Staff climate survey: Beloit employees report strengths in peer relationships and safety; concerns remain about district direction and parent/community support

The committee received a district-level report of the School District of Beloit’s fall 2024 staff climate survey conducted by School Perceptions.

The survey window yielded 394 respondents — about a 54% participation rate — which the vendor characterized as a strong response for a district Beloit’s size. Respondents included classroom teachers (about half), educational specialists, paraprofessionals, support staff and administrators; roughly 40% reported more than ten years with the district.

School Perceptions summarized results by five indexes: academics, engagement, support, student experience and staff experience. The district scored above the neutral midpoint (3.0 on a 1–5 scale) on four of the five indexes; the academics index remained just below 3.0. Highest-scoring items included healthy working relationships with co‑workers, staff belief that the school does a good job educating students, access to technology support and feeling safe at work. Items with the largest declines year over year were perceptions that parents and the community support the district (down ~12%), the extent to which district administration is doing what it takes (down ~9%), and whether the district is heading in the right direction (down ~7%).

The vendor and district staff discussed next steps: review subgroup and building-level data, prioritize a small set of improvement initiatives, and bring recommendations to the board. The vendor offered to work with the district on strategic planning, prioritized interventions and examples of other districts’ successful practices.

Ending: District leaders said they will meet with the professional employees’ association and administrative teams to set priorities and bring forward targeted recommendations for improvement and further action.