RIPLEY — Ripley Central School Board of Education conducted a first reading of their safety policy, which includes language regarding AI and Generative AI at their meeting in October.

District Superintendent William Caldwell said the district is not using Generative AI very much. “The policy is written so that we can use Gen AI or we can keep regular AI,” he said. “This policy is really just adding some extra verbiage to it.”

Generative AI or Gen AI uses generative models to produce texts, images, videos, software or other forms of data, according to its description on Wikipedia. It has become commonly used throughout many industries, including health care, finance, entertainment, sales and marketing and product design.

The Wikipedia article notes that Gen AI has raised many ethical questions, such as its use in cyber crime or to manipulate people through fake news.

“My understanding is that it will use the information we give it to build on itself,” Caldwell said.

In other business, board members approved the intermunicipal agreement with Chautauqua Lake Central School. Caldwell noted that the agreement includes having a security resource officer one day a week at Ripley. “He can also come more, if needed,” he said.

Board President Paul McCutcheon said he is very pleased with the agreement. “I was very excited to see that we have a resource officer, even if it’s only one day a week,” he said.

Board members approved the selling of district materials, including four older model AED stations. Caldwell explained the AEDs still work, but the new type that the district has installed uses a different battery. “We felt it best to replace them all and have the same model throughout the building,” he said. “Someone else may be able to use them as backup.”

In her report, Ripley Principal Sara Centanni told board members that the teachers have been focusing on the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program which strives to “create high achieving centers of learning by strengthening students’ connectedness to others.”

The teachers have been implementing the Behave In – Behave Out process of Capturing Kids’ Hearts. The process uses five basic questions that the teachers are trained to ask students when they misbehave, which revolve around their intentions in what they are doing and an understanding of the consequences.

“This process is designed to help students manage and accept responsibility for their own attitudes and behavior,” Centanni said. “To support teachers with this process, professional development this week will be spent on discussing and role-playing a wide variety of scenarios,” she said.

Centanni also told the board that Literacy Night on Oct. 8 and Fall Fest on Oct. 9 were very successful. “We hosted the CLCS fourth-graders at Fall Fest, and fun was had by all,” she said. “All students picked a pumpkin from the patch, donated by the Knight family farm, and engaged in fall themed activities, including cider pressing, grape stomping, and more.”

Director of Curriculum and Pupil Services, Michelle Waters told the board that tutoring and enrichment programs began on Oct. 5 to provide targeted academic support. There are two distinct programs offered before school, as well as after-school tutoring, which focuses on core academic areas, she said.

Waters also reported that children’s author Amy VanDerwater joined teachers for a session dedicated to enriching English Language Arts instruction. “Her work with teachers centered on teaching poetry and incorporating hands-on methods,” she said.