Jim Hinson said educators need to be prepared for how artificial intelligence will affect education.

He made this and other remarks during a Mexico Public Schools board retreat July 16. The meeting began with a regular board meeting, with a smaller than usual agenda, followed by the retreat. The board’s regular meeting agenda included approval of, among other items, personnel moves and a food services bid and a tree removal bid, with 15 trees being removed at the high school. 

Hinson, representing EGL Association, discussed AI and other topics during the retreat. On its website, EGL Association said it offers “comprehensive governance and leadership training for the benefit of all students” and provides a broad range of training to school boards, such as school laws and regulations, effective school governance practices and “evaluation of progress toward goals and planned outcomes.”

Hinson told the board there is going to be “a lot of change this year” as educators head into the 2025-26 school year. 

“Some of it we’re probably not prepared for, but there are a lot of things on the horizon in relation to what’s going to happen this school year at the state and federal level, part of it in relation to society,” he said. “A lot of these issues, but not all of them, will land on the board table.”

He began with AI and said trustees “better buckle up your seat belt.” He mentioned the different ways AI can enter people’s lives, such as ChatGPT, which he said the board will deal with this year. Essentially, ChatGPT allows people to communicate on conversational websites or mobile apps. 

Hinson mentioned the ways AI can be used, and the ways it brings challenges on different fronts, such as privacy and ethics. On the academic level, educators will have to grapple with how they change how they educate students based on their ability to access information.

“But as a board, the big issues for you, in all likelihood, you will have issues this year that will be appealed to the board because a parent or one of your employees didn’t like the response from the administration, and in some cases, in all likelihood, you’re going to have administrators that are trying to make decisions on issues in relation to AI that is not spelled out within the board policy yet,” Hinson said.

He said how students are tested on their knowledge will be something that educators will have to explore in the future, and it will probably be more readily present this year than in the past. 

Hinson discussed some other topics in the retreat, such as whether public dollars can be used for private and parochial education purposes and a new foundation formula, which centers on state distribution of funding for schools.  

Mexico Public Schools Superintendent Troy Lentz said the retreat was beneficial for trustees.

“It was a chance for board members to talk to each other,” he said. “So often, they only communicate when they’re trying to make a decision and take board action, so just to be able to sit and visit about the role of the board, where it’s not specific to any agenda item, I think it has a lot of value.”

Mexico Board of Education President Jessica Ekern said this was the third retreat she participated in with Hinson and said she thinks it’s “very important” that each year, the board meets to discuss different topics and learn about issues that may impact the district. 

“The retreats are additional training and an opportunity for the members to have informal discussions,” she said in an email. “Board members must complete 18.5 hours of board training in their first year of service and must take a refresher course each year after.”

In the retreat, she said Hinson discussed the role of the school board and “how good and great boards work. This year, members explored some of the issues that may impact the district such as AI concerns. Jim also talked about state and federal funding changes that have already impacted public schools. I think all the board members found our retreat very informative and we had some valuable discussions.”