Study: Parents want G-E-T to prioritize post-secondary tools, staff, mental health

A survey in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District shows parents want G-E-T to prioritize quality staff, relevant educational opportunities and mental health for students.

The survey, conducted by Wisconsin company School Perceptions, was completed by 33 percent of all parents and stepparents in the district. Administrator Michele Butler told the school board on Monday that building data shows nearly one parent per student completed the survey.

Parents want the district to focus on four leading areas, including:

• Career and technical education.

• Recruiting and retaining quality staff.

• Mental health services for students.

• College credit opportunities.

“There was nothing super surprising about the ones they chose,” Butler told the board. “What was surprising is we thought for sure going into this that childcare for our community was going to land higher up than it did. It’s actually in the lower half.”

More research will be needed on childcare, Butler and the board agreed.

“We may have to do more research to make sure we didn’t miss something because I’m a little concerned right now that maybe our target groups might be off,” the administrator said. “There might be a survey that would be more community based.”

Board member Deb Lakey also said on Monday that the district should continue looking into childcare because most current families have likely already secured care.

“It’s like, how do you get this kind of survey in the hands of those parents who are already not enrolling their children at G-E-T because they’re choosing childcare outside of (the district) or not moving to the area because childcare is available (elsewhere),” Lakey said.

The survey asked parents to rank items on an ascending “1” to “5” with a “3” being neutral.

A high score of the survey came as 93% of parents either agreed or strongly agreed that school staff treat children with ‘dignity and respect’. The highest score, a 94%, regarded clean facilities.

“I think that’s fantastic,” Butler said. “That says so much about our teachers, our paraprofessionals, our staff and how they treat students.”

The low score of the study regarded efforts on bullying, as 70% of parents said they were satisfied with the district in this area. 

Approval was higher at the elementary school but dropped off into middle and high school, according to Butler.

“Bullying seems to increase as kids get older, social media use increases as students get older. Feeling a lack of control over your children’s social experiences gets more difficult as they get older. We’re not discounting that because we’re very concerned about that. But I wasn’t surprised by the fact that that result is higher at the higher levels of our school students,” Butler said.

Childcare was also part of the survey, and the district plans to look into the area further, Butler told the board.

The district lost 21 students in 4K to area schools with all-day offerings this year. About 48% of respondents asked the district to explore all-day 4K with another 26% saying they need more information or are not sure.

Similar numbers show interest in preschool for three-year-olds, as 42% of respondents said yes with 25% not sure.

“I think that those numbers tell us start exploring and explore seriously,” Butler said of early education. “So, we’ll start working on getting information and bringing that back to the board.”

This is the first parent survey G-E-T has completed. The district has not yet decided how frequent such surveys will be held, Butler said, adding that it provided useful information.