Dist. 202 Survey Says: More Technology, Tougher Curriculum

Parents and community members in say the district should focus on increasing student access to technology, providing a more rigorous curriculum and improving its anti-bullying curriculum in the next five years.

According to results from an online community survey conducted in March and April, district residents were generally happy with the district, saying that it has done a good job meeting the goals it set five years ago. For developing resources to meet the district’s vision, mission and goals, residents gave the district a 3.6 rating out of a possible 5.0 rating, according to the survey results.

More than 3,000 people -- 79 percent said they were parents or guardians of current district students – took the non-scientific survey, which is one of the first steps district administrators will use when forming a long-range plan and new goals for the next five years.

The district has also conducted a strategic planning workshop made of about 275 staff members, residents, parents, community and business leaders in each of the district’s “houses” to help formulate a new set of goals and discuss where the district should head in terms of curriculum, communication, staff, technology and finances. Principals from each of the 30 schools recommended these participants to get a diverse group, district officials said.

“While not a scientific sampling, the community survey certainly gives us a significant sense of the community’s reflection and priorities,” Supt. John Harper said in a statement. “It’s a good starting point for our conversations and work to create a strategic plan for the next five years.”

Important issues to the community as the district looks ahead include increasing and better integrating student access to current technology. According to the survey results, this was the top priority, with respondents rating it a 4.5 out of a possible 5.0.

Challenging students through a more rigorous curriculum and increasing access to more advanced classes was another priority, with respondents rating it a 4.4 out of 5.0.

Respondents also were interested in programs that promote socially-positive ideals, such as trustworthiness and honestly, and enhancing the anti-bullying curriculum. Those topics were awarded a 4.4 out of 5.0 rating, according to the survey results.

Parents were generally satisfied with the district’s communication strategies, the Parent Web Module online student data system and the English Language Learner, gifted and special education programs.

The survey asked participants what type of community-wide programs they might support. Results indicate the community is interested in more special programming for parents, including bullying and drunk driving workshops, college information nights and Internet safety programs.

Those who responded to the survey also said they were interested in fee-based community member education programs, such as adult language classes, fitness programs and civics courses.

District spokesman Tom Hernandez said the survey results were not surprising, but rather affirmed the work that has already been done and the needs that have been identified.

Particularly challenging will be ensuring that programs are as efficient and cost effective as possible and that new initiatives are affordable, he said.

Finding programs to drop as the district deals with its deficit will also be hard since it is much easier to add new programs, Hernandez said.

“The hard part will be making sure we can afford to add new things to the system without adding new costs,” he said.

The district plans to use the survey results and the information gathered during the strategic planning workshops to create new goals for the next five years. Those goals will then go to the school board in the fall to review and approve.

The district has not released as part of the community survey specific answers left in the anonymous comment section because they are pre-decisional and preliminary, Hernandez said. The comments have also not been discussed by the district administration publicly.

Joliet Herald News editors believe those comments should be public record, and they have asked the Illinois attorney general’s office to review them to determine if the 248 pages can be released.

“There are concerns for the privacy of those who shared their opinions -- some containing very detailed, personal information -- through an anonymous survey tool,” Hernandez said. “We believe those people who bravely shared their thoughts have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”