Colfax school survey ends Friday

Tomorrow will be the last day to participate in the Colfax School district surveys which have been going on for the past three weeks.

Separate surveys for parents of Colfax students, other residents of the Colfax community and school staff have been posted on the district’s Web site.

A fourth survey was given to one class of high school students and one class of junior high students.

Friday at 4 p.m. the surveys will be pulled off the Web site. Preliminary results will be presented at the school board meeting Feb. 21 by Superintendent Michael Morgan.

As of Monday, the district has logged 51 responses to the parent survey, 54 responses to the community survey and 34 responses from the Colfax school staff.

Morgan said the low number of responses for the parent surveys and community survey is an indicator of opinions, but not enough data with which to make major school decisions.

“That’s not a high [enough] percentage of families to make real clear decisions on but at least it’s a clear indicator,” Morgan said.

The survey version for students has already been administered to sophomores and eighth graders during a class session.

This series of surveys is the second round of recent surveys for the district. The first round was conducted last spring after district voters rejected a school levy measure on a first vote but later approved a smaller proposal.

School staff called for a number of changes to the school that school year and into the fall of this school year.

Volleyball coach and teacher Sue Doering, one of the faculty members who last fall asked the school board not to renew the contract for Morgan, told the Gazette she thought the current round of surveys was a positive step for the district.

“This should be an annual thing. I’m glad he (Supt. Morgan) went ahead and did that. The community was involved,” said Doering.

The parent survey delves into the student-teacher relationships, asking respondents’ replies to statements such as; “teachers given students extra help when needed,” “my child understands what their behavior expectations are.”

Participants can check a range of options from “I don’t agree at all” to “I agree completely,” or indicate they do not have children in school.

The last section of this survey asks parents for their opinions on school spending. For example, participants are asked to pick from a list of potential cost reductions for extra-curricular activities funded by the school’s annual levy. “Elimination of ‘C’ squads,” “reduced salaries for coaches” are among suggestions. Parents are also asked if they are comfortable with lunch prices.

The community survey leans toward gauging the public perspective of the Colfax schools.

A set of seven questions in the survey tests participant knowledge on facts on the district.

For example, participants are asked if they were aware Jennings Elementary was recognized as a School of Distinction for the amount of improvement on standardized test scores.

“A lot of people responding didn’t know about really positive things that happened at the schools. They aren’t getting their information at all. It’s a tiny bit frustrating as much as we publicize that,” Morgan said. “We’re just not hitting the right media. How do we improve getting information to the community and parents?”

Participants in the community survey are at one point in the survey informed the state has cut $171,189 from the Colfax school district budget. They are then asked to pick from a list of 23 ways the school could cut its budget.

Options included “reduce the number of teachers,” “reduce additional support for students who are not meeting academic standards,” “eliminate all athletic activities,” or “contract for services that may be less expensive than hiring staff within the district.”

Colfax school district web site: http://www.colfax.k12.wa.us.