Marion School Board Approves Gaggle Monitoring Expansion

The Marion County School Board recently convened to address several issues, with the unanimous approval of an expanded Gaggle pilot program being the most noteworthy. This program is designed to enhance student safety by monitoring online activity with the aim of identifying and addressing potential threats and concerning behaviors such as harassment, drug use, or self-harm. The board also tackled the opening of the new school year, budget considerations for future construction, and the scheduling of a special board meeting.

The Gaggle pilot program’s expansion came after a discussion about its effectiveness in capturing a broader range of safety-related alerts. The program uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human review to monitor student activity on school networks. The discussion revealed that different school sites generated varying numbers of alerts, which included self-harm, threats to others, and harassment. The board focused on the reduction of false positives and the improvement of the system compared to the previous Lightspeed system. The program was ultimately approved with the intention of providing better assistance to students in need.

Another item was the approval of an agreement with Scholastic Insurance of Florida LLC to provide accident and catastrophic insurance for student-athletes and participants in extracurricular activities. The cost of the insurance is approximately $342,000. In conjunction with this, the superintendent announced the waiving of participation fees for athletics for the upcoming year, a move that was praised by the board for its potential positive impact on marginalized students.

The meeting also covered the successful opening of the school year, with specific mention of Wyomina Park’s smooth start. Dr. Gullett expressed pride in the positive energy and engagement at the school, which is piloting a year-round school program. The board expressed satisfaction with the community’s support, the Leadership Summit’s impact on school leaders, and the adequate number of bus drivers available for the school year.

Budget discussions included the issuance of certificates of participation for the construction of new schools and additional wings. The board also approved new job descriptions for construction inspectors and acknowledged the receipt of deductive change orders amounting to $73,700.

Additionally, the board considered the scheduling of a special school board meeting. After a discussion about legal requirements and preferences for transparency and efficiency, it was decided to schedule the special board meeting for the first, aligning with an already planned work session.

Agreements and amendments on the consent agenda were also unanimously approved, including those with Top Score Writing Incorporated, Savvas Learning Company LLC, and The Cypress Initiative Incorporated.

Note: This meeting summary was generated by AI, which can occasionally misspell names, misattribute actions, and state inaccuracies. This summary is intended to be a starting point and you should review the meeting record linked above before acting on anything you read. If we got something wrong, let us know. We’re working every day to improve our process in pursuit of universal local government transparency.

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