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Groton‑Dunstable presents staff and community climate survey results; leaders flag areas for deeper review
Summary
District staff presented results from staff and community climate surveys showing strengths in learning and assessment and physical appearance, and consistent concerns in leadership/decisions and instances of verbal abuse; school leaders said they will dig into areas with undesired responses and build action plans.
The Groton‑Dunstable Regional School District presented staff and community culture and climate survey results during the school committee meeting on Jan. 22, outlining areas of relative strength and challenge and describing next steps for deeper review and action.
Abby Kachura, identified in the meeting as the district coordinator for tiers 2 and 3 in the multi‑tiered system of supports, described the design and administration of the surveys. The staff survey contained 75 questions; responses per question ranged from 209 to 294. The community survey contained 46 questions and drew 936 to 1,263 responses per question, Kachura said. Both surveys used an online Qualtrics platform and question items selected from a national instrument.
Kachura summarized findings by themed sections. From staff responses the district’s strongest area was "learning and assessment," which averaged about 4.05 on the district scale she presented, while "leadership and decisions" averaged 3.22, one of the lower categories. From the community responses, "physical appearance" ranked near the high end (about 3.97) and again "leadership and decisions" was lower. Kachura and committee members flagged specific items that require deeper follow‑up, including responses indicating that some students said verbal abuse occurs at school.
"With this question, we also want to look deeper into this because there are responses where people don't feel safe from violence," Kachura said, urging targeted follow‑up on those specific items.
Committee members and staff described how the data will be used. The district leadership team, principals and coordinators have reviewed the data; the district data review team — which includes school committee and parent stakeholders — also examined the results, committee officials said. Staff said the district will use the item‑level information to identify pockets of weaker responses for inquiry and to inform school improvement planning and staff and school council discussions.
Kachura said the next student administration is planned for March, with scheduling coordinated to avoid overlap with MCAS and other surveys. The district also compared the 2023 and 2024 administrations and reported slight year‑to‑year increases in most staff metrics and mixed results for community averages (leadership/decisions dipped slightly).
Committee members asked for the survey data to be distributed to building leadership, school councils and the public with clear context on how to read averages versus distributions. One committee member urged particular attention to students who are below average on measures, noting aggregated averages can hide students with the greatest needs.
No formal committee action was taken; the presentation was informational. Committee members said they will return to the topic as action plans are developed.
