District Climate Survey—Parents & Community Results and Analysis June /10/20101

Overview Parents and Community Members were invited to provide feedback to the West Babylon School District via a public-access survey from May 20 to June 23, Access to the survey was provided via links on the school district website. The goal of this survey was purely to measure satisfaction. The individuals that are typically heard from as part of a satisfaction survey are those that attend School Board and committee meetings and are otherwise involved in the District. Outreach and cultivation of relationships with these individuals is good practice. However, these highly engaged individuals represent subsets of parents or community members in general and may not represent the majority view. 9/10/20102

Who Responded? A total of 313 individuals responded to the survey. These respondents represented both parents of children presently attending a West Babylon school (51%) as well as community members who do not presently have children in school (49%). Most parents had children attending West Babylon Junior High and High Schools, with the remainder attending the five elementary schools. 9/10/20103

Who Responded? The respondents are involved in the schools. Most respondents report having attended at least one school- sponsored event, presentation, or school play during the past school year. Nearly half of the respondents report having attended at least one School Board meeting. More than a third of respondents report attendance at PTA or district or school committee meetings. About one-quarter of respondents report being graduates of the school district and few reported having children attend non-district schools. 9/10/20104

Personal Impact of School Quality Non-parent community members were asked about the extent to which they perceive the quality of education and reputation of schools have on their property and home values. The vast majority (94%) believe that the schools have a moderate to strong impact on property values. 9/10/20105

Overall Perceptions Parents and Non-Parents were asked to assign a grade to the school district as a whole for the value of educational services to this community. Parents were more likely to assign a grade of ‘A’ (25%) than were non-parents (15%). However, in both cases the perception of the district is favorable with more than two-thirds of respondents assigning grades of ‘A’ and ‘B.’ 9/10/20106

Familiarity with District Leadership Respondents were provided brief descriptions as to the roles of the School Board, Superintendent’s Management Council, and Central Office and were asked to indicate their familiarity with each of these bodies. The School Board was most familiar to the respondents while the Management Council was least familiar. As many as 15% of respondents state that they have never heard of the Management Council. 9/10/2010 7

Grading District Leadership The Superintendent received grades of ‘A’ or ‘B’ from 46% of respondents. The School Board and Management Council were graded ‘A’ or ‘B’ by approximately one-third of respondent. However, large proportions of respondents indicated that they did not have enough information about these entities to assign grades. 9/10/ % AB / 10% F 46% AB / 8% F33% AB / 4% F

Grading District Leadership The district leadership grades were re-examined without the responses of individuals who said they did not have enough knowledge to assign grades. Among these knowledgeable respondents, half or more of the respondents assigned district leadership grades of ‘A’ or ‘B’. 9/10/ % AB / 13% F58% AB / 11% F58% AB / 7% F

Interaction with School Board When you have had an issue or a concern to discuss with the School Board... Two questions asked respondents about their interactions with the School Board. Respondents indicated whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with each item. They also had the option to indicate that they Did not have an issue. More than half of the respondents indicated that they did not have any reason to interact with Board Members. However, of the respondents who did discuss an issue or concern with the School Board, slightly more than half said the Board was courteous in listening to concerns and were professional in responding to concerns. Percent Agree or Strongly Agree 9/10/201010

Interaction with District Staff If you have had an issue to discuss or an idea to share with district staff… A series of questions asked respondents about their interactions with the district staff. Approximately 40% of respondents indicated that they did not have any reason to interact with district staff. However, of those that did contact staff, most easily found out who to contact and indicated that staff were courteous and addressed concerns in a professional manner. Percent Agree or Strongly Agree 9/10/201011

Budget Most respondents indicated that they are somewhat or very familiar with the budgetary challenges. The vast majority of respondents indicated that they are aware that state aid will be cut in However, only half of respondents said that they are aware of the energy efficiency contract. 9/10/201012

Budget Most respondents (62%) stated that they believe that the school district can meet the community’s educational needs with the current budget. 9/10/201013

Community Three items addressed opportunities open to the community; respondents indicated whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with each item. They also had the option to indicate that they Don’t Know. The respondents were not very aware of the opportunities available to them through the schools. Large proportions of respondents are not aware they are welcome to participate in school activities. Most are not aware of the facilities and information available at the schools. 9/10/201014

Operations Respondents indicated their level of satisfaction with the district’s maintenance, food, and bus services. Respondents were least likely to express satisfaction with the food services, although in all cases large proportions indicated that they were not knowledgeable of the services. 9/10/201015

Sources of Information About the District Most respondents indicated that they get information about the district from the District’s Newsletter, with family & friends as a close second; these two sources were rated as most useful. Technology-based sources such as the District’s Website and the District’s All- Call system were also rated as commonly used and useful information sources. 9/10/201016

Open-Ended Responses Common concerns expressed about school district operations: Loss of good teachers District and Union contract negotiations reaching unfair resolution Salaries of administrators and teachers too high Fairness and level of property taxes Services offered by Special Education Department Overcrowding and operation of school buses Allocation of funds/resources Quality of food served to students Too much fat/waste in the budget 9/10/201017

Open-Ended Responses What the School Board can do to improve their grade: Cut budget without cutting programs Decrease taxes Do not embark on new construction projects Increase transparency and efficiency Seriously consider input from parents Improve relations with the union What the Superintendent can do to improve his grade: Decrease costs/taxes Address management issues at the school level Hold teachers accountable Communicate more with the community Decrease salaries 9/10/201018

Summary A goal of the West Babylon School District is to develop communications methods to enhance relationships between the school district and the community. This parent and community survey about the school district climate is a step in that direction. The feedback received from those who responded speak to the issue of communications and relationships:  Most community members see a personal benefit of a strong, high-quality school district in the community as reflected in their property and home values.  Parents and community members believe that the school district is doing a good job of providing services to the community.  In general, district leadership is viewed favorably with about half of the community respondents assigning grades of ‘A’ or ‘B’.  Most parents and community members who had contacted district staff report positive exchanges. In particular, appropriate staff could be contacted and addressed issues in a professional manner. In addition to these positive views, opportunities to improve communication were also highlighted. In particular, a number of participants are not aware of the facilities and information available to them through the schools.. 9/10/201019

Summary Another goal of the district is to maintain and enhance fiscal responsibility. In this regard, community members report being well informed:  Most respondents said they are familiar with the budget issues.  Most respondents state that they understand state aid will be cut by approximately $2 million. However, the district may need to step up efforts to inform the community as to the district’s financial situation and constraints.  Most community members believe that they school district can meet the education needs of the community with the existing budget. 9/10/201020