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Suffern superintendent reports high survey satisfaction, flags communication and extracurricular gaps
Summary
At the Dec. 17 board meeting, the superintendent presented ThoughtExchange survey results showing roughly 90% of respondents reporting satisfaction districtwide and about 87% satisfaction at the elementary level, while noting parents asked for better communication, more extracurriculars and career-oriented options for older students.
The superintendent told the Suffern Central School District Board of Education on Dec. 17 that early results from a districtwide ThoughtExchange survey show broad satisfaction but also clear areas for improvement. “We had a significant group of individuals that were selecting that they were satisfied or very satisfied,” he said, calling the response encouraging.
The survey, issued roughly two weeks before the meeting and distributed in English, Spanish and Ukrainian, was intended to capture community feedback about the school year about three months after an elementary-school restructuring. The superintendent said elementary satisfaction was reported at approximately 87 percent and that districtwide the top three positive-response categories reached about 90 percent.
Why it matters: The results provide the board and administrators with a baseline to measure progress after the restructuring and to prioritize follow-up. The superintendent singled out strengths—teachers, safety procedures and active PTAs—and asked the board to address persistent concerns about communication and extracurricular access.
District staff highlighted several specific takeaways the survey surfaced. Elementary respondents praised teachers and school safety but asked for expanded extracurricular and enrichment opportunities; the superintendent said bringing grades 3–5 together is meant to make it easier to offer such activities and noted PTAs are already helping roll out grade 3–5 musical opportunities. He also said parents asked for clearer, easier access to routine information—lunch menus and codes of conduct—and said the district’s website provider is developing an AI component to help people find information faster.
At the secondary level, the superintendent said parents were largely satisfied with academic instruction and safety but asked for more local career and vocational options so students would not have to travel to BOCES for some programs. He noted interest in expanding career-path options such as a three-year cybersecurity academy and more formal internship or apprenticeship opportunities.
The superintendent outlined next steps: the district will post the full survey results on its website, distribute a more comprehensive synopsis to families after the new year, and the superintendent plans to meet with each principal in January to review building-level feedback. He said the district intends to repeat the survey next year to track progress.
Board members thanked staff for the presentation. The board did not take immediate action on changes; the superintendent framed the report as diagnostic and said follow-up planning would continue in the new year.
