303 Albert Leans were surveyed, 69 were parents

Just about 60 percent of parents in Albert Lea Area Schools surveyed by Springsted Inc. favor the proposed extension of the district calendar.

Albert Lea Superintendent Mike Funk said the results are similar to the results from the entire community, where 62 percent were in favor.

“I feel comfortable there is a broad level of consistency on this topic,” Funk said. “The response of the parents is consistent with the result of the community.”

An opponent who took the survey said she feels it was a push poll and criticized the sample size.

“They wanted to sway you into believing this new calendar change is going to be wonderful,” said Albert Lea mother-of-three Jennifer Hanson.

The survey contacted 303 people in the Albert Lea district. Of those, 69 were parents.

The Tribune contacted Springsted Inc. to find out the results of just the parents in the poll. The results were 59.4 percent in favor, 29 percent opposed and 11.6 percent undecided.

The Albert Lea school board has proposed what it calls a “balanced calendar,” which would begin the school year after the Freeborn County Fair ends in early August and wrap things up by Memorial Day weekend in late May. The calendar would have longer breaks to allow for additional remedial education.

The school board commissioned a survey, conducted by St. Paul-based Springsted Inc. between Aug. 2 and 5, with participants from across the community. The results released Monday night said the survey concluded 62 percent of the were in favor, 25.4 percent were opposed and 12.5 percent were undecided.

Those results came after Springsted gave participants additional information about the survey. The survey results, however, also offered numbers for how participants stood before the additional information.

The uninformed results said 57.8 percent were in favor, 32.7 percent opposed and 9.6 percent were undecided.

The script for the survey has an introduction, then runs through 22 questions unrelated to the calendar. At Question 23, it asks:

“The administration and school board in the Albert Lea Area Schools have been studying and discussing modifications to the school calendar. The discussion has focused on the adoption of what is called a balanced calendar. The balanced calendar being considered starts school in August and shortens the summer break by a week or two. It adds a number of shorter, timely breaks throughout the school year. Based on what you know right now, would you favor or oppose the adoption of such a balanced calendar in the Albert Lea Area Schools?”

The participants can answer 1. favor 2. oppose 3. undecided/no opinion or 4. refused.

Then it runs through 10 calendar-related statements that participants show whether they are more likely or less likely to agree with the statements.

Here are examples of two of the statements:

• “A balanced calendar would increase the ability of the district to offer students additional opportunities for enrichment courses.”

• “A balanced calendar will not significantly increase the cost of heating and cooling district schools because the district has been updating inefficient 50- and 60-year-old systems over the last three years.”

Then the survey asks:

“Now that you have heard some additional information about the balanced calendar the district is considering, I want to see if it has changed your opinion. Would you favor or opposed the adoption of a balanced calendar in the Albert Lea Area Schools?”

It also asks how many people had heard of the balanced calendar proposal, with 71.3 percent confirming they knew of it.

Hanson, who has started a Change.org petition opposing the calendar idea, said she took the survey and felt the questions were biased. She called it a push survey. She also said many of her friends do not answer those kinds of calls because they think they are telemarketers.

She said parents should have a larger say in the decision and called the sample size too small — 303 people in a city of about 18,000. Many of the older generation in the survey “don’t have a stake in it,” Hanson said.

The survey takers were about 43 percent male and 57 percent female. Less than one percent was between the ages of 18 and 24, 10.6 percent were between the ages of 25 and 34, 12.9 percent were between the ages of 35 and 44, 17.5 percent were between the ages of 45 and 54, 17.2 percent were between the ages of 55 and 64 and 41.6 percent were age 65 or older.

Funk said the script shows the survey callers were providing information in case the survey taker didn’t know about the proposal.

“They do the same thing when they poll for a referendum question,” Funk said, referring to methodology for Springsted’s 2007 poll of the district prior to a divisive November referendum for an operating levy as well as polls for political issues across Minnesota.

In the 2007 poll, the uninformed support for the levy was 52.6 percent. After series of statements, the question was asked again, and the support rose to 58.9 percent, which then matched the results of the fall election.

As for the sample size, the superintendent noted that when Gallup and other national polling firms do polls for the United States to represent 314 million people the sample size will be 1,000 to 1,200 people. Statewide polls are typically about 800 people.

“Three hundred is a robust sample size for Albert Lea,” Funk said.

He said Springsted’s past results in Albert Lea and in many districts in Minnesota have been accurate.

“I think when we do something here, we do it very professionally, not slapdash, not haphazard,” Funk said.

Hanson’s Change.org petition stood at 340 supporters as of Saturday morning. The petition calls for the school board to keep the traditional calendar.

Funk said he welcomes the feedback including the petition. He said no decision has been made, regardless of the poll results.

“It’s just another set of data,” he said. “That is why we are going through efforts to be as open as possible in this process.”

The school board plans to hold three hearings on the calendar issue. The first will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 23.