Tuesday could be a good day in the district as the results of surveys with current and former parents, students and staff members are released and reviewed by the board of trustees.
"We haven't seen the survey results yet, but we are looking forward to finding out what the public has had to say," Jan Johnstone, vice-chairwoman of the Bluewater District School Board of trustees, said yesterday.I'm curious as well, and will try and make a point of posting Canton's update as soon as the news alert crosses my desk and I have a spare moment. To my knowledge -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- the BDSB is the only one to have conducted this type of survey. It could say a lot, or very little, about perceptions of the board within the communities it serves.
"I honestly don't think there'll be any surprise, but rather the results will provide us with an opportunity to again move forward. This is something we need to do annually, take the pulse of our community."
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12 comments:
I'd like to see all school boards send surveys out to parents to get input. It would be alot better than the current system. After paying attention to the ARC here in Ingersoll, Do you think that is a better way to tackle the situations when it comes to how they decide to close schools?
Seth:
I question the value of the information received through routine, annual surveys. I'm also conscious of how survey questions can be written to elicit the responses the people paying for the survey want to hear.
However, "exit" interviews for families who choose to leave the public system for the Catholic board or a private option would have more value-- and perhaps provide information on things a board can actually change about its programs, staffing and facilities.
As to the Ingersoll review-- I've been following agendas, minutes and the Ingersoll Times' reporting since inception. I did cover the regional and board-level recommendations and decisions leading up to the initiation of the review last year. We decided to split the review committee coverage as we had one in Woodstock and the Times could handle the one in Ingersoll/Beachville. There were some challenges in the first round of ARCs when I was covering three reviews simultaneously in addition to my other workload (and a federal election last fall), so this plan worked.
I will be at the public input meeting on Wednesday (where I note you're the only member of the public speaking) due to a vacation at the Times. Conveniently, it's walking distance from my house as I actually live in Ingersoll. After the committee finalizes its report, I expect to be handling all the reporting at the board level.
As to the specific recommendations at play here... this is a complex review where facility conditions play a huge part in the rationale, even if the board isn't always honest about that and continues to put declining enrolment forth as the primary motivator. These schools all have some significant facility issues that cannot be addressed adequately at all six locations given the resources available. Consolidation and construction / expansion / renovation seems the palatable option no one would prefer as a first solution, but one that could make a huge difference to students in the town and beyond who attend the six schools.
Hugo
ER - many boards do the kind of survey Bluewater is doing on a regular basis, and use the results for their annual improvement plans. Annual surveys tend to lead to survey burnout and lower returns, so often these are done every two or three years.
The problem with in-house surveys is that school boards pay people very well to interpret them just the way they want them to read.
Often the responses to the questions are skewered to illicit the desired
(and paid for) response.
Board driven surveys have left a really bad taste for any surveys what-so-ever.
Seems to me that 'skew' depends on the purpose of the survey - if it is for PR I can understand Anon's response. However, used for improvement purposes, they are very useful.
Sometimes people who inherently distrust schools and school boards cannot believe that most people do trust schools, and appreciate the work that they do - especially in their own school (verified by the reaction when they are the subject of an accommodation review...).
In fact, most surveys of any kind will show a high degree of confidence in 'my child's classroom', 'my child's teacher' and 'my child's school', and decreasing confidence the further away you go from where service is actually delivered. That's not skew - that's the reality out there.
I've never seen a survey yet that asked whether one trusted their school, teacher or school board.
ER - in an earlier post on this subject did you say that the facilitator who recommended this survey to the Bluewater board was from one of the boards you cover and didn't have one at that board?
Could that board use a survey?
It's likely that the board has known well in advance of the release of the results and have met ahead of the release to decide on talking points, spin, next steps, etc.etc.
Actually anon. 21:04 I've read through the survey report and maybe you should do the same.
All I can say is that report is one heck of a wake-up call.
Morale at all levels is going to take a hit unless this board makes some very public movement on improvements.
CC
If that report was the subject of talking points, spin, next steps, etc. as Anon 21:04 alleges, then none of them were particularly effective...
Anon 17 Nov. 21:02
Yes, Peggy Sattler was involved in preparing this Academica report and has been quoted in media coverage in Owen Sound several times. Sattler is past-chair of the Thames Valley District School Board where she has been a trustee since 2000 (possibly earlier, I don't have her stats in front of me).
To my knowledge in over six years covering this school district, neither TVDSB or its London District Catholic School Board counterpart do surveys of this scope, or exit surveys of any kind.
Hugo
I actually think that all school boards might be wise to make an in- depth satisfaction survey like this one part of the fabric of their on-going feedback/accountability
loop.
It can only help improve and solidify relationships between school, community and home. Maybe head-off hot spots before they become full infernos?
CC
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