Schools and Education Groundwork for Planned 'Climate Survey' Presented to School Board

BRADENTON — Before Diana Greene was voted in as Superintendent of the Manatee School District, a stipulation was agreed upon that the district conduct a 'Climate Survey' within the first three months of her administration.

At Tuesday's workshop, the school board was given an update on the planned survey. The purpose of such a survey, the board was advised, would be to "gather valuable input from all district stakeholders; parents, staff, and community members"; to "gain insight into current opinions and perceptions inside and outside the District," and "gather the data needed to continue to provide a healthy school climate to contribute to the achievement of students and a healthy working environment for staff across the District."

Dr. Greene advised the board that some groundwork on such a survey had been done by former Superintendent Rick Mills, Manatee Education Association President Pat Barber, United Way of Manatee County President Phillip Brown, and AFSCME President Bruce Mohr. 

After she went back and looked at that groundwork, said Greene, it was agreed upon by her, Barber, Brown and Mohr that an independent, external group do the survey.

Greene also said that Mills had met with the others in that 4-person committee and developed a proposed list of community members for a committee that would discuss the proposed process for the surveys and submit questions and feedback.

Currently made up of 35 community members, Greene stated, "At no point is this a final list," noting that invitational letters to the proposed members had not been sent out yet, and that additional names would likely be needed due to eliminating declining members on the list. 

Along with Dr. Greene, the update was given to the board by Barber, Mohr, Brown, and DeJong Richter's Scott Leopold, who was present to assist the board in meeting the deadline. Leopold advised the board that two separate surveys are proposed for the process.

An 'Employee Attitude Survey' consisting of teachers, administration, AFSME union members, and support staff would be mostly conducted through email, and a climate survey with 400-500 members of the public would be given by phone.

Calling it "a statistical phone survey," Leopold said that the participants would be "a randomly selected group based on voter rolls," and that the respondents' demographics would mirror the demographics of the district as a whole.

The still-developing surveys would be conducted in mid to late July; data would be compiled and analyzed by August; and a report with results would be presented to district, board, and Community Committee by September 1.

The idea of doing a district-wide Climate Survey has floated around since early into former Superintendent Rick Mills' administration, when some community members began alleging that Mills had created a 'climate of fear' among teachers and staff in the county's schools (Mills has gone on record calling the allegations "a bunch of crap.")