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Families and students gave overall positive responses regarding their desired daily experiences while in school, while staff responses were ultimately in favor, though not as strong, according to data from a recent survey conducted in the Albert Lea school district.

Tonya Franks, executive director of academics and accountability for the district, said the daily desired experiences were identified as part of the district’s strategic planning work.

The district conducted its first survey about the experiences in 2022 and is conducting annual surveys of students, families and staff to see how the groups feel those experiences are being met.

For the student portion, the survey was given out to students in grades six through 12, and over 800 responded, Franks said. The goal overall with the survey was to have at least 60% in the agree or strongly agree categories and below 10% in the strongly disagree or disagree categories.

For students, the most positive response came in a question about if the school offers a variety of activities where they have opportunities to try new things and grow when 70.5% said they agreed or strongly agreed. Sixty-nine percent also said they agreed or strongly agreed that they are safe in the school.

Sixty-seven-and-a-half percent said they thought their teachers supported and valued them, while 67.3% agreed that they have access to resources and feel their needs are met. When asked if they are recognized and appreciated, 57.6% answered that they agreed or strongly agreed.

Only one question came back higher than 10% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing and that was a question that asked if the students were having fun completing engaging activities about interesting topics to help them learn in class.

Most of the questions had between 23% and 33% in the “neutral” category.

Franks said the data was being distributed to the individual buildings for further study and for principals to review with their staff. Once the baseline was determined, then they could set goals to achieve in the future.

Family responses were more favorable with all questions receiving 60% in the agree or strongly agree categories and all below 10% for the disagree or strongly disagree categories.

She said families feel their children are physically and emotionally safe, that their schools are welcoming and that they have resources to meet their child’s needs and are appropriately challenged.

Out of about 3,500 students enrolled in the district, they received back 388 family responses. Families with multiple children were asked to fill out the survey for each child. About 68% of the responses were from elementary school families.

Board member Gary Schindler said he was happy to see that parents and families feel their students are safe.

About 88% agreed or strongly agreed that their child’s school was welcoming to all students, while only 3.9% disagreed or strongly disagreed.

About 84% agreed or strongly agreed that their child is physically and emotionally safe, and 86.6% answered that their child’s classroom is an engaging, orderly and productive learning environment.

The lowest response was 77.5% agreed or strongly agreed that they are connected and have a partnership with their child’s school.

Staff responses as a whole were less favorable than the family and student responses, with three questions below the 60% threshold for agreeing or strongly agreeing, and five questions above the 10% threshold for disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.

About 67% said they agreed or strongly agreed that they work in a safe and orderly school, while 11.4 disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Less than 52% said they agreed or strongly agreed that they had the resources and time to perform their job duties effectively. Almost 32% disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Fifty-seven percent of staff agreed or strongly agreed that their students’ social and emotional needs are supported, while 21.7% disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Only 46.2% agreed or strongly agreed that the communication from the district and building administration is consistent, timely and relevant, with 27.7% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.

Schindler said he appreciates surveys as they help identify things they can celebrate, as well as things they need to work on.

He said he was glad to see a high response from staff about a collaborative workplace but noted the disconnect between how the students and the families are feeling in some categories and how the staff responded.

Franks said the survey results would be placed on the principal leadership agenda for January for further follow-up.

They will discuss some of the highest needs that came from the surveys and said they will help guide decisions for continuous improvement in the future.

Updates would be presented to the school board in the spring.