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Vermillion superintendent reports staff survey results, cell-phone policy conversation and district employee awards
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Elvey presented staff survey results, noted employee-of-the-year recognitions and said the district is continuing conversations about tightening cell-phone use in classrooms.
Superintendent Dr. Elvey reported to the Vermillion School District 13-1 Board of Education on March 10 that the district completed a staff survey and is continuing discussions about student cell-phone policy, while honoring several classified and teacher employees of the year.
Why it matters: staff satisfaction, classroom device policies and employee recognition are routine but material to district operations and teacher retention; the board heard survey results and discussed next steps for policy review.
Key points - Staff survey: the district had 124 respondents to a staff survey conducted before winter break; participation was slightly lower than the prior year. Dr. Elvey said several measures (inspiration by district vision, resources to do the job, enjoyment of work, belief that the district meets student needs, feeling contributions are valued and safety) remained relatively steady compared with last year, but he noted downward trends in some areas when earlier years' data are included and said staff will analyze multi-year trends.
- Social media reach: Dr. Elvey said district social-media posts have had substantial regional reach; he reported that Nicole's postings on Facebook had produced about 56,227 "touches or views." The district will continue to use social media for outreach and event notices.
- Employee awards: the board heard that building-level winners for classified and teacher of the year include (elementary) Kaylyn Wagner (SLPA) and Laura Chandler (early childhood), (middle) Teresa Stevens (special-education para) and Audrey Job (elementary science teacher), and (high school) Yiping Wang (special-education para) and Cammie Dibley (teacher of the year). The superintendent said winners will be honored at an end-of-year celebration and that the high-school teacher will be recognized at graduation.
- Cell-phone policy: Dr. Elvey said staff and administrators continue to discuss cell-phone use in classrooms; a staff survey found 52% of respondents preferred the current policy while 41% preferred change. He said one area for possible tightening is preventing phone use during instruction because students have district-provided laptops for classwork.
Other items and context Dr. Elvey also briefed the board on the EnvisionEd Finland project (outdoor learning-space student work judged later in the month), parent-teacher-conference participation rates (elementary about 82%), and the transition from Smarter Balanced testing to ACT administration at the high school next year.
Ending The board asked staff to bring more multi-year survey comparisons and to continue the cell-phone policy conversation at future meetings.
