Molly Wood, a process co‑chair of the district’s newly formed facilitating team, and other volunteer chairs presented the Compass community‑engagement plan and results from a district survey at the June 18 Northport‑East Northport Board of Education meeting.

The Compass facilitating team — described by Ron Godrow, one of the co‑chairs, as a 20‑plus person group of parents, former students, educators and local business representatives — will lead workshops and other outreach designed to produce community recommendations for long‑term district priorities. “The board of ed issued a charge to the community,” Wood said, “and the purpose of us gathering as a community is to travel this road to figure out how to fulfill that charge.”

An outside consultant, Rod Wright of Discovery Works, presented the survey methodology and topline findings. Wright said the electronic survey ran April 25–May 22 and produced 954 completed responses that were modeled to reflect district demographics. “The evaluation of the school district was quite high — 69% said A or B,” Wright said, while noting two recurring concerns: taxes and school‑building conditions. The survey found 86.9% agreed the district’s reputation draws families to the area, but 79.4% agreed “taxes on homeowners are too high.”

Wright summarized priorities respondents identified for a long‑range plan: keeping curriculum and instruction up to date; evaluating programs and facilities for long‑term financial savings; and developing a facility maintenance and improvement plan. He also reported lower scores in communications and in perceptions of services for students with special needs. Wright said cross‑tabulated data (breakdowns by age, household and attendance area) would be delivered to the district and posted with Compass materials.

Facilitating‑team co‑chair Lynn Grama outlined planned outreach, saying the group expects to run community workshops starting the week of Oct. 6 and to use door‑to‑door, printed and online communications to encourage attendance. Board members and staff emphasized the need for varied ways to show building conditions — in‑person tours, virtual tours, and videos — so residents can better understand facilities and finances.

Superintendent Dr. Moyer and board representative Mike Cleary both thanked the facilitators; Moyer asked that materials and the Compass web page be posted to centralize reports and verbatim community input. The board did not take action on the plan itself at the meeting but directed staff and the facilitating team to continue with the survey follow‑up and workshop scheduling.

The district said a second, follow‑up survey will be distributed later in the engagement process; the consultant noted a planned phone survey was not undertaken because of cost and changing federal dialing rules. The facilitating team and consultant will provide full cross‑tabs and a final report for the board.