Broward School Board Member Sarah Leonardi District 3

09/11/2026

Wishing a sweet and joyful Rosh Hashanah to all who celebrate. May the new year bring peace, good health, happiness, and hope to you and your loved ones. Shanah Tovah! 🍎🍯

09/11/2026

Those of us old enough to remember the attacks on September 11, 2001, often tell the story of where we were, but today I'm thinking about what happened in those heart-wrenching days that followed. Even though I was 11 at the time, I can vividly remember witnessing the cohesion, the unity, the compassion, and the bravery of everyday Americans.

I remember watching on TV as first responders risked everything and sacrificed everything to save as many people as possible. I remember learning about the heartbreaking courage of the people on Flight 93, and I think about the people who, in the harrowing months after the attacks, joined our armed services because they believed in the values of this country and were called to serve.

This morning I woke up thinking about all of those things, and I remembered something my Sunday school teacher had us do days after the attacks. She had us write notes of gratitude and support to the first responders working on the remarkable recovery efforts thousands of miles away from us. It was a small act, but it was one a few kids could contribute in such a tragic, scary, and hopeless time.

Today, I hope that in our polarized political environment and chaotic media environment, we can remember how powerful the unity, compassion, and bravery that people displayed across the country, and across the world, were in the face of terror. Never forget.

08/26/2026

We celebrated 100 years of Pompano Beach Fire Rescue last weekend and I’m so grateful for everything Pompano Beach Fire Rescue does for our community - especially for our kids!

08/18/2026

Saw this morning that OpenAI put out a teen version of ChatGPT. If a kid signs up as 13 to 17, that is what they get now. It blocks the stuff you would want blocked, nudges them to take a break after an hour and a half, lets parents set hours where it just turns off, and the homework mode makes them work through the problem instead of handing over the answer.

Part of me wants to be optimistic but I’m still skeptical. Many kids are using AI frequently for many different purposes. Some version of it is going to be in their lives whether we like it or not, and guardrails beat no guardrails.

But I keep getting stuck on the timing. Florida sued OpenAI back in June. There are families in court right now who say this chatbot had a hand in their kids’ deaths. This update did not show up because somebody in San Francisco had a change of heart. It showed up because lawyers made it show up.

If you have a middle or high schooler who uses these tools, it is worth ten minutes tonight to sit down with them and actually look at the settings together. It’s important for us to continue to ask questions of the companies and organizations (including our district) to ensure the safety and health of our kids.

What are your thoughts?

The artificial intelligence start-up announced a chatbot mode that will automatically limit some conversations to better protect young users.

08/15/2026

When our community invests in public education our kids thrive. Yesterday we celebrated a $5,000 contribution from Burlington to the teachers of McNab Elementary School. Our teachers will be able to use that money to provide resource for our kids and help them have an even better 26-27 school year. Thank you to everyone who cares so much about our local public schools! Broward County Public Schools

08/06/2026

Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting down with city leaders from all over Broward County for a great roundtable with the Superintendent. I’m grateful that leaders from every part of our community here in Broward care so much about public education. We discussed safety, funding, and making Broward a more affordable place for BCPS employees among other things. We make progress on these issues when we all work together. Thank you to everyone who participated and to the Superintendent for making these discussion possible!

07/28/2026

Three commitments on how our schools handle student devices and AI, approved at the school board meeting today. This is a start, and we have more work to do.

1 Safety alerts in real time. Concerning student activity on school devices gets flagged and sent straight to DSOC as it happens, not days later when it’s too late to help.
2 Less screen time for our youngest. VPK through 1st grade, screens come out only for state-mandated testing or accommodations for students with special needs. Little kids learn best from teachers and each other.
3 Hard limits on AI and devices. The AI and technology policies coming to the Board will carry the maximum limitation on device and AI chatbot use for elementary students.
Technology should serve learning, not replace it, and it should never come at the cost of student safety.
Next up: School Board, August 4, 2026. Swipe through for the details, and let me know what you want to see in the final policy.
Protecting students. Promoting learning.

07/25/2026

On Thursday BCPS launched our partnership with Bus Patrol to help protect students traveling on our schools buses. Our buses are now equipped with stop arm cameras to deter unsafe driving around BCPS school buses. This is the largest program in the country and I’m proud to support another layer of safety for our students.

07/11/2026

This is the kind of proactive approach governments at all levels need to be taking. I, like many, are extremely worried about AI’s impact on jobs in the future. Bipartisan efforts like this that are seeking to do something about it are important.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how school districts like ours can address this problem, and one aspect that’s not being discussed enough are the technical programs we offer. That’s why I proposed that BCPS reevaluates the careers we train children and adults for so that we aren’t preparing them for jobs that won’t exist in 5, 10, or 20 years.

Former Biden administration official Gina Raimondo is leading a bipartisan effort to AI-proof the country’s workforce.

07/09/2026

This is exactly why Broward County Public Schools has been taking a cautious approach to bringing AI into classrooms.

AI has enormous potential to help students and teachers, but schools also have to consider issues like copyright, academic integrity, privacy, bias, and the reliability of AI-generated information. These aren’t theoretical concerns anymore, they’re playing out in courtrooms and school districts across the country.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel, the New York Times and other newspapers filed a joint federal motion alleging OpenAI destroyed evidence in ChatGPT lawsuit.