Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Family Engagement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Milford schools present family‑engagement survey showing high belonging and flag modest declines in communication
Summary
Instructional supervisors told the board that the 2025 parent school‑climate survey found strong indicators of student belonging and safety, while also identifying modest declines in parent satisfaction with communication and responsiveness on diversity and inclusion. The district described next steps for school climate plans and survey revisions.
Dr. Christine Galeski, the district’s instructional supervisor for school climate and wellness, told the Milford Board of Education on July 13 that the district’s spring 2025 parent school‑climate survey produced “encouraging findings” while highlighting areas for improvement. “Our goal isn't simply to communicate with families or to check a box on a required component. It's really to build authentic partnerships,” she said.
Galeski said families reported strong social connections for students: 96.6% of parents indicated their child has friends at school, and 86% reported their child feels a sense of belonging. She said nearly 90% of parents consider their child’s school a safe place and that the district served 524,035 meals during the past school year.
At the same time, the presentation flagged modest declines in parent satisfaction with district communication, students’ comfort asking teachers for help, and parent perceptions of schools’ responsiveness to issues of diversity and inclusion. Galeski said those changes were not dramatic but were meaningful for planning: “These are opportunities to help guide our improvement work,” she said.
Galeski described how the state’s revised school‑climate legislation requires districts to adopt research‑based surveys and produce school‑level climate plans. She said the district is using the data to inform actions that schools have taken or plan to take: more planned positive phone calls home, classroom invitations for families, improved report‑card communications, morning meetings and restorative circles, mentoring, targeted re‑engagement plans at the high‑school level, and tailored interventions based on MTSS (multi‑tiered systems of support).
Board members pressed Galeski on response rates: she said 657 families responded to the 2025 survey, and this spring the district captured roughly 200 additional responses. Board members discussed outreach tactics—text messages, district versus principal emails, PTA engagement and possible survey redesigns to reduce length and improve participation. Galeski said the district will form a team of school climate specialists to review and revise survey questions so the instrument remains research‑based while preserving core trend questions.
Galeski and board members agreed the next report should connect survey results to actions taken at the school level and any measurable outcomes those actions produced. The district said it will return with more historical comparisons focused on priority questions and with documentation linking school actions to later improvements.
