decrease in reading, math, creativity, critical thinking. And I love the fact that we talked a little bit about early childhood, because in this article, Why Not Ask Why? Neuroscientists Urges Educators to Reconsider Technology's Reach, it really talks about before the age of five. and that a lot of kids have tablets at the age of two. And I know, and this is something that maybe in our legislative priorities we need to put for next year, limiting that. And it talks about something that we've talked about before that I've brought up about the importance of play and how handwriting is so important and that we don't teach handwriting because it's something, and I'm not gonna go through the whole article because I know in the essence of time, but it talks about, interestingly enough, you don't teach handwriting because you're gonna write in cursive later on. You teach handwriting because it develops neurons, because it helps you with so many other cognitive abilities. So we've increased our reach with computers, with technology, but we've seen a decrease in cognitive decline. And that is the first time in generations that we've seen a generation that's in the testimony that is less cognitively capable than their parents. And I find, quite frankly, as a policymaker, that that's big trouble for us. And I wanted to bring it to the attention of our board members here as policymakers how we address this. And I'm not saying that we're gonna not use technology because that's not something feasible. We have to get ready for our students to adapt. But the younger students are, we have to be very, very cautious. We have to be very, very strategic. And we have to really limit screen time in the classroom especially in the early childhood years and in the elementary level, because it does, and the research speaks for itself, you can see all of the different, the PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment, you see, and this has been, this is worldwide assessments, it's not just here, so there is something that we really need to look at and they interestingly enough this one article why not ask why uh it talks about a book that was given to me by dave lawrence the anxious generation and it talks about how social media created that and then It was written by Jonathan Heidet. And then The Digital Delusion is the same author, the same person that testified, Jared Coney Harvath, who testified. He's a neuroscientist and educator in Congress. So I thought this was something important to bring to everyone's attention, especially those of us on the board that are policymakers. so that we really have a conversation around this, and we're not going to do that now, but I wanted it to be food for thought and in the future, you know, I wanted you to have some background. I don't want to bring it up as an item just yet, but I think it's something that we have to start having conversations about and our curriculum team needs to start looking at. because nothing saddens me more than, I know that we have to do it for the state level, we have to do progress monitoring, and we have to do our fast testing, all of that we have to do, but I don't want a computer screen to substitute real instruction from a teacher. And on that note, I will end with that, and I just had to bring that to everyone's attention. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Vice Chair Colucci, you can't bring something like this up when I said that this would be a quick committee meeting. No, I thank you for bringing that up. I thank you for the initiative and for the vision. And I do actually hope that perhaps we can engage in a conversation about this as we look to move forward in the future with instruction. You mentioned that book, The Anxious Generation, and it's something that... I have been talking about since I got on this board, but the mental health profession has been talking about this for years. It goes beyond social media. I think that book focuses a little bit more on social media. We cannot control what parents are doing, but I think we can all say that we've been to restaurants and we see infants Practically, by the age of one, if they can hold the phone or hold an iPad, that's what they're given to entertain them so that the adults can do what it is that they're doing. Obviously, it's not every parent, and sometimes there might be a quick need, but that we need to limit screen time for children in general, that we need to find ways to make that technology be something that enhances critical thinking and doesn't do the thinking for it. I see the students, they are getting, I hate to use the word lazier, but they are relying more and more on getting an answer rather than thinking about the answer. that will undermine the future of society in general, of the human population. Huge conversation that we need to have, right? But we'll think about how we address that at some other time. Any other board? Oh, I'm sorry, you have a comment.

Well, first, thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Vice Chair Kohushi, for bringing this. It's thought-provoking, it's provocative, and I do want to throw a word in that's kind of a bugaboo for me, cursive. We don't teach cursive writing anymore. If they write anything, it's in block printing, and I think that's an issue. My daughter never got taught it. It was never on there. That said, and while this is fascinating, I'm a skeptic, so I want to raise a couple of points for our discussion just to guide our discussion going forward. I had, you know, only a quick opportunity to read this article, Why Not Ask Why, from Ed Surge and the testimony of Jared Cooney Horvath, Ph.D., M.E.D., neuroscientist and educator. I was married to a neuroscientist who had a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Med and was an endowed chair in our medical school here. That was her research. She ran the Brain Endowment Bank, among other things. What I note is that a lot of people have a lot of things to say. This is interestingly documented. It's got studies from a group called PISA and a group called TIMSS or something, none of which I've ever heard of either. So maybe those are completely on the level. But the article, Why Not Ask Why, quotes the digital delusion, which is the same gentleman's book. And the fact that he's published a book and hope he's doing well with it, doesn't necessarily impress me. A lot of people call themselves things and they have views, but sometimes our media portrays all views as equal. And we have cases where 98% of scientists, 99% say something, And there's, you know, some contrary voice. And once in a while, that contrary voice is just courageous. But sometimes, and more frequently, they're just wrong. And the media portrays, well, one side says this, the other side says this, without ever providing context. Now, I thought the remarks that Chair Blanco made on this issue were very important, too. Those are things we need to look at. But I would ask, since you've taken the time to dig this out, I'd like to get some more information on Jared Cooney Horvath, Ph.D., M.E.D., neuroscientist and educator with a very fancy title, like who is he and has he been on the faculty of any institutions or what groups are Is there anybody that particularly funds his work? And most importantly, having had some interaction with this business over a course of a couple of decades, I'd like to know if he has any peer-reviewed articles. Somebody covering his book in a publication called EdSurge is all well and good. But are there peer-reviewed articles by this individual that have been looked at and scrutinized by other professionals in the field? And was it published in Nature or in Science or in some other really respected... periodical that addresses this kind of thing and if this is an individual with a long track record whose colleagues have seen that his work is is worth bringing forth i'm going to be pretty impressed by that if it turns out that perhaps that's not the case that doesn't mean everything he says is wrong but it does mean that we need to go further to look for other points of view that may be documented in a different way. And so I think that this is a very interesting item. I'd love to see this item come back to us. I just think we need to do a little homework and let's find out who it is that we're looking to here.

Thank you. Madam Vice Chair. For the record, it's not an item. It's just to start a conversation. And it's just to have that conversation as a policymaker. And by the way, you just gave me a homework assignment because I love to research. And I love skepticism. because it makes people think. And that's why I'm bringing this forward. It's not really an item. It's just new business. It's a conversation. But I thought it was timely because we're seeing such an explosion of... artificial intelligence, use of technology in the class, and a heavy reliance upon it. And I can tell you from the 26 years that I was in the classroom, I saw that decline in attention span. And what I'm saying is, it's not that this gentleman or not is, and I'll be very happy to do that research by all means. I love doing that. George, you have a homework. No, but I love to research this, and I love to read, and I love to learn, especially about the development of the brain. But I've read a lot about this, and this gentleman, I just brought it forward because it was very timely in the sense that it just happened, and he testified before Congress, along two other professors, doctors, I have to look at their names, but those tests that you see there are real standardized tests that have been the TIMSS and the BISA, and I'll allow the superintendent and Ms. Diaz to attest to the fact that those are real tests that are given internationally. So I don't know if you want to address that, but the point of this was just to start a discussion and to think about, as policymakers, especially now we're at the nexus of artificial intelligence, being in the classroom, having that really move forward strategically and looking at the development of the brain and how that impacts children. And I'll be happy to get some more research and bring it to you because I love to research and read.

Madam Chair, through the Chair. Yes, go ahead. And let me just say that, again, I thought the comments that Chair Blanco made about critical thinking were just very important. And Vice Chair Colucci, I mean, I can't imagine this being more timely. Even at the end there, they talked about the ban in Australia that's, I mean, weeks old. So this is very much cutting edge. And I'm an AI skeptic, frankly. I mean, I saw the movie. I know what they're up to there. I know what Skynet is. I'm skeptical about anything that moves us towards irrelevance and being just deemed not worthy of continuation. I think we may be headed that way. These are really important topics and sometimes We need to think outside the box. We have such an agenda of things that we need to do that are in progress, asking for updates like you did, but sometimes we just need to think outside the box and look to the future and step back and assess, and that's what I love about this item. I think it's It's great. Let's just be sure that we're all on solid ground and that we're listening to something that there's at least a growing consensus for. But I really thank you for bringing it.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. I believe you had some comments you wanted to make.

Yeah, so I've been having side conversations with Ms. Diaz here. I think this provides an immediate opportunity for us to look at basically our early childhood programs and see the balance, right, between, because I do agree with you, the balance between engagement, relationships, interactions, playtime, and how we're using technology. Ms. Diaz is very confident that we're using it minimally, but we'll take a look. We will take a look because I think there's a lot of value in at least the early childhood portion, really taking a look at this, and so we will, so we will. Thank you, Ms. Colucci, for sharing that.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. I'll wrap it up very quickly. For the record, again, it's not an item. It's not something that we're going to vote on. It was just to start a discussion as policymakers, especially now as we're looking and infusing more and more technology, how we do it. Because education is something, you know, we just tend to jump on the bandwagon sometimes. We say, oh, this is going to be the next best thing. We're looking for quick solutions. And sometimes that backfires and these are kids and they only have one shot at, you know, elementary school, middle school, high school. So if we don't get it right, you know, they're the ones that pay the consequence and ultimately we all do because they're the members of society that are going to lead and be the leaders. So just a conversation starter and... You know, you're always gonna find in every side, you're gonna find somebody that's gonna say technology is good, kids have gotten smarter, kids have gotten, you know, but I personally, based on my personal experience, feel that As an educator, the younger the child, the less time they spend in front of a screen, the better. That's my professional assessment after 26 years in the classroom. I'm not a neuroscientist. I am not a PhD. I have a master's. But that's just my personal assessment after my years of experience. And I just think that it's something that we really need to look at. and as a district look at, especially, like I said earlier, the younger the child. So thank you. Thank you, Board Member Geller, for your comments. And I love having these conversations, so thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair Colucci. Madam Chair, did you have some comments?

I just wanted to thank Board Member, Vice Chair Colucci, for bringing this forth. Great conversation. And I just want to remind everyone, technology is AI and everything else. It's just a tool. It is a tool. And that's where sometimes people go wrong. They think it's something that is not. No, it is a tool. And that teacher is irreplaceable. That's the main person who's going to make that difference in the lives of our children. Period. And I think that's the messaging that we have to get. But true, you go to a restaurant and you're going to find the little ones starting, you know, I mean, they're all into it. All of them. My own grandkids. I mean... They're into it. I'm not going to say they're not. They are. And this is a society and the world they're living in nowadays. And so there's got to be a little bit of a paradigm shift And back to the days where people would talk to each other at a restaurant in a dinner table. That doesn't happen very much. I love to sit down and observe. And sometimes I'll sit there and I'll say, look at that. Nobody talks to each other. Everybody's on the phone. And so and we do that, too. We're culprits, too. I'm not going to. Many years ago when I started as as a board member, I went. It was Texas. Susie Castillo went as a board member. I went as a board member. I even think you were there. Yes, you were there, Dr. Gallen. And they had a huge thing. AI wasn't around at the time. It was technology. And she said something that I did here when I proffered the item here. And she went on on her presentation. This lady, I forgot her name. It's been too many years. And then she says, stop. Everybody look. Look to your right, look to your left. Everybody had their phones out. And she was trying to give the speech and everything else, but everybody was on the phone. And that's the world that we're living in. But again, just remember that the messaging should be, it's a tool. And nothing more than that tool. It will enhance the opportunities for children. But they live in a microwave society where everything is instantaneous. You know, I want everything now. Like, you don't have to work the way we used to have to work to get something. It's like everything now, now, now. And that's a mentality, unfortunately, nowadays of a lot of our youth. And that's... where we have to work in a different arena. As far as the cursive writing, we've had conversations about this in the past, and I said, I came from Cuba, and in Cuba, I was six years old. I came writing cursive. When I got to the United States, I had to go back to print, and that's why my handwriting is awful. It's not one of the prettiest, I'll tell you that. But we did start when we were very young. And nowadays we don't do that with our children. I don't know why we can't look at the possibility of starting cursive writing when the children are in the lower grades, when they're little, and that way you prepare them as they grow up. I went to a bank not too long ago, and the young lady there said, I gave her something and it was in cursive. She goes, I'm sorry, I don't read cursive. And I was like, okay. Didn't ask anything else. So I think everybody should be able to read, you know, something that's in cursive writing. But anyway, that's it. Thank you so much for bringing a great conversation because of your... you know, bringing that item to us. It's not an item, I've said it 20 times already.

Vice Chair Kaluchi, you have some more comments? And last thing, I promise, I didn't mean to extend this so long. I believe, and I know that our legislative team isn't here, there's a bill, or there was legislation on cursive writing. I don't know if it made it through, it didn't make it through or not, but this is something that's being talked about even in Tallahassee with our, okay, so. You think it, I don't know. I saw that it was there, but I don't think it made it.

So I have been, I've been practicing a lot of restraint because I could go on for weeks really about this conversation. I do want to leave one thought here. I appreciate, you know, Mr. Superintendent, Ms. Lourdes Diaz, you're talking about looking at the younger years. And as Madam Chair was saying, we need to start looking at technology and ensuring that AI, especially we see it as a tool. But I'm gonna give you an example of something that I became aware of recently. University of Michigan has just changed the way that they want students applying to their honors program. And it goes to show what we're talking about and how we are noticing this decline in critical thinking because we're so relying on AI. They now want students to generate an AI essay as to why they want to attend the honors program at the University of Michigan. Then they want them to critically analyze the essay and write a better one. And that's what they have to submit all items. The AI generated their criticism and a new essay. And I thought that was the genius of them as to what to require. But it simply goes to show how they themselves are questioning how they're going to know if a student can critically analyze and think. And when you look at the medical profession, and I know because I have these conversations with students all the time, all the students want to go into medicine. And I tell them, well, you've got to take calculus and physics. Why? I don't need that as a doctor. And I said, because if you can do those subjects, you can think. And we want doctors that can think. And so everything that we do in education in the classroom, we need to ensure that we are having them think critically. And I think that's what the focus of these articles is about. And so I'll get off my soapbox, but thank you for giving me that time to do that. And if we want to have any kind of task force, I would be more than willing to sit on that. But moving on. Any other new business from any of the board members? We had our ETO update from Dr. Tri-Diggs. Any questions on that? Okay. Can I get a move? It seems like there's no more business. Motion to adjourn? Move it. Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you so much. Our meeting is now over.