Henry County staff survey finds high participation, flags discipline and social-emotional supports

Lisa Milner, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, told the Henry County Public Schools Board of Education on May 20 that the district’s annual employee climate survey drew 709 responses out of 722 instructional staff — a 98.2% response rate — and yielded both positive results and clear areas for follow-up.

The survey used questions from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics school climate instrument and was administered during the week of May 12–16 to faculty or grade‑level meetings to maximize participation, Milner said.

Milner said the most positive findings include a strong sense of belonging among staff, comfort discussing issues with building principals, and familiarity with emergency procedures. "I feel like I belong at this school," she said when summarizing the question-level responses. She reported that 55% of respondents agreed and 35% strongly agreed that they feel safe in their schools and that a large majority reported knowing what to do in an emergency.

At the same time, the survey highlighted several areas for improvement. Milner said roughly 22% of respondents disagreed that administration involves staff in school-level decision making; about 20% disagreed that their school is "clean and pleasant," and more than 20% indicated concerns about adequacy of programs and resources for students with disabilities. Questions about social and emotional supports for both staff and students also produced a substantial minority of disagreeing responses. "Of all of the areas highlighted, this is one of our primary concerns going into next school year," Milner told the board about discipline and behavior management results.

The district said it will address the concerns through a mix of training, staffing and tools. Milner named Safe and Civil Schools training already underway and scheduled additional sessions for teachers on Nov. 3–4; continued use of the Virginia Tiered System of Supports (VTSS) with summer administrator training; expanded online resources including EduCLIMBER and an educators handbook to track disciplinary events; new special-education lead positions; addition of deans of students at middle schools; and security officers at high schools. Milner said the math and curriculum teams and building principals will get school-level spreadsheets and be required to bring analysis to end-of-year evaluation conferences next week.

Board members thanked staff for the high participation rate and pressed for school-by-school breakdowns. Milner said she will ask principals to develop building-level plans where a school’s data fall outside typical ranges and will analyze whether concerns are concentrated in particular schools or staff groups. "We will break it down by school," she said.

The board did not take formal action on the survey presentation; Milner framed the report as information and outlined next steps for principals and central office staff.

Ending: The board’s discussion closed with agreement to use the survey results to guide training and staffing decisions for 2025–26. Milner said principals will report plans during evaluation conferences, and the central office will follow up on implementation and targeted supports.