Smartphones and AI: Hudson's Policy Approach

Last year the school board focused quite a bit of time and energy on the issue of cell phone policy. Using the book, The Anxious Generation, we all dove deep into the findings of Jonathan Haidt and discovered how the ubiquitous use of these devices impacts our youth. The idea for this was borne out of a request from the school board to strengthen our cellphone polices. To refresh your memory on the evolution of this topic during the last school year, please refer to the following blog posts: Smartphones in Schools (September 25, 2024), What You Told Me About Cell Phones (November 5, 2024), We Haven't Forgotten (February 18, 2025), and finally Cellphone Restrictions Are Coming Soon (May 7, 2025).

What we learned during this study, not only from the book but from our constituents is that the opinions on cell phones in schools varied widely. One commenter suggested, "The stricter the better! Kids don't need the interaction." Another wrote, "As a parent, I feel safer with my child having a phone." All of this was great for our discussion, but made for a difficult needle to thread in terms of policy development. Then, as I am sure you are aware, the governor signed a bill at the end of the legislative session requiring school districts across Iowa to develop policies that govern access to these devices during the school day, with a required prohibition during instructional time. On June 18, the school board adopted Policy 503.9 Student Use of Personal Electronic Devices. While the policy does not outright ban these devices, it does put restrictions on them in accordance with Iowa law. Your child's building principal will be discussing these policies soon at a class meeting. 

When I was a child growing up, we didn't have to worry about cell phones. If I wanted to call home or vice versa, we could use the phone in the office! At home it was much the same. We had one phone in our house, and it was attached to the wall with a cord! If I wanted to have some privacy to talk to a girl, forget about it! It was certainly a different time. A simpler time. You want to know what else we didn't have to worry about as a child of the 80s? 

Artificial intelligence. 

The speed at which AI is evolving is a bit unsettling. We are entering an era where tools exist to complete tasks that once upon the time were the plot lines of science fiction novels. Perhaps answer questions that have plagued our society for generations. Or for sinister purposes. 

Last spring we saw stories dominate the headlines where student images were manipulated using artificial intelligence. These images sometimes depicted nudity or other sexually explicit material. Sometimes called 'deepfakes', this type of image manipulation will not be tolerated at Hudson Schools. In most cases, this type of behavior would fall under Policy 503.1 Student Conduct and would be egregious enough to warrant a disciplinary hearing before the board with a recommendation for expulsion. Furthermore, almost a year prior to these stories dominating the the headlines, our school board also adopted Policy 605.8 Artificial Intelligence. The accompanying administrative regulation specifically outlines image manipulation as prohibited behavior. Let's hope and pray it never comes to that in our school district. 

It's sure a different world from when I grew up, although to be clear I still found plenty of ways to get into hot water!

Financial Report for the 2024-2025 School Year

A school district's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. Since our financial reporting is based on accrual accounting and governmental practices, it takes a couple of months past the end of the fiscal year for all our expenditures for the prior fiscal year to 'run out'. This hold open period is from August 1 until roughly September 15 when we analyze expenditures as they come in to ensure they are accrued to the proper fiscal year. Once all of that is complete, we are able to certify our books to the state and prepare for our public an annual report on district finances. While this is an unaudited report, it does provide a lot of valuable information. However, what is most valuable is not the story of this year's numbers. Indeed it is to view these key metrics over time.  To view a copy of this report, please go to the About Us page of our website and open the menu titled 'Basic Financial Data'. The Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 is the first link at the top of the page. There are nine different metrics that are tracked over time, and while all measure key metrics some are more important than others. For the sake of time and space, I'll only highlight a few here. 

Overall, the school budget for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2025 performed better than expected. Revenue exceeded expectations by $103,702 and budgeted expenditures were underspent by $144,320. Labor costs consumed 79% of the budget, which is just below the target of 80%. Compared to other school districts in Iowa, transportation costs continue to be below the state average at 2.99%. The low end of the target range for this metric is 5%.

An area of concern in the school district is a decline in our solvency ratio, or cash balance. While still slightly above the long term target range minimum of 10% (10.41%), the real issue is the trendline. State law restricts cash balances in Iowa public school districts to 20% of the prior years revenue less current cash balance. Because of this, the district has no statutory ability to take corrective action until the cash balance falls below the threshold described above.

The challenge for a school district like Hudson that is growing is that when we hire teachers for our classrooms, the per pupil funding for those teachers is always going to be a year behind. Where we can capture the 'spending authority' immediately, the cash to pay for them comes from the cash on hand in the school district. Coupled with a 'governor' to prevent recapturing that cash until the trigger is met means quite simply a decrease in cash balance. When compounded with rapidly growing enrollment like we have (thus needing more staff), one can go through a lot of capital before the mechanism to recover it becomes operative. Which is where we find ourselves.

The other issue that directly relates to this is the amount of capital that we are expending to fund our special education program. The IDEA has federal protections in place for students who are served by IEPs (individualized educational plans) that provide few options for denying services. Because of this, special education does not have the same spending authority limitations that the general education program has. 

In our case, the special education program for Hudson Schools ran a deficit of $771,671.30. That is an increase of almost $100,000 from one year ago. As enrollment grows, so too does the number of students served by the special education program. Likewise, the cases become much more complex requiring even more specialized services. If there is good news, so far this year we have fewer students attending specialized schools and one fewer special education teacher on staff. However, those teachers have shared they are facing significant headwinds when it comes to properly servicing their individual caseloads.  

So then, what is the solution? Well, there are multiple strategies that can be deployed. In our case it would seem to make sense to implement them all. For starters, we need to closely examine our special education program to see if there are other steps that can be taken to decrease the annual deficit. This will be incredibly difficult based on increasing enrollment patterns and the current workload of this staff. To that end, we have contracted with the AEA to help us evaluate the program from top to bottom. 

Along that same vein, we should slow our rate of growth on the expenditure side of the ledger to no more than 4%. On its surface this may seem like a relatively easy bar to hit, I mean 4% still seems pretty aggressive, right? However think about this. In the fiscal year just ended, general fund expenditures grew by 7.4%, coming in at grand total of $11,421,005. Our rate of general fund expenditure growth is due to hiring additional personnel related to enrollment growth. Slowing the growth rate to 4% may mean hiring fewer teachers, which translates to larger class sizes. 

This brings us finally to the last strategy, and perhaps the most painful: an increase to the tax rate. This is particularly challenging because the tax rate in Hudson is already among the highest in the conference. We discussed our tax rate in a series of posts last spring and will do so again this year as fresh financial variables are introduced to our data set. This will need to be contextualized against another legislative session in January where you can be assured property tax reform will be a prime focus of attention. If you followed the discussions last year you know property tax policy is incredibly complex and a one size fits all solution is unlikely. In other words, there will be winners and losers. 

Also worth mentioning is the unspent balance, which as I have argued for more than a decade is the most important metric in Iowa public schools. By law, it is illegal to have a negative unspent balance. To do so authorizes the Iowa Department of Education to take austere measures, including dissolving a school district-and it has happened in Iowa. In fact, not too long ago a school district in Iowa voluntarily chose to close do to insufficient USB. For those of you who have been around awhile can attest, a low USB was the root of our troubles in 2010. Luckily here in Hudson, our unspent balance is at $5.9 million or 35%. (It was $90,971 at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.)

In closing, the school district is in very good financial condition. We'll need to make some adjustments to ensure it stays that way, but looking at our trends overtime enables us to make course corrections as we go. That is what makes this report so valuable. Our next step is to forecast the future. We'll do that toward the end of October once our enrollment numbers are finalized. Indeed we'll need to make some assumptions, but we'll be able to forecast about 5 years into the future what we believe the fiscal health of the school district will look like. Stay tuned!

The School Won't Do Anything!: A Reminder About FERPA

When you have 900+ children gathered together in a relatively small footprint, conflict is going to occur. This isn't notable to Hudson or any school district in the state, no matter the size. This is due primarily to the fact that each individual student that walks through our doors is unique. Further, they have not matured to the point where they can always regulate their emotions. Think about it. Each of those children come to school with different backgrounds. The family makeup may be different from their classmates. Belief systems may be different. The financial means of one family may be different from another. And in what has become a pretty polarized environment, even the political positions of families can be sources of conflict in schools. 

Truth be told, that's the beauty of public education. Certainly our prime directive is teaching kids to read and consider a future beyond our walls. But the mission extends beyond that. We are also charged with helping all of our students learn how to work with one another. To understand that not everyone is the same as them. That differences are okay and that there is a right way and a wrong way to work out those differences. Perhaps that is why the word 'empathy' appears in our tagline this year.

Nevertheless, empathy is not a substitute for accountability. Unfortunately, whenever conflict occurs between students in schools, both the tormentor and the victim may leave the experience with the feeling that they were treated unjust. The tormentor may feel they were treated unfairly, thinking their consequence is far more extreme than it needed to be. The victim may feel unsafe, believing with sincerity the outcome should have resulted in sanctions much more severe than those administered. 

From a public accountability standpoint, it may appear as though the school did nothing. In fact, it is not uncommon for parents and neighbors to claim that their child was the hurt at school and nothing was done about it. I have an honest question. How do you know? Sometimes a parent will call after the issue has been resolved wanting to know how the other student was 'punished'. Our response to these type of inquires is universal: We are unable to share with you what disciplinary sanctions may have been imposed due to student privacy protections. It truly saddens and frustrates me when this is somehow translated to 'The school didn't do anything'. Before I get to what the school does, I want to make crystal clear we are not hiding behind some obscure law. The law is very real and far from obscure. Most are aware of the healthcare laws that protect patient privacy in the country that are known as HIPPA. The educational equivalent is called FERPA. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records and prohibits their disclosure without consent. Student records include a variety of artifacts including grades, test scores, and disciplinary actions taken. 

Whenever a student discipline issue is addressed the student handbook is the guiding document used by administrators to not only investigate disciplinary issues and conflict among our students, it is also the primary source referenced when imposing disciplinary sanctions. If you wonder what consequences may be applied, I might suggest reviewing the section titled Student Rights and Responsibilities beginning on page 28. Our student handbook serves as the administrative regulations that are derived from board policy. For a comprehensive examination of our board approved discipline policies, please refer to the 500 series of our policy manual. The subsection titled 503 Student Discipline is where you'll want to focus your attention. For policies regarding bullying and harassment, please refer to policy 104 in our manual, which is our anti-bullying/anti-harassment policy. 

I would like to zero in on a couple of specific policies and procedures to provide a bit of insight as to how these issues are handled in the district. First, is policy 503.8 and regulation 503.8R1, the policies that deal with discipline of students who make threats of violence or cause acts of violence. These policies are relatively new to our manual and were first adopted by the board in November of 2023 and then reviewed again in September of 2024. They provide a roadmap for administrators to follow when dealing with this specific type of incident. When a report is made, the principal investigates the issue. This includes interviewing any witnesses to the behavior, collecting any evidence that may be available, conducting a threat assessment, and contacting all the parents of the parties involved. This can take as little as a few hours or multiple days depending on the complexity and severity of the incident. Once the investigation is completed, the administrator assigns it a level of severity from 1-3 with a level 3 incident being the most egregious. Because of the fact determining the level of severity is a judgement call requiring a subjective eye, it is not uncommon for administrators to collaborate with one another to ensure they are assigning the appropriate level. However, the regulation provides a rubric which is incredibly helpful when making these determinations. Furthermore, we continually calibrate our responses based on precedent, community norms, and updates to the guidance from our governing bodies. Once the incident level has been assigned, discipline is administered in accordance to grade band and [incident] level. In other words, a level one incident at kindergarten will be handled differently than it would be in the seventh grade. 

It is also possible student disciplinary incidents span multiple policy violations. For example, in the above mentioned example, it is also possible, and in many cases likely a student will also be found in violation of our anti-bullying/anti-harassment policy. This policy went through a revision this spring based on a change to Iowa Code that in many ways makes it easier to apply this policy. Prior to the August 20, 2025 revision, this policy was only in force under a specific set of criteria. The updated policy removed those criteria and streamlined the applicability of these provisions. Notably, the student handbook is quite clear on the consequences for violations of this policy. Page 45 outlines these provisions, including a mechanism that automatically triggers a disciplinary hearing in front of the board with the third violation of the policy. 

Inevitably, disciplinary sanctions that are imposed on students will leak. The student themself may share with their friends or classmates they had a detention. An unexpected absence without explanation may also lead to some drawing conclusions. Or, perhaps parents themselves may share the outcome of a sanction. To underscore the original point though, these actions will not be shared by the district. Even so, it may be natural to criticize the sanction(s) that were imposed by administrators. It is rare indeed to find the parent of a tormentor who believes the sanction was too lenient. Likewise, the parent of the target almost always will argue the district didn't go far enough. Each set of circumstances in unique unto itself with fact patterns that may not be known to all parties. They require viewing each case through a paradigm layered with subjectivity, ultimately arriving at a judgement call based on the parameters and rubrics set forth in board policy. 

While scrutinizing the sanction may be fair game, saying the district didn't do anything isn't. Just remember, our policy is our guide, and it is very likely the public will not have all the facts. 

Collaborate. Empathize. Innovate.

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! The beginning of a new year is always a time that is exciting for our students, staff, and parents. I trust you all had a restful and relaxing summer, filled with moments that recharged your soul and created lasting memories for you and your families. It is great to once again see our buildings filled with students as we embark on a new school year. 

The pace of this summer has been a bit refreshing, especially since we weren't in the midst of a major construction project! This summer, we focused on expanding and renovating our kindergarten wing, with particular emphasis on the restrooms. We also found time to install carpet on the second floor of the elementary, add an additional bank of lockers, and replace our network. While each project had it's own unique set of challenges, they all paled in comparison to the scope of work to which we have been accustomed to in our most recent memories! Even so, I do think you will be very happy and satisfied with the work that has been done over the summer. We owe a great deal of thanks to the contractors and maintenance department here for their hard work and diligence. It certainly has paid off. 

In our opening Convocation last week, we welcomed our newest employees to the district and encouraged them to use the leverage and collective wisdom of our entire faculty to help them find success. Indeed we want them to find success, for their success most certainly will lead to their students' success. Being new evokes a range of emotions ranging from nervous trepidation to extreme excitement for where the journey will take us! I asked all of our our employees to consider and reminisce on their own beginnings, in an effort to recapture the newness that we all felt once upon a time. 

During this opening address each year, I provide a common theme with which to ground and center our work. This year, I offer three words: Collaboration, Empathy, and Innovation.

Our greatest strengths lie in the ability to work together, share ideas, and support one another through every success and every hurdle. By working together we can tap into a collective wellspring of knowledge, experience, and creativity. Within these spaces of collaboration, we will be able to develop strong relationships with you and your children. This will enable us to uncover valuable insights into the students we serve while at the same time providing you, our families and parents the skills needed to help your child find success. 

Where the strategic advantages of collaboration are readily apparent, it's full potential can only be realized by unlocking something much more profound: empathy. It's not enough to simply work alongside one another. To truly unlock the collective strength of collaboration we must also understand and connect with the perspectives, feelings and needs of one another. I reminded our staff that when each of us goes home at night, we are largely unaware of the challenges that are faced by the families we serve. Each family we serve is unique and we are well served when we listen to concerns as they are raised and validating fears and frustrations as they arise. I would also be remiss if not to remember that empathy is a two way street. Those who work with your child daily are human too. They have real struggles outside these walls and not every day will be a homerun. 

Over the last several years we have been focused on facility upgrades. While enrollment growth patterns suggest facility needs will be part of our lexicon moving forward, we are proud of the fact our facilities offer the most current and up to date technological capabilities where innovation may appear commonplace. But innovation in education is not merely about adapting the latest technology or most state of the art facilities; it's about fostering a mindset of continuous improvement and creative problem-solving to better serve our students. Innovation is the engine that drives us beyond the status quo, ensuring our students are not merely the recipients of knowledge, but active creators of their own understanding. The true embodiment of our Core Purpose: 'Creating Effective Learning Environments that Result in Success for ALL Students'. 

Collaborate, Empathize, Innovate. These aren't must words but active principles that will define our days and shape our successes. Let's commit to working closely together as a collaborative community with all stakeholders, leveraging our collective wisdom to navigate the exciting school year under which we now embark.