On Monday, April 1st, all parents in the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) received a survey from the Superintendent regarding the effectiveness of district communications. The survey, open for five days, solicited 237 participants. Parents had an opportunity to answer nine questions through a rating scale that measured responses as ‘strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree’. At the conclusion of the survey, parents were encouraged to share any comments, questions, or concerns regarding communication in our district.

This Communications survey was our 3rd parent engagement survey this school year.  Earlier in the year, we conducted surveys related to our two other Board goals: Learning and Support. Together, these three surveys provide valuable shareholder feedback and are also included in our LCAP metrics and requirements for parent and family engagement.  As we are entering the final year of our three-year LCAP plan, we will be exploring other survey analytics software that will facilitate and increase parent and family feedback, and will also serve as a metric in our next three-year cycle of the LCAP.

2018-19 Communication Survey

Identified areas of strength:

• 87% of our parents shared (strongly agree / agree) that they understand our district attendance policy. This represents a 2% increase from 2017-18.

• 84% of our parents believe (strongly agree / agree) that school communication occurs in an open and respectful manner. This represents a 5% increase from 2017-18.

• 74% of our parents believe (strongly agree / agree) that our district maintains open lines of communication for members of our community to ask questions and/or express concerns. This represents an 11% increase from 2017-18.

Identified areas of growth:

• Approximately 42% do not feel (neither strongly agree / nor agree) that our district provides information on how parents can help or support student learning at home.

• Approximately 30% of our parents do not feel (neither strongly agree / nor agree) connected to and informed about their child’s experience in CUSD.

• Approximately 23% of our parents do not feel (neither strongly agree / nor agree) comfortable talking with their child’s teacher. This percentage has grown by 6% from 2017-18.

Themes gleaned from parents comments, questions, and concerns:

• Improve systems of communication between the Superintendent, Governing Board, and community regarding district initiatives.

• Too many tools / resources with little to no coherence. Parents need multiple passwords. Too much information to be spread out in so many different places. Consolidate!

• Inconsistent use of PowerSchool.

• Responsiveness of staff to initiate dialogue when students need intervention and/or may benefit from enrichment/acceleration

• Informing parents in a timely fashion of significant shifts to schedule, staffing, programs, etc.

• Ensure accuracy when reporting student absenteeism to parents.

Next steps:

• Model and promote respectful dialogue across all shareholders, in a timely fashion, regarding potential changes in CUSD.

• Investigate solutions to integrate our technology - single sign in, keep it simple.

• Strive for PowerSchool use with fidelity across CUSD.

• Increase and share resources for parents to support student learning at home.

• Define CUSD practices regarding consistency and responsiveness to parent communication.