By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT–At just about every school board meeting, it seems, the seven-member panel is crafting a survey or reviewing a survey.

There are ones on school climate, bullying, substance abuse, post-high school satisfaction, and this year, screen-time usages.

More than once, Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon has wondered out loud if it’s all necessary.

“I feel we spend so much time on surveys,” Hordon said at a meeting last week when two different surveys were discussed. “Do other districts administer as many surveys?”

Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice said there are a lot of surveys out there but that many districts don’t have a board policy, as Westport does, that requires all student surveys to be reviewed and approved by the board.

Hordon said she agrees with the policy but wondered if there were other ways to get the information the district wants without using up instructional time filling out online surveys.

She also said she worries about how solid survey results are.

Are kids taking them seriously, she asked.

“I do believe the information (received) is helpful,” Assistant Superintendent Michael Rizzo said, but conceded that he has learned some students don’t take the surveys as seriously as district officials would like..

Mainly, because they aren’t sure what the information is used for, he added.

In preparation for an upcoming school climate survey that is required by the state every other year, Rizzo and Assistant Superintendent Anna Mahon sat down with groups of elementary, middle and high school students.

Students told them it would be helpful if they understood why the surveys are important.

In terms of the climate survey–which the district opts to give every year–the responses help schools create programs to make school more appealing to students. In the absence of surveys, the district could rely more heavily on focus groups, but Scarice calls surveys more efficient.

The survey that will be given this spring has been changed based on feedback from the board, school principals and the student focus groups. As such, Mahon cautioned that it won’t be completely comparable to past climate surveys.

It is designed to measure perceptions of school climate across the areas of positive emotional climate, building and personal safety, instructional climate, students’ positive relationships and discipline, bullying and harassment, student engagement, and student outcomes. The survey will be given to students in grades 3 through 12, all staff, and all families, and is designed to take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

Last year’s 2025 Climate and Culture survey found a disconnect between how families, students and teachers view certain things. It found, for instance, that while most teachers and parents think kids “like school,” fewer than half of kids say they do.

This time around–at the suggestion of some students–the survey will ask if students “enjoy” school, rather than “like” it.

Board Chair Lee Goldstein said she appreciates that questions are being made clearer and more specific. She would, however, like to get a survey document that can stand the test of time and be used to compare how the district is doing compared to prior years.

“I agree we want a pretty set  … durable … instrument over time,” said Rizzo. The board will vote on the survey at its next meeting.

Meanwhile, unanimous approval was given to the annual post-high school plan survey given to seniors in May.

The annual survey, unchanged from last year, asks seniors about post-high school plans, college admission outcomes, and to reflect on their experience with the process. 

The Staples counseling staff uses the information to support future students and families.

The data also is posted on the Staples School Profile which is sent to colleges, according to Bill Plunkett, director of guidance at Staples.

“It’s a very important tool for us,” Plunkett said. Beyond the survey, the guidance staff also reaches out to alumni to offer tips to underclassmen.

Linda Conner Lambeck

^{_{Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.}}