June 13,2026

Dear Beacon Community:

I wanted to provide some important updates on technology and plans for next steps. As you may know, the New York Board of Regents has adopted new graduation standards that will be phased in over time, along with the state’s Portrait of a Graduate. This transformational change is called NY Inspires, and you can read more about it here: https://www.nysed.gov/ny-inspires

The NY Portrait of a Graduate asks our students to be:

• Academically prepared
• A creative Innovator
• A critical thinker
• An effective communicator
• Reflective and future-focused

To help our students become such graduates, we invest heavily in our teachers and support staff, because we know that an engaging education depends on positive relationships and quality learning activities. Educational technology is and should be a part of that, but we want to use it intentionally throughout our K-12 curriculum.  Our teachers do an amazing job balancing these goals and strategies on a daily basis.

With this in mind, here are some technology updates:

K-12 Cell Phone Ban

As you are aware, New York State implemented a full cell phone ban in schools this year. It has been a huge success here in Beacon; our students did a remarkable job. Most issues with the ban have been minor, resulting in students having to turn their phones in for short periods.  

Results from our Screen Time Review

In April and May, we audited every student’s use of their chromebooks during the school day using a tool called Lightspeed that monitors screen usage.  This review was unannounced as we wanted to gather some baseline data. Here are the results:

• Grades K-2 averaged 15 minutes of screen time a day 
• Grades 3-5 averaged 30-35 minutes of screen time a day
• Grades 6-12 averaged between 50-70 minutes of screen time a day

We will continue to track this data at different points next year as well.  

Our instructional technology team blocked YouTube and all Ed Law 2D non-compliant sites from all Chromebooks almost two years ago, and they continue to block gaming sites as often as they pop up.

Next year, Chromebooks will not be assigned to individual students in grades K-3. Those students will access Chromebooks from a laptop cart as needed and under teacher direction. Students in grades 4-12 will have an individually assigned Chromebook. In grades 4-5, Chromebooks will go home only when directed by the teacher.  In an emergency, if we had to deploy Chromebooks to students for remote learning, we would have enough devices.

AI Teacher Task Force

Last year, the BCSD Board of Education adopted a policy on Artificial Intelligence. You can read it here: https://v3.boardpolicyonline.com/b/beacon_city/s/2082334

Our approach, in general, has been and will be to proceed carefully and cautiously with the use of AI in our classrooms. We block it primarily on our Chromebooks, and if our teachers request AI use, it is granted only after vetting the tool for compliance with Ed Law 2D, the New York technology privacy law. 

You can learn more about the law here: https://www.nysed.gov/data-privacy-security/fact-sheet-parents

We have a team of staff who work closely on implementing the law, and we review student privacy concerns for everything we use in technology.

We also realize that our AI policy and practice will need to evolve as the technology does. A group of teachers and administrators in the district has spent time reviewing other districts’ policies and, in general, discussing how our staff is dealing with AI and the issues that may result from its use.  While there are no specific policy recommendations at the moment, we know our policy will need to be reviewed and updated regularly. We’re planning more learning and professional development in this area so we can help students navigate this quickly changing landscape.

2026-27 Educational Technology Committee

Next school year, we will host an Educational Technology Committee made up of teachers, parents, administrators, and students. The committee will spend time on AI policy and the use of our various digital tools. This summer, we will send out an invitation for people to apply to join this committee, so please be on the lookout for that communication.

I will continue to update you on these issues this summer and throughout next school year as the work of our staff, students, and the committee continues.  This is just a start, and we are actively engaged on these issues and will continue to be moving forward.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns at landahl.m@beaconk12.org.

Sincerely,

Matt Landahl