District reports stable belonging survey results; open‑text responses prompt targeted follow‑up and house rollout

New Albany‑Plain Local Schools presented results from the 2024–25 student belonging survey and described planned follow‑up via building dashboards and the district’s house implementation.

Greg (presenter identified as district staff) said the survey — administered in November to grades 1–12 — returned fewer responses than prior years (about 496 fewer total respondents). Despite lower participation, he said overall results were “very similar to previous years” and that no metric “jumped out as a major concern.”

Why it matters: The survey measures students’ sense of belonging, an indicator the district ties to social‑emotional supports and academic outcomes. The district added open‑ended responses for students who reported low belonging to get more context and planned building‑level action plans based on the results.

Key findings - Participation and administration: Participation fell compared with prior years; administrators said this may be related to a shorter administration window (two days this year versus a week previously). The decline was larger in grades 1–6 than at the high school level. - Aggregate results: Large majorities of students reported feeling welcomed, respected by teachers, and having at least one trusted adult; many indicators remained steady compared with previous years though some measures showed small shifts from the top to middle categories. - Open‑text responses: Of students who indicated they “did not belong at all” or “belonged a little,” 223 were shown an open‑text question and 198 usable responses were coded into themes. Common themes included general “students” (not specified), feeling excluded or unwelcomed, lack of friends, being new to the school, and self‑confidence or appearance concerns. Staff also noted some students mentioned economic reasons — both feeling they had less money and, in a smaller number of responses, feeling different because they had more money.

Follow up and actions District staff said building administrators have access to a dashboard that allows disaggregation by grade, question and building, and that principals will use the data to create targeted action plans. The district also connected the survey findings to its “house” implementation (a school‑wide system intended to increase belonging) and reported that one building piloted house structures in the fall; other buildings will phase in houses with the high school starting next week.

Quotes from the meeting “Our results are very similar to previous years. I did not see anything that jumped out as a major concern,” said Greg, summarizing the aggregate survey findings.

Ending District staff said they will return with disaggregated building‑level analysis and action plans, and staff asked that the board receive a follow‑up briefing on house implementation concurrent with the survey follow up.