District 308 Distributes Climate Survey to Staff and Parents

Editor's Note: The following is from a letter sent out to parents regarding the recent District 308 survey from Superintendent Matthew Wendt and Board President Bill Walsh:

Dear Parents:

This school year is about strategically planning for the future. Our focus is to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiencies of departments, schools, programs, projects and structures.  As part of our efforts to improve the school district, we are conducting a comprehensive parent survey.  The purpose of this anonymous survey is to help the board and district leadership better understand parent perspectives.

We want to personally encourage your participation.  The results, including all open-ended responses, will be carefully reviewed and added to the overall data to guide future decision-making.  The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete.  Included are open-ended questions you may opt to spend additional time considering.  The survey can be accessed through Friday, November 16 in either English or Spanish.

The survey responses will be collected and compiled by the National Center for School Leadership in Orlando, Florida.  The Center will provide aggregated scores reporting data to evaluate our school district with school districts from across the United States.

All open-ended responses will be provided to the school district.  Although a confidential survey, parents should expect open-ended responses to be made public considering the results will be provided to the board of education as a public document.  Listing personal names and sensitive information within open-ended responses should be carefully considered prior to submitting the survey.  Results will be available to the public in late January 2013. 

The survey provides parents a confidential opportunity to communicate to district leadership about the culture and climate of the system.  This baseline information is needed to understand perspectives of the current performance in the district and what improvements might be needed. 

Our goal is to collaborate together to improve School District 308.  On behalf of our current and future students, thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback.