By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
With the results in from both exit surveys and a district-wide employee survey, Burlington Area School District employees past and present seem mostly satisfied.
Both surveys were reviewed by the School Board at a special meeting Monday night, with two problem areas identified, but a majority of the responses indicating a positive experience.
BASD Superintendent Peter Smet and the board requested an exit survey for employees last year. At the time, the board also suggested polling current employees.
The exit survey process proved somewhat problematic for the district. Of the 77 surveys it sent out, only 20 were returned.
“It’s hard to make any decisions on 26 percent,” said Board Member Rosanne Hahn.
The current staff survey, done by School Perceptions, fared better. Staff members were sent private links in May to complete the online survey, and 309 staff members responded.
Many of the questions produced a positive response, with 70 percent or higher in responses of “agree or strongly agree.”
In general, 86 percent of those surveyed indicated the district was a good place to work.
Exit survey
When the idea of an exit survey was brought up, district officials said they wanted to get an idea of why teachers were choosing to leave.
Smet cautioned board members to keep the limited sample size of what was returned in mind, but the majority of the reasons listed had more to do with family circumstances, better benefits or for better compensation.
There were comments seemingly targeting one supervisor, as well as the performance evaluation comments ranging from “not the best” to “seems to work well.” Pay comments also varied, as did comments about benefits.
The School Board raised the idea of breaking the comments down by position, as those who returned the exit survey ranged from teachers to custodians to instructional aides.
School Board President Jim Bousman did raise the question of why the survey wasn’t being done before staff left the district, a true exit interview. Reasoning was given in discussion as being awkward and a problem with timing.
Staff survey
The district’s staff survey garnered a far better response rate, with 69 percent of employees returning the survey.
Smet said the district was trying to focus on areas that were 60 percent or below when it came to “strongly agree” or “agree” response.
Examples of positive vs. negative responses to survey questions:
- 74 percent of staff answered “strongly agree” or “agree” on the district’s ability to develop and execute an improvement plan, but only 55 percent indicated there was a process for evaluating the effectiveness of new initiatives.
- In terms of student achievement, 93 percent of staff indicated the district offered a high quality academic program, but only 55 percent indicated student discipline was handled in a consistent manner.
- Ninety-eight percent of the staff indicated their work directly contributed to the overall success of the district, and 71 percent would recommend the district to those seeking employment. Eighty-eight percent of those surveyed either strongly agreed or agreed that they were proud of the district.
- Rating communication varied between levels. With ratings being great, good, fair or poor, 85 percent of those surveyed felt communication was great or good from the principal or building administration, 83 percent from custodians/maintenance, 65 percent on technology services, 58 percent on district administration, 50 percent on transportation, 51 percent on food service, and just 33 percent on the School Board.
- Seventy-one percent of those surveyed indicated the academic expectations are “just right,” while 20 percent felt they were “too low” and 9 percent “too high.”
- While most of those surveyed felt safe at work, supported by leadership and given the materials, supplies and flexibility to do their jobs, only 47 percent indicated they had been given enough time to do the job properly. Also, only 58 percent felt valued by the community.
- In terms of development and recognition, in-service days were at 56 percent agreement when it came to them being organized and well-planned, and 70 percent of staff indicated they received timely feedback and credit and recognition.
- Only 33 percent of staff were satisfied with their benefits, only 38 percent with their pay in relation to job responsibilities and 55 percent indicated that pay practices were consistent.
- In terms of overall satisfaction, 86 percent indicated the district was a good place to work, 66 percent that the district had improved over the last year, 60 percent that the community supports education and 53 percent satisfied with the financial management of the district.
Following the survey, School Perceptions came up with several prevailing themes, including concerns regarding the pay scale, implementing new initiatives quickly but with proper evaluation, more professional development and more open lines of communication.
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