State Superintendent Dr. Mackey reported to the Alabama State Board of Education on July 13 that the state's annual professional development "mega conference" had substantial participation, with about 3,600 educators attending in person and "almost another thousand" joining virtually.

"So when you add that number up, almost 5% of our, all of our employees are at 1 place together listening and learning and getting high quality professional development," Dr. Mackey said, describing the gathering as a positive sign heading into the new school year.

Dr. Mackey said he and Miss Ziegler attended the kickoff in person and described seeing "literally hundreds of educators" and many breakout sessions and workshops focused on classroom innovation. He thanked department staff and sponsors for organizing the event and noted that Miss Thornton, a member of the conference committee, delayed her departure from the meeting to help finish the week of programming.

The superintendent framed the conference as an encouraging indicator for classroom practice after the disruptions of the prior year. He said organizers offered ``lots of that good chatter and discussion about classroom innovation and about, things that people want to be doing,'' followed by breakout sessions and workshops.

No formal board action was taken on the conference report; the remarks were delivered as part of the superintendent's report during the board's regular meeting.

The board adjourned to its scheduled work sessions after the meeting.