Climate survey: district reports strong safety and teacher-student relationships; online safety and social-emotional security flagged for follow-up

District staff presented initial results from the National School Climate Center survey at the April 8 Curriculum, Instruction & Technology meeting, saying districtwide median scores show many strengths alongside a few areas that need further analysis.

Using a 1–5 Likert scale, the district treats a median score of 3.5 or higher as a positive. Staff told the committee that no district-level dimension fell into a negative or neutral range overall; highlights included high median scores for physical security, teacher‑student relationships, school connectedness and physical surroundings.

Response rates and subgroup notes

Staff reported response rates of 70.1% for students (grades 3+), 44.3% for staff and 14.3% for families, with family response stronger at elementary buildings than at middle and high school. Presenters cautioned that some online-safety items produced many N/A responses—particularly among elementary students who may not participate in online social media—so item-level analysis is necessary before drawing firm conclusions.

Areas for follow-up

The district identified two priority areas for further analysis: students' sense of social-emotional security and online safety. Staff noted students rated social-emotional security slightly higher than staff and families did and said principals will receive building-level data to inform goal setting.

Next steps

Principals are meeting with central office to review building-level item analyses and are expected to incorporate findings into achievement reports and local goal-setting for the 2024–25 school year. Staff said the climate results will inform building action plans and that more granular data will be shared at future CIT meetings and in principals' achievement reports.