All parents/guardians of Fayetteville-Manlius students will be sent an email at the end of January inviting them to participate in a confidential and anonymous survey, as part of a larger, district-wide study being conducted with F-M students, staff, and parents.
In November, students in grades 5-12 participated in a school climate and culture survey and were asked to evaluate their perspective of school engagement, safety and environment. One month later, a similar school climate and culture survey was sent to all staff members. These surveys will help district officials evaluate the school environment, which is one of the priority area initiatives of the district’s strategic plan as directed by the board of education.
The district is utilizing a national Education Department School Climate Survey (EDSCLS) template along with some customized F-M-specific questions. The district has partnered with Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS), a third-party area market research firm, to administer the survey. RMS will ensure that the survey is conducted independently and ensure confidentiality/anonymity.
The survey will be administered via a secure online portal, beginning on Monday, Jan. 29. The parent/guardian in position 1 within SchoolTool will receive the survey via email. At the end of the survey, that parent/guardian will be able to designate another parent to take the survey as well. For families with multiple students, the parent/guardian will be asked to respond for one student, randomly selected by RMS, but will be able to request surveys for their other students if they desire.
Parents/guardians should look for an email from: Research@RMSresults.com. The district advises families to check their spam folder if they don’t find the email in their inbox. The survey will close on Feb. 29.
While this survey is not required, it only takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, and the district strongly encourages everyone to participate. Responses will be completely confidential and anonymous. The higher the survey response rate, the more statistically valid the survey results. If anyone has questions about the staff climate survey, please contact RMS via email, or phone at 315-635-9802.
The district will share the key findings from the research later this year.