Greensburg Salem plans surveys to address school attendance, parental engagement

Greensburg Salem will be asking students and parents to take a survey to determine how they feel about district schools, as officials look to curb student absenteeism.

“There was a decline in overall attendance last year at our high school, so it’s a concern,” Superintendent Ken Bissell said.

The district also hopes to conduct separate surveys of those attending school functions, as it looks to increase parental engagement with the district.

The school board this week agreed to issue a school climate survey from Communities in Schools Pittsburgh Alle­gheny County, for completion by district students, parents and guardians.

The proposed survey questions, which can be selected by the district, could include items meant to gauge parental and student views about school issues including academics, safety and discipline.

One of the survey’s key functions, according to Bissell, is to provide data that CISPAC will use to help the district provide interventions for students who are truant.

In addition to the survey, CISPAC, as part of a two-year agreement, will “provide an individual who will be able to do some home visits and truancy counseling,” Bissell said. “It’s not truancy monitoring, but working with kids and families to help them get to school.”

The survey and truancy counselor are being funded by a $2 million grant program from the Richard King Mellon Foundation that is targeting chronic absenteeism in the region’s school systems.

During the 2021-22 school year, 75.9% of students at the high school had regular attendance, compared with 73.9% at the middle school. The state average was 82.2%.

Bissell said plans for administering the school climate survey have yet to be determined. In its proposal to the district, CISPAC indicated it would administer the surveys online while ensuring anonymity and confidentiality.

School board member Emily Miller noted there are items on the survey that appear to overlap with a questionnaire that is to be presented to students during the school day.

Bissell said families can opt out of that in-school set of questions, which he explained is a screening tool used by school counselors.

“That’s part of us providing mental health supports for our children,” he said.

Member Brian Conway asked that the school board get to review aggregate results from the school climate survey.

“I would like to understand what the community thinks as far as what you like about the school and what you dislike about the school,” Conway said.

Conway acknowledged the different goals of that survey and the student mental health screening tool, but added, “If we’re sending out survey after survey after survey, are they going to get diluted, and are people just going to get all surveyed out?”

The board accepted a $4,016 mini-grant from the Consortium for Public Education to support surveying of those attending functions such as football games and choral concerts.

Bissell said the grant will provide three iPads for conducting the electronic surveys and prizes, such as gift cards, as incentives for completing them.

“We’re trying to get more feedback from community members, to help us make decisions,” he said.

Bissell said the district attempted such a survey at the Sept. 23 homecoming game.

“One thing we want to hear from parents is: “What would get you more involved and engaged at Greensburg Salem?” he said. That includes participating in parent-teacher conferences.

“We have to create more parent and family engagement,” he said.