Superintendent Beth Shackelford told the O'Fallon Township High School District 203 board that a districtwide facilities assessment survey completed by staff produced early themes that will guide more detailed interviews and planning.

"We did have a 132 responses," Shackelford said, summarizing participation. She noted the survey was intentionally offered to all staff and not limited to classroom teachers.

Why it matters: The district is updating both a five-year plan and a longer-range facilities strategy. Early staff feedback shapes priorities for capital reinvestment, repair schedules and site-specific projects as administrators prepare design and budget recommendations.

Survey findings: On the Smiley campus the top priority among respondents was classroom space, followed by restrooms and storage; outdoor priorities there placed parking first and security second. "Number 1 was parking," Shackelford said, describing Smiley's outdoor priorities and noting the campus is landlocked. At the newer Milburn campus, respondents ranked HVAC as the top building priority, followed by classroom space and storage. Across campuses staff expressed concerns about storage sufficiency and mixed views about technology infrastructure. Respondents also emphasized flexible classroom spaces and technology in a free-response question; the largest recurring words in a word cloud were "classroom," "technology," "space" and "flexible."

Process and next steps: Shackelford said the survey is an initial data-gathering step; the next phase will include interviews with staff and deeper facility-condition assessment work. She also cautioned that more specific project scopes and cost estimates will come later in the facilities-assessment process.

Ending: Board members asked clarifying questions about who received the survey and how responses would be translated into concrete projects. District staff said the survey results will inform the facilities committee and future board decisions about prioritized capital expenditures.