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Wilmette SD 39 reports strong school climate scores, plans strategic work on SEL and student voice
Summary
District staff told the May 11 Committee of the Whole that the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory returned an overall district score of 4.2 with high student and staff response rates; leaders said targeted work on social-emotional learning, student voice and communication will be folded into the district strategic plan.
Wilmette School District 39 leaders presented results of the district’s Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI) and a strategic‑plan update at the Committee of the Whole on May 11, reporting strong overall scores while identifying specific areas for further work.
Kelly Jackson, who walked the board through the district-level CSCI results, said participation was high: “95.2 for students, 81.4 for staff, and 25.1 for families,” and she reported an overall district score of 4.2, unchanged from the prior year.
Why it matters: the CSCI breaks climate into five domains—safety; teaching and learning; interpersonal relationships; institutional environment; and leadership and efficacy—and districts use the results to inform school- and district-level action plans. Jackson said most measures landed in the positive range and that no domain fell into the negative category, but that social‑emotional security and student voice were areas to target.
Key findings: Jackson highlighted strong results in physical safety and respect for diversity, and said leadership and collective efficacy measures showed notable improvement. She called out two areas for attention: social-emotional security (where item‑level analysis will help identify causes) and student involvement in rulemaking—about 74.6% of students reported having little say in rules and 38.4% said rules were not enforced fairly.
Planned responses: schools will use targeted lessons (for example, upstander lessons and focus groups), build communication strategies for families and staff, and present building-level results to the board. Jackson said district teams will fold the themes into the strategic plan and do summer work to write targeted lessons and supports.
Strategic-plan timeline: Dr. Crumascoly gave a process update: more than 450 focus-group participants plus over 550 online survey responses produced more than 1,000 total contributions; the Committee of the Whole will review a rough draft in about a month and the district plans to present a final plan to the full board for approval in June.
Board response: Board members praised the presentation and the data-driven approach. One member called the CSCI “excellent” for its presentation of trends and examples; the board indicated interest in continued emphasis on multiple measures of student progress rather than relying solely on standardized tests.
What’s next: buildings will share detailed, school-level results, staff will develop targeted lessons and focus groups, and the Committee of the Whole will consider the strategic-plan draft and provide feedback ahead of a June board action.
