Can Artificial Intelligence
Improve School Safety? Part 1 of 2

Video Length | 44:22

Recorded | December 2023

Podcast Description

In this two-part Learning Lab episode, host Brian Clason explores how artificial intelligence is shifting the school safety landscape for Texas school districts. In part one, Brian sits down with Waco ISD’s Superintendent, Susan Kincannon, and Chief Technology Officer, Jerry Allen, to discuss the role artificial intelligence is playing in Waco ISD’s ongoing journey to improve school safety in the wake of a 2022 active shooter hoax and the discovery of weapons at Waco High School in early 2023.

Expert Guests

Dr. Susan Kincannon

Susan Kincannon

Dr. Susan Kincannon has served in public education for 34 years as a teacher, principal, assistant/deputy superintendent and superintendent. She currently serves as the Superintendent of Waco ISD. She received a Bachelor ...of Science degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a master’s degree in educational administration from Tarleton State University and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Baylor University.

Under Kincannon’s leadership from 2011 to 2019, Belton ISD constructed and opened several new schools including four elementary schools, two middle schools, a technical high school, an early childhood school, and a comprehensive high school to serve 2,500 students. In Waco ISD, she facilitated the planning and is currently completing a $355 million bond program to replace an existing comprehensive high school, two middle schools, and one elementary.
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Jerry Allen

Jerry Allen

Jerry Allen has served in public education for 20 years as a teacher, campus administrator, and chief officer. He currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Waco ISD, responsible for technology services, cybersecurity, ...library services, PEIMS and information, and district physical security. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Sam Houston State University and a master of educational administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

For the past 14 years, Jerry Allen has led district technology departments through some of the most technology-dependent times seen in education. An early adopter of instructional technology practices, he was among the first to develop a successful and sustainable 1:1 and cybersecurity plan for the districts he has been a part of. He is passionate about new and trending technology and its potential to help education, both administratively and in the classroom.
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Learning Lab Host

Brian Clason

Brian Clason

Brian Clason is currently the Program Manager of Curriculum and Instruction at the Texas School Safety Center. He is a graduate of the Relay Graduate School of Education, University of Colorado-Denver, and Colorado State... University-Pueblo. He is a three-time published historian on the topic of Colorado history.

Since 2004, Brian has held the roles of principal, assistant principal, literacy coach, teacher, and community advocate. His experience serving diverse communities in both Texas and Colorado includes schools in turnaround status, design thinking model, early college model, alternative pathways model, and juvenile detention.
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Podcast Available On

Podcast Produced By: Brian Clason, Program Manager of Curriculum & Instruction