The Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah School District invited community members, parents and staff to participate in a survey that was conducted in late May through early June 2018. Over 2,000 paper surveys were sent out for completion. All were also provided a unique survey access code if they preferred to take the survey on-line. Survey responses were submitted directly to School Perceptions, an independent firm with expertise in conducting community surveys to insure all feedback remained anonymous. Bill Foster of School Perceptions shared the survey results with the School Board at their July meeting. Click on the link below for his complete presentation of the results. There were a total of 364 responses or approximately 15%. This is slightly less than the normal return rate of 18%. Mr. Foster attributed this slightly lower rate to the timing of the survey (as ELG has many residents that are gone for the winter and spring) and also because of the overall positive climate towards the school in the community. However, from his prior experience, he felt the survey gave an accurate perception within a few percentage points. In addition to the numerical data in the survey, School Perceptions did an analysis on the comments shared by the respondents. These fell into five categories: 1) the importance of preparing students for life after high school, rather it be college or career; 2) the desire to continue/expand global education and begin offering foreign language courses in earlier grades; 3) general support of the District renewing the operational referendum, but wanting the money to be used wisely; 4) a need for firmer, more consistent discipline for students who bully/cause problems, and 5) many shared what they liked best about the District, including the small class sizes, the dedicated staff/administration, and the variety of opportunities offered to students. An additional theme came through for the need for more affordable family housing to be built in the district. While the district agrees this would be of great benefit and is a need, this is not in our area of control. However, we do appreciate the efforts that are being made in the communities in our district to have this happen. Throughout his presentation to the Board of Education, Mr. Foster commented several times that in all his years of doing school and community surveys, he had never seen such positive results. He was amazed at the strong community support the survey demonstrated and the pride they had in their school system. He felt, as a District, we were extremely fortunate to live in such a supportive community. On behalf of the administration, board, staff, and students—we couldn’t agree with him more! We thank those who took the survey. Your feedback and comments are very valuable in the future planning of the District.
Click here for the survey results