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Oshkosh school leaders review Gallup staff engagement results and retention efforts
Summary
District leaders told the Board of Education that the fall Gallup staff engagement score was 49% (district) and participation 79%; administrators outlined targeted building-level actions, an early-literacy DPI partnership and a labor–management work group to address elementary teacher workload and reduce turnover.
Oshkosh Area School District officials reviewed staff engagement survey results and retention steps during the Board of Education’s Feb. 11 meeting, saying the district’s fall Gallup engagement score was 49% with a 79% participation rate.
In a workshop presentation, the district’s achievement-gap administrator, Dr. Brown, said the district’s engaged rate (49%) compared favorably with K–12 benchmarks (43%) and Gallup’s overall benchmark (31%). Dr. Brown said the district’s actively disengaged rate was 9%, below national comparators, and described work underway to use the survey results to guide building-level action plans.
Dr. Brown outlined specific interventions: literacy coaches and literacy interventionists working in K–2 classrooms, expanded early-literacy work in partnership with the Department of Public Instruction at Roosevelt Elementary, improved onboarding introduced in October 2025, monthly benefits education, and principal-led action planning tied to the Gallup questions. Principals Susan Martin (Oakwood Elementary) and Amanda Pazza (Bell Phillips) gave examples of local steps such as staff “shout-outs,” celebration teams, shared checklists and collective commitments to clarify expectations.
Board members probed how to interpret the Gallup numbers. Several members asked whether the measure is reliable for year-to-year comparisons and whether it should be tracked as a board-level KPI or used primarily at the school level. Dr. Brown and other administrators said the data are useful at both levels: principals can use them for immediate, school-specific actions, while the board can compare districtwide trends to broader K–12 baselines.
On staff retention, Dr. Brown reported 148 resignations in the 2024–25 school year (not including retirements), representing roughly 10.3% turnover among 1,528 employees. She said the district’s retention star rating was recalibrated after consultation with administrators and that the district is convening a labor–management work group to address elementary teacher workload and other root causes of turnover. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Sam Coleman and other staff said the work group includes union representatives and will continue through spring with recommendations to the board.
Several board members asked for more clarity about the star-rating changes, with one member urging that substantive changes to KPI cut scores be taken to the full board. District staff acknowledged that the cut scores had been revised and said they would bring clarifying information to the board in future KPI discussions.
The district framed next steps as continuing building-level action planning, monitoring spring survey results, piloting targeted summer school for students who need additional support, and continuing the retention work group to propose concrete solutions for elementary workload and other concerns.
