Minnetonka survey finds high overall satisfaction; technology and cell‑phone use remain top parent concerns

The Minnetonka Public School District on an agenda meeting (date not specified) received results of its annual parent survey from Communications Executive Director Dr. Getty, who said the district received 1,684 responses and used an external survey vendor and an AI partner to code and summarize comments.

Dr. Getty told the board, "We had 1,684 respondents, which was about 7 more than last year," and said the district refined the survey questions with outside review to avoid leading language. She said the results show "97% said excellent or good" when asked to rate the education provided by the district.

The survey showed broad strengths and some targeted areas for attention. Dr. Getty said measures of belonging and well‑being rose across grade levels and that awareness of bullying‑prevention efforts increased, with a 5% rise at the elementary level in parents reporting awareness of those efforts. At the same time, technology and student personal device use repeatedly appeared in open comments: Dr. Getty said technology balance and "student cell phone use or policy" were the number‑one topic raised by parents who offered advice for principals.

Board members and district leaders framed the survey as both broad and actionable. Superintendent Law and board members said the larger set of individual comments — which the administration routes to principals and appropriate staff — is used for follow‑up. Board member Dan noted the district receives the full report with individual comments and that administration ensures those individual concerns are directed to the right offices. Board member Kamari asked whether year‑to‑year participation is steady; Dr. Getty said response levels were ‘‘steady with last year’’ after a survey redesign that made it easier for one parent to report multiple children.

Breakouts reported by Dr. Getty included: 97% of respondents rated district education as excellent or good (a 1% increase year over year); 95% said they would recommend their child’s school on average (up 1%); and at the high school level measures of students’ enjoyment of school and belonging showed notable gains (Dr. Getty cited a 4% increase in enjoyment and a 21% increase in belonging for one high‑school metric). She also reported that about 91% of respondents described their child as attending in person (with 1% fully e‑learning).

Among concerns raised repeatedly in comments were device and screen‑time policies, class size, communications consistency, homework workload and end‑of‑year scheduling changes. Dr. Getty said the district will continue targeted follow‑up with principals and staff and noted the administration is preparing a technology onboarding and resource page for parents.

Board members asked for additional data connections. Board member Mike asked about the rise in parent reporting of bullying and whether it reflected greater reporting or an actual increase in incidents; Superintendent Law and Dr. Getty said the survey responses are not directly linked to incident tracking and that the district will present overlapping behavior trend data at a November session to clarify whether reporting increases correspond to incident trends.

Dr. Getty said the district will post survey information, including plan components, on the district website and in school handbooks for the coming school year. Board members emphasized that the survey and the underlying comments inform board goals and local follow‑up work.

Looking ahead, the board noted that technology and cell‑phone policy discussions will continue this fall and that the administration will return with additional data and proposals for targeted efforts.