Leadership/Entrepreneurship/Public Service, Construction Trades, as well as Community and Medical Health. This initiative functions as a precise talent pipeline, deliberately designed to supply local businesses and industries with a future workforce possessing relevant, in-demand skills.“Our community really has their arms wrapped around our school district,” Smith notes, “and so it’s something we’re very proud of.” A BALANCED AND FORWARD-LOOKING APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGY In an era of rapid technological change, Stafford County’s approach is defined by strategic intentionality rather than adoption for its own sake. “I think about it in terms of instructional technology,” says Smith, explaining that the focus has shifted from sheer infusion to optimizing its use. The district empowers its educators to make key decisions about when technology genuinely assists learning and when to step back for hands-on or maker-space activities, ensuring tools serve the mission rather than dictate it. “I think we have learned that there’s a balance there. We’ve learned that there are times that you can really optimize technology to really assist to make sure that students are learning at their potential, and there’s some times where we don’t need to use technology. It’s those key decisions that our educators make that’s most important,” Smith explains. This forward-thinking mindset is most evident in the district’s pioneering stance on Artificial Intelligence. “We were the first school district in the state of Virginia to have a policy on AI,” Smith states. Recognizing that the technology is evolving, this policy is reviewed annually. The implementation strategy is grounded in comprehensive capacity building.The district has established a “badge” system for its 5,500 employees, allowing them to progress as beginner, intermediate, or advanced learners based on their understanding of AI’s benefits and drawbacks. Furthermore, Stafford County is leveraging partnerships with institutions like George Mason University to create cohorts focused on using AI for school improvement and harnessing data to close achievement gaps. “Some of our staff are specifically working on school improvement processes and how we can utilize and leverage AI to help us think about school improvement and really harness some data that we might not have been able to access,” Smith states. The ultimate goal is careful integration, “when we start to roll it out to students, we are clear about when AI can be used, should be used, and when it should not be used,” Smith explains, ensuring that when rolled out to students, it is done so effectively and ethically. 328 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 11
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