Springsted Inc. surveys 303 district residents

Sixty-two percent of survey participants favor the calendar proposed by the Albert Lea school board, according to Springsted Inc.

Patricia Heminover of St. Paul-based Springsted Inc. presented the results of its survey to the school board Monday. The proposal would extend the academic calendar to begin the week after the Freeborn County Fair and end at the Memorial Day weekend with more breaks during the year to give time for remedial education.

Between Aug. 2 and Aug. 5, 303 telephone surveys with 35 questions were conducted in and around Albert Lea in regard to the proposed calendar, but the survey also included questions about Albert Lea Area Schools as a whole to gather data for the district.

Of those 303 surveys, besides the percentage in favor, 25.4 percent opposed the proposed calendar and 12.5 percent were undecided.

Springsted Inc. surveyed Albert Leans before in 2007 in regard to the school district’s proposed operating levy. Heminover said that generally, after being informed, people were more likely to be in favor of the operating levy.

The same seemed to ring true from the questions asked in the survey about the proposed calendar.

Across all demographics — gender, age, being a parent or nonparent, where they live in Albert Lea — the percentage in favor of the proposed calendar raised after being informed.

What Springsted Inc. did with their survey this year and in 2007 is ask the participant’s opinion of a big change in the school district — such as an operating levy or the proposed calendar — before giving any information about that change, in order to achieve a benchmark, Heminover said.

Then the person giving the survey gives a list of statements about the change to the survey taker, and asks their likelihood to be in favor of the change after hearing the statement.

Finally, after all the statements have been read, the person giving the survey asks the survey taker again if they would be in favor of or oppose the change.

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.

Heminover said that the reason the 65 and older category was so large was because that is the largest age demographic in Albert Lea. She said that Springsted Inc. uses voter registration records crossed with school district information to get a target demographic, and the surveyed demographic of people closely matched what was set before the survey began, she said.

What Heminover said was the most surprising was the amount of survey takers who had heard about the proposed calendar before taking Springsted Inc.’s survey. About 71 percent of survey takers had heard about the proposed calendar beforehand while about 27 percent had not.

The survey asked about more than the proposed calendar. Participants were asked to grade the school district on an A to F scale, like students are graded on. The majority of people — 51 percent — gave the district a B grade.

Forty-five percent of people gave the district a B grade on facility maintenance, 45 percent gave the district an A grade on the safety and security of the buildings, 46 percent gave the district a B grade on having a non-violent environment, 45 percent gave the district a B grade on elementary education and 45 percent gave the district a B grade on high school education.

For financial management, the majority was still a B grade with 35 percent, but the C grade trailed closely behind with 24 percent. However, Heminover said that is an improvement from 2007, as the majority in that survey was a C grade at 47 percent.

Sixty-five percent of people surveyed said that contact with the district was pleasant and helpful. Only 2.3 percent of the people surveyed said the district was rude and not helpful, which Heminover said was equivalent to about six people.

After Heminover presented her information, Mike Funk, superintendent of Albert Lea Area Schools, said he was focusing on the approximately 25 percent of survey takers who opposed the proposed calendar.

He mentioned the petition that was started in opposition to the balanced calendar, and said the petition makes it look like everyone is against the calendar. The survey shows a much lower number, he said.

To move forward with the proposed calendar, the next step is the school board president must hold three public hearings or forums, Funk said.

School board members Linda Laurie and Bill Leland expressed interest in moving forward with the forums. Member Jill Marin said she wants to use the forums to help identify problem areas with the proposed calendar.

Member Jeshua Erickson added results from the survey logically lead to holding the public forums.

Laurie said she wanted to plan a hearing before the next school board meeting, Sept. 22, and said she wants to plan the forums at different times to accommodate different schedules.

A Change.org petition that was started by mother Jennifer Hanson opposing the proposed calendar has exceeded the goal of 200 signatures — it’s now at 249 — but the target number of signatures has since been raised to 251.

Click here to see survey results.

In other news, the school board:

• Approved the superintendent’s contract as an action item. Look to the Tribune for an upcoming story on administrative pay.

• Heard an update from Funk about the first week of school. He said that the high school had its smoothest first week in years. All of the classrooms in the district are being utilized, and the elementary schools are at maximum capacity three years after moving the sixth grade to Southwest Middle School. All of the buildings now have heating and cooling systems, and the controls will be adjusted at Southwest Middle School and Halverson Elementary School over the next few months. At the Sept. 22 school board meeting, a plan to redefine Chris Chalmers as the community education director will be brought forward, as well as a contract for Afton Wacholz to take over as activity director.