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Countryside Public Health urges MACCRAY to use Minnesota Student Survey data, flags mental-health concern for 11th-grade girls
Summary
Countryside Public Health presented to the MACCRAY School Board on the Minnesota Student Survey, urging higher rural participation and highlighting a 2022 finding that 41% of 11th-grade females in the district reported having seriously considered or attempted suicide; presenters offered one-page summaries and local collaboration to increase uptake.
Countryside Public Health representatives told the MACCRAY School Board that the state’s Minnesota Student Survey is being revised to improve turnaround and local usability, and they urged the district to continue participating so rural voices inform statewide decisions.
Fiona Hermanson, a community health strategist with Countryside Public Health, said the revised survey will be rolled out in the upcoming school year and that public-health partners use the data for funding, planning and evidence-based interventions. “The new Minnesota student survey will be rolled out in the upcoming school year,” Hermanson said during the district meeting.
Hermanson highlighted a specific local result from 2022: on a question about whether students had “seriously considered or attempting suicide,” 41 percent of females in 11th grade within the district identified that they had that experience in 2022. Hermanson said that finding helped the public-health coalition secure an AmeriCorps position and to organize school-based suicide-prevention planning.
Presenters described multiple programs that rely on survey data, including SHIP-supported initiatives, the MindUP and Positive Action curricula, home-visiting programs and compliance checks for vaping, alcohol and tobacco. The Countryside Public Health administrator (who introduced herself by role) said some small and rural schools decline participation and that allowing limited local input on a few survey questions this year may help increase participation.
Board members asked how quickly results would return and whether data are available at the school level; the presenters said MDE is revising processes to shorten turnaround and that school-level results are available on the state site but often require local formatting to make readable charts. The presenters offered to provide a one-page executive summary of each school’s results to support local planning and grant applications.
The presentation emphasized two themes: (1) rural districts should participate so rural students are represented in state-level analyses, and (2) survey results can directly drive prevention programs and funding requests. The board discussion closed with an offer of continued collaboration between the district and Countryside Public Health on participation and data-use strategies.
The presentation took place during the board’s visitor/presentation portion of the agenda. No formal action on the survey itself was taken at the meeting; presenters offered follow-up materials for school staff and district leaders.
