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Board hires School Perceptions for community survey to inform capital referendum; cost about $10,000
Summary
The board approved contracting School Perceptions to run a districtwide community survey to gauge support for a possible capital referendum; the vendor outlined an inclusive mail/online process, a target of ~400 responses for statistical confidence, and a timeline that would have survey mailings after the November election and results by Dec. 12.
The Silver Lake J1 School District board approved contracting School Perceptions to administer a community survey to inform potential capital‑referendum planning.
Bill Foster of School Perceptions described an “inclusive process” that mails a paper survey to every household and provides an online option, demographic subgroup analysis, and weighting to account for staff and parent response differences. Foster said typical response rates are about 20% and recommended a target of roughly 400 completed surveys to achieve strong statistical confidence; he noted that increasing to 4,000 would not materially change findings beyond a 1% margin.
Foster advised the district to present a clear plan with an estimated cost and tax‑impact number in the survey rather than a tax‑tolerance battery of questions; he said that approach tends to be easier for voters to respond to. When asked whether neighboring districts (Wilmot) going to referendum would affect results, he said it is a legitimate concern but advised the district to “tell your story” and ask the community what it wants based on the district’s needs.
During the meeting the board discussed timing, accommodations for non‑English speakers, one‑survey‑per‑household controls, and subgroup weighting to prevent staff/parent overrepresentation from skewing predictions. A board member asked about cost; Kim Taylor said the survey contract is approximately $10,000.
A motion to approve contracting School Perceptions was made, seconded and approved. Foster said his team would proceed with project scheduling and expect to mail kits after the November election cycle; the firm will present results to the board on Dec. 12, with the statutory deadline for referendum resolution noted in discussion (late January).
