St. Mary Parish committee renames itself, votes to recommend Panorama climate survey to school board

Lindsey Anselm, chair of the newly formed St. Mary Parish district culture and climate committee, led members Wednesday through organizational business and a presentation from Panorama Education, a third-party survey vendor the committee was asked to consider.

The committee voted to change its name to the "culture and climate committee," adopted a short vision statement, and voted to recommend that the full St. Mary Parish School Board consider contracting with Panorama for a districtwide climate survey; members asked district staff to obtain firm pricing and bring the item to the board for approval.

Why it matters: Committee members said a research-based, regularly administered climate survey would give parents, teachers, students and administrators shared, comparative data to guide district decisions about safety, attendance, engagement and supports funded by Title I and other sources.

The committee first discussed possible names and a vision before taking the formal renaming vote. "The name of the committee will be changed to culture and climate committee," Anselm said after members moved and seconded the proposal; a roll call-style voice vote followed and "Motion carries," she said.

Jackson Bynum, PanoramaEducationregional partnerships coordinator for Louisiana, presented the platform, saying the company supports "over 2,000 different districts" and that its dataset allows districts to benchmark against national baselines. He showed committee members how Panorama breaks results down by stakeholder group (students, staff, families), subgroup (ELL, chronically absent students, grade band) and school level.

Committee members asked about privacy, roster data and whether surveys could be anonymous. Bynum said roster uploads and student-information-system fields can be used to segment results and that anonymous administrations are possible for staff surveys. He said district administrators control who has access to raw data in the Panorama dashboard and that results can be published publicly at the district's discretion.

Cost and timeline: Committee members pressed for a concrete price. Bynum said pricing is annual and enrollment-based and characterized it as a range tied to scope: "it's anywhere to $56 per student, but that's dependent on the scope of the work," he said. Committee members asked district staff to secure a written estimate and clarified that approval by the full board and inclusion in the summer budget process would be required before funds are spent.

Formal actions and next steps: The committee voted to recommend Panorama to the school board for consideration; members asked staff to obtain a written cost estimate and to return the item to the board for approval. Lacey Quintanilla moved to recommend Panorama; Leanne Hepler seconded the motion, which passed on a voice vote.

The committee also agreed on a short vision statement built around "insight, inspiration and innovation," and set a regular meeting cadence: members voted to meet quarterly at approximately 5:30 p.m. with additional special meetings as needed around survey deadlines.

Open questions: Members recorded concerns and procedural items to resolve before a survey launch: (1) a written pricing estimate and budget source(s) (Title I, state procurement/super-app funds, general fund); (2) a written privacy/PII agreement and access plan specifying which administrators and board members will have platform login rights; (3) a bank of proposed questions for committee review so the group can choose research-based topics and any custom questions; and (4) a firm timeline for administration to allow results to inform next school-year planning.

Committee participants said they hoped to have a recommendation and cost estimate to present to the school board at the board meeting scheduled for next week; the district's budget process and state deadlines will determine final timing. "I would personally prefer for the teachers and administration's portion to be anonymous," Anselm said when the group discussed confidentiality for staff respondents.

The committee also proposed adding student representatives and discussed how many students and which schools should be represented; a motion to add students was made during the meeting but no recorded second or final vote was taken.

What happens next: District staff will request a written proposal and pricing from Panorama, prepare a recommendation packet for the school board, and share a bank of sample questions with committee members for review before a follow-up committee meeting to finalize content and administration windows.