New survey weighs the values of the Rockville Centre School District

Rockville Centre School District officials conducted a survey in the fall, asking parents and teachers what they thought were important values, outcomes and student experiences.

The results were based on 936 responses, 77 percent of them from parents with students in the district, 15 percent from district employees, and 5 percent from community members with no school-age children.

“We did this survey in the hopes of gathering useful information to help us plan the future,” Superintendent Matt Gaven said at the Board of Education meeting on Jan. 18.

The district asked respondents to rank the top five values they want the district to instill in its students, and 100 percent of them agreed on the No. 1 value: excellence.

Responsibility also ranked high with some 66 percent of respondents, followed by integrity, which ranked high for 54 percent. “It’s clear, if you look at excellence and responsibility, we have a culture of high achievement,” Gaven said.

One of the school board’s major focuses this year is strategic communication. “The board has expressed the desire to explore some new communication system just in terms of the way information gets sent out,” board President Kelly Barry said, “especially if there is important information that we want to get out to our community members and our parents in an expedient manner.”

Barry said that the district’s communication currently varies depending on the user, and that some have to take the extra step of downloading an attachment, which can interfere with the process.

To better understand the most effective means of interaction, the survey asked parents to list their preferred method of communication, and the vast majority ranked email at the top.

Since two of the district’s facilities are more than 100 years old — South Side Middle School and Riverside Elementary School — the survey asked respondents what they thought of the facilities and maintenance. In both cases, more than 50 percent answered that the buildings were in good shape.

Respondents were also asked to rate the security of the schools, but administrators pointed out that the survey was sent out only four weeks after the district hired Security Director Herns Mitton.

Mitton, who started work in September, has more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement. Before coming to Rockville Centre, he was the assistant commissioner of training for the New York City Department of Correction.

“We’ve already seen some positive steps that he has done, and I wouldn’t want anyone to think that we’re asking him to be rated after 48 days on the job,” Gaven said.

Shifting its focus toward students and the overall academic experience, the survey asked parents and teachers what they believe are the most important skills that should be reinforced in the schools. The vast majority said that communication, critical thinking, problem solving and interpersonal skills were among the most important.

In regard to the district’s measurement of student success, about 78 percent said that academic growth on a year-to-year basis was most important, while 62 percent said reading and math proficiency based on grade level, and course offerings and opportunities; 53 percent said extracurriculars; 51 percent said graduation rate and college/vocational placement; and 46 percent said college readiness indicators such as the SATs and ACTs.

Another major component of the survey focused on the district’s existing pre-kindergarten program, now located at the Oceanside JCC. All 794 people who responded to the question recommended that the district find additional space, and 81 percent recommended building additional classroom space in the existing elementary schools.

Gaven said that based on the results of the survey, the district’s next steps would be to create a focus group of high school seniors to gauge their perspective on the data, examine the capital works budget to determine how it aligns with the feedback, explore options to offer pre-K locally, look into creating a new website and parent communication system, and examine systems that measure student growth.

“I think it’s invaluable that parents have this opportunity, even if it’s not the participation rate you were expecting or hoping for,” Trustee Janet Gruner said. “I think that’s important that we continue to do that. I also really like that we’re going to talk with the students.”

“We need to mirror a lot of the student information that we’re taking from this, because we will only end up with one side of a question,” Trustee Tara Hackett said. “There are a lot of times when we see things on the outside of the schools one way, and the students say ‘no, my principal or my teacher explained that’ and they are educating us at home.”

Hackett said that it’s the board’s responsibility to ensure that it educates the community about the systems it has in place so that parents feel confident about where they are sending their children to school.

Following the presentation, Barry explained that every member of the board took the time to delve into the survey results, and trustees discussed them at their annual retreat.

“We would like to thank everyone that took the time to complete the survey,” she said, “and we look forward to the opportunity to get the student insights as well.”

In addition a student focus group, the board plans to send out another survey in the spring to all stakeholders, including students, with the goal of obtaining an update on how students, parents and faculty view the performance of district schools.