Firm gives overview of survey for school district strategic plan

Cape Girardeau School Board members sat with large, black binders in front of them at a special session Monday evening.

Hendrickson Business Advisors, having completed the survey portion of the strategic-planning efforts and extrapolated the data within them, presented its findings to the board.

"There are a lot of data here," Rhett Hendrickson of the consulting company said. "Taking it all in now would be like drinking from the firehose."

He instead focused his presentation on highlights from the many pages of results.

A total of 875 people responded to the survey. Respondents consisted of students (39.8 percent), staff (30.2 percent), parents and guardians (22.6 percent) and community members (7.4 percent).

Focus groups identified the top two roles of Cape Girardeau Public Schools as providing a quality education and a range of learning environments.

Of all the roles it performs, what the district does best is provide a quality education and a safe learning environment.

Where it lacks, respondents said, was in teaching life skills. And life skills, respondents said, were some of the most important for students to learn.

"Though they may agree that mathematics are important, in fact all STEM are important, languages and the arts are important," Hendrickson said, "they believe that soft skills are the most important for students' future success."

Survey respondents said parent engagement, pressure to succeed in standardized testing, student readiness and poverty are among the top challenges.

Finding internet access off campus also is a challenge many students face, with more than 20 percent of responding students reporting a lack of such access at home.

"We did hear from some teachers in focus groups that there were some students who would camp out in people's driveways and get on their WI-Fi, and they were allowing that if they needed to access the internet for reports," Hendrickson said.

But when it comes to technology in the schools, students at the junior-high level have a much more favorable view than high-school students.

In fact, Hendrickson said, junior-high students had a more positive outlook about their schools than the older students.

But when it comes to overall respondents' perceptions of the district's schools, Alma Schraeder and the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center were viewed most positively.

Franklin and Jefferson Elementary Schools were viewed least favorably.

And staff at the elementary schools, middle schools and CTC rated their work environment much higher than staff at the junior high and high school.

Six of 10 parents considered which schools their children would attend when choosing where to live, with elementary school choice being slightly more important than other grade levels.

Regarding safety, which Hendrickson said was discussed extensively in the survey, students and parents agreed they feel safer from external threats than internal ones.

"There's more concern that violence might come from within the school than from someone who has breached and entered," Hendrickson said.

With communication and relationships between schools and parents, parents said they want more opportunities to observe classroom activity. They have ample opportunity to volunteer but want the chance to observe.

Parents and students said they receive ample communication about grades and school progress.

Fifty-five percent of participating parents feel the staff cares about their children, and 34 percent said they have adequate resources.

About the school board's decision-making, openness and financial decisions, respondents were polarized, falling slightly more to the unfavorable side across all subgroups.

But respondents said the district shines in serving impoverished students, providing an inclusive environment and using technology when compared to other area schools. Its staff, more than any other group, would recommend the district to others.

The findings do not constitute trends, Hendrickson said, but provide empirical data.

"We will take these data, and we will convene a committee. Our firm and [superintendent Jim Welker's] team are collaborating to identify who would best comprise that strategic planning committee, to then really dive into these data deeply and start setting course for the school for the next three to five years," Hendrickson said. "That's what's happening next."

bbrown@semissourian.com

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