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Orange County Schools report improved responses but flag middle‑school experience as concern
Summary
Orange County Public Schools officials presented spring 2025 stakeholder survey results showing the district met accreditation response-rate targets and recorded higher satisfaction scores for families and staff, while secondary student net promoter scores remained low and middle‑school measures showed a drop from fall to spring.
Orange County Public Schools officials told the school board June 24 that the district’s in‑house spring 2025 stakeholder survey met accreditation response targets and produced mixed results: strong family and staff satisfaction but low student promoter scores and a decline in some middle‑school measures.
The presentation, led by senior administrator Dr. Borger, reported the district met the spring response targets required for accreditation — 60% staff, 40% students and 20% families — with staff at 69%, surveyed secondary students (grades 6–12) at 55% and families at 27%. “We met all of those response rates,” Borger said, reading the outcomes to the board.
The data showed divergence across metrics. On a set of key performance indicators tied to the outgoing OCPS 2025 strategic plan, teachers reported confidence in resiliency training (61% rated confident or very confident about district training) and 84% reported confidence in their own skills supporting student resiliency. Secondary students’ sense of belonging averaged 71% favorable and overall school‑climate measures were 68% favorable, Borger said. By contrast, the secondary student net promoter score (NPS) remained negative; Borger reported a student NPS of negative 28 in the spring and noted that NPS is a particularly high bar for students.
Board members and staff spent most of the discussion unpacking that student result and middle‑school trends. “The k‑8 results are higher than the traditional middle schools,” Borger said in response to a question from board member Angie Gallo. Board members pressed for more granular analysis: Gallo asked for the actual survey items and for the district to share the juxtaposed fifth‑ and sixth‑grade surveys used to compare perceptions and experiences. Borger agreed to provide the full question set and the juxtaposed instruments.
The district also reported adding a satisfaction item (percent somewhat or extremely satisfied) that showed higher favorable rates: 62% for secondary students, 78% for staff and 86% for families. Borger said the district plans to phase satisfaction into the new strategic plan as a measure of success and to sunset the NPS metric tied to the outgoing plan.
District staff highlighted the ThoughtExchange open‑ended feedback platform used alongside the quantitative survey. Borger said families contributed nearly 7,000 thoughts from more than 9,400 participants, with recurring themes asking for more transparent and timely communication and more support for special‑education services. Staff feedback (about 2,900 thoughts) emphasized pay, autonomy and professional development for school‑based employees; central‑office staff prioritized pay, flexibility and growth opportunities.
Board members requested follow‑up data and next steps. Gallo and others asked the district to provide demographic breakdowns of results (by economic status and other variables), to compare outcomes for students who attend k‑8 schools versus traditional middle schools, and to make school‑level deeper dives available via the district’s Power BI dashboards. Borger described a district process that allows principals to run targeted deeper‑dive surveys after the fall administration; he said schools in the lower quartile of an indicator are expected to conduct follow‑ups.
Actions and follow‑up items identified during the meeting include: the district will share the full survey question set with the board, circulate the fifth/sixth‑grade juxtaposed instrument, provide comparative data for k‑8 versus traditional middle schools, and report back on deeper‑dive trends at the school level. Borger also said the superintendent will take student town halls to middle schools next year to gather direct student feedback.
Board members framed the findings as both encouraging and a call to action. Borger and Superintendent Vasquez said the new strategic plan (launching July 1) will use the survey and ThoughtExchange results to inform measures of success and district initiatives.
For now, the district will move from an outsourced survey to the in‑house model introduced last year, which Borger credited with lowering costs and allowing fall and spring administrations so schools can act on interim data.
