A recent survey conducted by Sweetwater County School District No. 2 reveals there are aspects of the district that residents are pleased with, though it could improve in others.
As part of his state of the district presentation to the district’s board of trustees earlier this month, Superintendent Craig Barringer said the survey gave the district a good look at how different stakeholders viewed topics about the district’s schools. School safety was the highest rated issue for the district’s survey, something Barringer was pleased to see.
The survey had 1,599 responses, with 1,050 coming from students ranging from fifth grade to high school seniors. Additionally, 295 parents, 249 staff and nine building administrators took part in the survey.
The surveys were tailored to the people they were administered to as well, with staff and administrators answering 54 questions, parents responding to 39 questions and students receiving 10 questions. A score of 3.5 or higher is considered a quality score for the topic.
The district scored high in school safety, orderliness and the learning processes developed by the district. The average for questions regarding safety have an average of 4.32 out of a total of five points. The largest disconnect between the two response groups occurred between administrators, who averaged 4.65, and students, who averaged 3.95 for the question.
“School safety was our highest score across the board,” Barringer said. “If you go on Amazon, you have a hard time finding ratings that high on some of their products . . . It’s good to know that people think our school is safe.”
With the question asking if schools were orderly places, the district averaged a score of 4.10. Administrator, staff and parent responses each averaged higher than four points, while students averaged 3.69 points. A question to staff and administrators focusing on if the schools have clear and specific rules and procedures in place averaged 4.4 points for administrators and 4.16 for staff as well. Parents and students did not receive the question on their surveys.
Opinions amongst administrators and staff regarding schools’ professional learning communities also scored high. A question asking if a professional learning community process is in place in schools scored 4.85 amongst administrators and 4.51 amongst staff.
A second question asking if the schools’ learning communities collaborative teams had written goals scored an average of 4.30 amongst administrators and 4.27 from staff.
Students and parents were not asked about professional learning communities, but did receive a question about if they believed teachers met together on a regular basis. Parents responded with an average of 4.16, with the student response average being 3.88.
One potential issue the survey revealed is a feeling there isn’t a formal means of giving input regarding the “optimal functioning” of a school. The average amongst all responses was a score of 2.89. Administrators averaged 2.63, staff averaged 3.13, parents averaged 2.97 and students averaged 2.81.
“You can see across the board that was our lowest score on the survey,” Barringer said.
Barringer said the issue came from initiatives related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he believes the opinions related to formal input are starting to improve.
“You can see now it’s starting to pick up, but we need to provide more formal ways . . . we need to share how we’re doing it because I see lots of people in our buildings for good reasons,” he said.
Other data from the state of the district presentation
Throughout the district, 26% of the student population qualify for free or reduced meals, a percentage lower than the 34% average for Wyoming schools. The schools with the largest percentage of students receiving free or reduced meals are Washington Elementary School at 42% and Truman Elementary School at 32%. Additionally, 17% of students in the district qualify for special education services.
Overall, the district has 555 employees, comprised of 17 administrative positions, 227 certified staff and 311 support staff. The district reports 17 positions are funded through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which were established through COVID-19 federal funding packages in 2020 and 2021.
The University of Wyoming is a large contributor to certified staff in the district as 54% are UW graduates.
Western Governors University alumni make up the second-highest percentage of certified staff, amounting to 8% of the total certified staff population.
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