Another survey to assess district's top goals

A select group of parents will have their say this summer about the state of Lee County schools.

The district is preparing to send out a 15-question survey meant to gauge satisfaction on topics ranging from safety in schools to the district's ability to plan for growth.

Linda Boyle, teacher on assignment for quality continuance and planning for the district, said while schools have mailed out similar questionnaires in the past, the upcoming mailing is meant to give the district an idea of how well it is meeting goals outlined in its strategic plan.

The survey is slated to be issued to a randomly selected group of parents and will be sent out after the school board has a chance to review the questions at an upcoming meeting, Boyle said.

School officials hope the answers will be tallied by the time school begins again in August so any trouble points can be addressed, Boyle said.

A prototype of the survey asks parents to gauge their satisfaction from 1 to 5 prompted by statements like "student learning is improving in the School District" and "the School District and its schools encourage community involvement.

Other questions focus on the respondent's individual school, asking if it is diverse in its students and staff and if it has qualified teachers. There is no area for the person answering the survey to indicate where their child attends class, however.

The questionnaire will go out by mail, a decision Boyle said was made in order to make the survey more accessible. Though the district had considered asking the questions online, and even considered setting up kiosks in schools, Boyle said too many concerns remain that the process wouldn't yield a true random sampling and that some households might not have access to a computer.

The survey comes at a time when the school board is pondering how to get more parents involved with the district.

Outside of a tool like that, some people with children in local schools might not know of any other way to make their feelings known, said Jodie Stone, a parent who has been active in schools since her seventh-grader entered kindergarten.

Despite serving on the school advisory council for both Spring Creek and Pinewoods elementaries, Stone said she hasn't met the school board member who represents south zone schools, Jane Kuckel.

Though she said she knows their schedules are busy, Stone said she thinks the school board should consider connecting with parents on a more personal level.

"Most parents don't have someone they know to call and say 'You know, I'm not happy,'" she said. "I realize how important (parental involvement) is but a lot of parents really believe they are in the way, that their voice doesn't matter. The district has to get the message out that parents are wanted."