slideshow

Mary Katherine Murphy

Staff reporter

School officials want to knowhow the local educational system is viewed.

To find out, surveys will be issued to parents, students, school staff, and the general Scotland County community. Fourth, seventh, and eleventh grade students will take the student surveys at school, as will staff members. All of the surveys will be anonymous.

“This is important feedback to help shape the direction of our school system in the coming years,” said Scotland County Schools Director of Federal Programs Dr. Lyle Shaw, who is overseeing the process. “It is our hope that everyone will share their comments and concerns and help us as we work to make our schools the best they can be for our students.”

The parent and community surveys will open on the school system’s website, www.scotland.k12.nc.us, on Jan. 30 and will remain open until Feb. 17. Computers at the A.B. Gibson Education Center in Laurinburg will be available for those without computer access at home. The center is open from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Before Jan. 30, the school system will announce other locations where computing facilities will be available for members of the public to complete the surveys.

The surveys should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete, and will require those taking them to rank their level of agreement with a number of statements about the school system.

“It’s a five point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree,” said Andy Cagle, public information officer for Scotland County Schools. “They’re short, but targeted questions.”

Survey questions will evaluate public and parental opinions of the school system’s efficacy in a number of areas.

“The questions will deal with the effectiveness of the school district in educating kids and communicating with stakeholders about what they need to know,” Cagle said. “The teacher and student surveys are going to be a little more detailed.”

The school system will use survey results as a starting point in an effort to improve their service to area students.

“The input is going to guide where we go from here, and we want to make sure that everybody has input,” said Cagle. “Depending on what they have to say, this is really the first step in our constant improvement process. There are some things we know we’re doing well and there are things that we know we need to improve. ”