Prevention council presents survey showing stronger student relationships, recommends focus groups and teacher 'sparks'

Paula Conway, president of Spark, and Emma Johnson Hollis, behavioral‑health director for the Western Connecticut Coalition, presented results of a repeat developmental‑relationships survey to the Regional School District 12 board on May 18, saying the district showed measurable improvements since the 2024 baseline.

"We have moved the margins from moderate to strong in self‑identity and social‑emotional learning," Emma Johnson Hollis said, summarizing the instrument (the Search Institute developmental relationships survey) and the two‑year comparison.

The presenters highlighted several concrete findings. They said a majority of students rated social‑emotional learning competencies highly and that the proportion of students reporting strong developmental relationships increased compared with the prior iteration. At the same time, presenters reported that 19% of respondents indicated experiences of bias or discrimination from peers or adults and recommended focused supports for those students. "That 19% figure is down from before, but there is still room for improvement," Conway said.

On substance use, Conway and Hollis said the district appears to be trending downward overall: alcohol self‑reports were described as "nearly halved" since the baseline, cannabis remained largely unchanged, and vaping showed a slight increase; the presenters cautioned that small sample sizes make percentage swings sensitive. "Because we are a small school, halving a percentage can reflect a change of only a few students," Hollis noted, saying the survey clean‑up procedures remove unreliable responses.

The presentation introduced a new 'sparks' measure that asks students about their interests; presenters reported 66% of students listed sports/physical activity, 57% listed nature/outdoors and 39% listed creative activities. Conway recommended creating student focus groups to channel those interests into classroom and extracurricular opportunities and suggested district staff check teachers' own 'sparks' as a way to translate passion into instruction.

Presenters described funding for the work as coming largely from Western Connecticut Coalition support and an opioid‑prevention grant, and they said the coalition has sought to diversify funding to sustain follow‑up. They recommended a two‑year survey cadence and proposed using Tufts Medical’s "Hope Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences" training as a professional development option.

Board members pressed on several operational points: how results would be shared with students, how to increase participation in a small school, protections around sharing sensitive demographic‑based findings, and whether the district should run focus groups to add qualitative data. Conway and Hollis said they plan to work with district staff over the summer to organize focus groups and return with a plan in the fall.

The presentation concluded with an offer to provide the full data set to the district and to coordinate next steps on student engagement and teacher supports.