 - The Lander School Board reviewed exit survey data from recently departed staff members this week - including some responses that raised concerns for district administrators.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – The Lander School Board reviewed exit survey data from recently departed staff members this week – including some responses that raised concerns for district administrators.
For example, while 73.7 percent of survey respondents agreed that district leadership supports student success, 21 percent were neutral on that question – a result that left Superintendent Mike Harris “a little bit worried.”
“If our staff aren’t sure if district leadership supports their student success … I don’t know what’s getting lost in translation,” he said. “That was a little bit concerning for me.”
He was also troubled by the responses the departing employees gave when asked whether they’d felt comfortable approaching district leadership with concerns.
Only 63 percent of respondents agreed with that statement, Harris said, while 10.5 percent strongly disagreed.
“(That’s) not a great score,” Harris said. “I’m kind of, again, concerned here. … You’ve got to feel (like) no one is unreachable or unwilling to listen to a concerned employee about whatever the issue happens to be.”
Even fewer people (52.6 percent) agreed that they felt comfortable approaching school or department leadership, Harris noted.
“I was kind of surprised (there was) less comfort among this group of respondents … in approaching their direct supervisor or their school leadership, versus the district,” he said, adding, “There’s no reason for that to be in the 50 range. … We have to have open (communication between) employees and their supervisors.”
When asked whether they felt valued within their school and position, Harris said 57.9 percent of respondents agreed – a response ratio that was “too close to an even split for my liking.”
“I would hope that that number would be closer (to) 100 percent,” he said. “Every position (has a) specific role to play. So if … people don’t feel like they have value in what they’re doing, then we’ve got to work pretty hard to fix that. That’s very concerning.”
‘Definite themes’
After hearing Harris’ report, Trustee Mara Gans asked whether there were any “actionable items” the district could pursue in response to the exit survey results.
“(Are there) areas we can improve or give feedback to others for how we can improve?” she asked.
Harris said the district response would focus on the “definite themes” that arose from the survey – especially the answers showing respondents weren’t comfortable approaching school or district leadership with concerns.
“Those are things we can definitely fix, (with) regard to communication and openness and valuing of employees,” he said.
Board Chair Jared Kail said he appreciated that response, because it’s “really important for us to look at how we’re going to use this data.”
“If we’re not going to act on it, there’s no reason to gather it,” he said.
Other responses
Twenty-three certified staff members left the district at the end of the school year – “a pretty average number,” Harris said – and of those, 19 participated in the exit surveys.
About 84 percent of those respondents agreed that district leadership supported their professional success, and 73.7 percent agreed that their supervisor communicated well with them, he said, calling those numbers “pretty decent.”
About 68 percent of respondents said their supervisor or principal supported them, Harris continued, and almost 58 percent said they would recommend Fremont County School District 1 to a friend looking for employment in the field of education.
“Keep in mind, these responses were people who were departing the district for any number of reasons,” he noted. “(It may) have been their contracts were not renewed, or they were retiring … There were all kinds of factors that led to their decision to leave the district.”
Some of them may have been “disgruntled,” too, Kail said, adding that the 19 people who filled out the exit surveys represent about 7 percent of district employees – a “very small sliver of our population.”
“And when you look at that 7 percent … over half still have a very positive view of our district as a whole,” he said. “So I think in some respects … these (are) really good numbers, because they point to a district that is functioning well, where our employees are well-respected and feel valued.”
For more information, call FCSD 1 at (307) 332-4711.