District 21 to Launch Humanex ‘Insight’ Climate Survey for Staff; Results to Guide Fall Action

Wheeling CCSD 21 trustees heard a presentation June 12 on a new staff culture and climate program the district will roll out in the 2025–26 school year in partnership with Humanex Ventures.

The program will begin with a 92‑question, anonymous survey called “Insight into Excellence,” administered at the district and building levels in early fall and again in the spring, Humanex presenter Brad said. "It's an anonymous confidential survey," Brad told the board, describing the instrument as covering 15 dimensions of workplace culture and intended to produce actionable diagnostics the district can use to improve climates at each building.

Humanex framed the survey as a tool to create a common language about talent, culture and teams across District 21 and to produce both building-level and districtwide priorities. The presenter said the firm typically achieves 80–100% participation and delivers data the next day; feedback sessions then guide local action plans. The district and Humanex plan a joint district-level committee with equal representation of administration and the District 21 Education Association (DEA) to oversee aggregate analysis and systemic planning.

Why it matters: Humanex and district leaders said school building culture correlates with staff engagement and student outcomes, and that repeated measurement plus facilitated feedback is intended to drive continuous improvement. Superintendent Dr. Connolly told the board the district began a working relationship with Humanex this year focused on recruitment and leadership development and will expand to systemwide culture work, including administering the survey and facilitating feedback sessions.

Key details and next steps: Brad described the instrument as 92 statements across 15 dimensions, using a Likert response scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), plus an option for participants who have been on the job too short to respond. The district plans two measurement cycles next year—his target was "sometime in September" for the baseline and again in spring—and to facilitate building and district feedback sessions after each administration. Brad said the process includes voting within buildings to choose the top item to focus on and producing an action plan with “GPS coordinates” for the next cycle.

Board members asked about question phrasing and open-ended responses. Brad and district staff explained that items are phrased positively but can be answered across the scale; the survey does not include free-text comment fields to protect anonymity and avoid inflaming local disputes. The district will provide training and support: Humanex will facilitate feedback and action planning with the intent of building local capacity to eventually lead sessions themselves.

Concerns and safeguards: Board members asked about confidentiality and whether issues tied to a single supervisor would surface; Brad said low scores (ones and twos) indicate a local problem to investigate, and that the anonymous, aggregate design prevents identifying individual respondents. The district also plans a joint district–DEA committee to oversee use of results and follow-through.

What the district will measure and how it will be used: The presenter said the survey’s dimensions include pride, engagement, talent fit, communication and continuous improvement. Humanex said the analysis provides “gas pedals and gear shifts” — specific questions and actions tied to low scores — and that the firm will return to check progress after action planning. Board members and administrators said they expect the work to be used for building-level improvement and districtwide strategic priorities.