by Mike Knaak
Parents and guardians of Sartell-St Stephen students gave the district higher grades than community members, according to the latest community survey presented to the school board July 18.
The district sought responses to the survey from April 6-13 and 694 people responded, 81 percent of them parents or guardians.
The survey revealed two areas for growth and improvement – informing parents about opportunities for parent input and easing the transition between buildings. The district’s transition to a new grade configuration took place during Covid-19 changes in schools so this will be the first fall with a normal set of transition programs for students moving between grades and schools.
Parents rated the overall education quality higher than did community members. A similar opinion was reflected when respondents were asked about quality changes during the past five years. About 60 percent of parents responded that quality had improved or stayed the same while 48 percent of community members shared that opinion.
On a similar question, about 75 percent of parents or guardians agreed or strongly agreed that the district provides good value while 57 percent of community members agreed or strongly agreed on value.
While parents rated administrators’ accessibility higher than did community members, both groups gave about the same accessibility score to school board members.
More than 55 percent of parents and guardians agreed or strongly agreed they trusted the board and administration to do the right thing while about 42 percent of the community offered that response.
The survey is required by state law and was first conducted in 2014. The last survey was conducted in 2018 when 553 people responded.
Read the full survey here: thenewsleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Community-Survey.pdf.
