Methuen committee reviews family school‑climate survey showing generally favorable ratings but low participation

The Methuen School Committee on Feb. 24 received a presentation on family responses to a Panorama school‑climate survey that closed the previous week. "This is raw data...to give you an idea of the responses that we received," said Dr. Golovski, school district staff, as he opened the workshop presentation.

The presentation, which used charts produced by SurveyMonkey, reported 805 completed family surveys representing 1,122 students. District staff said the survey focused on three topics that align with existing VOCAL student data: school safety, engagement and climate. Staff also noted they will compare family responses to VOCAL student results and have youth participatory research teams review the student data.

Why it matters: committee members said the survey results will inform parts of the district strategic plan and help target follow‑up actions, but several members questioned whether the sample represents the broader Methuen parent population.

Key findings presented by staff included: email as the primary channel families use to receive district information; most respondents reporting their children enjoy school and feel a sense of belonging; generally favorable ratings for how well schools prepare students for the next academic year; mixed perceptions on how motivating classroom lessons are across different schools; most respondents saying bullying and drug use are "not at all" or only a "little" problem; and a majority saying it is not difficult for bullied students to get adult help.

Member Maxwell, a Methuen School Committee member, criticized the response rate and the survey design. "This survey was just not our best survey...still only 200 parents out of however many," Maxwell said, and added that the district serves about 7,000 students. Maxwell and other members urged shorter surveys and an open‑response option that can be coded for analysis.

Other members raised similar concerns. Member Keegan said the number of parents who reported they "almost never" discuss their child's school with other parents surprised staff and committee members and warranted follow‑up. Vice Chair Shabilius and other committee members suggested using the youth research teams and the administrative leadership meeting next month to dig deeper into items such as perceptions of violence, bullying and differences in responses between schools.

Staff said they will bring the data to school leadership teams and to the youth groups (grades 5–8) for further analysis and to identify targeted actions. Staff told the committee they will consider adding limited open responses to future surveys, put character limits on free text entries to make coding feasible, and consult other districts about tactics to raise participation.

The committee did not take formal action on the survey at the Feb. 24 workshop; staff described the presentation as a mid‑cycle check‑in and said a fuller analysis and recommended follow‑up will be provided to leadership and the committee later this year.

Next steps: district staff will compare family survey results with VOCAL student survey data, have youth participatory research teams analyze student responses, and present follow‑up recommendations to the leadership team and the committee at a later meeting.