Editors Note: This article was originally published in the March 20, 2024 issue of the Chronicle Progress. Some information may be outdated.
Millard School District earned some high marks from employees who completed a recent survey meant to gauge worker sentiment in the district.
The survey asked a variety of questions concentrated in a few areas—basic needs, individual concerns, teamwork and career growth.
A portion not made public at last week’s regular board of education meeting involved written responses to some of the survey questions.
Board member Tiffany Nelson led the discussion regarding the survey results. She said there were a total of 161 respondents—that’s about a third of total district employment.
Results were reflected by various pie charts, illustrated by a numbered response, one through five, with one being a low score, or negative response, and five being the highest, or most positive response. Three’s represented a neutral response and twos and fours, somewhat negative or somewhat positive respectively.
For example, in the basic needs category, the survey question was worded, “I know what is expected of me at work.” A majority of respondents, 71.4 percent, answered with a five, another 23 percent with a four, giving a positive response from nearly 95 percent of respondents.
Other similarly positive responses were for questions, such as “I have a friend I can count on at work,” which got an 86 percent overall positive response, and, “My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person,” which recorded a 77 percent positive response.
On the lower end, the more negative responses came from questions such as, “At work, my opinions seem to count,” and, “In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.”
The first question elicited a 22.4 percent negative response and a 16.8 percent neutral response, with 60.8 percent still answering in the positive overall.
The second question elicited a similar outcome, with 22.3 answering mostly negatively, 18.6 percent registering neutral, and 59 percent still responding positively to the question.
Nelson said the reaction from some employees to the survey was that they were glad the district was willing to hear their opinions, receive their input and give them a voice.
She said she was also pleasantly surprised that respondents’ written responses reflected positively on the district’s compensation levels, access to technology and strong relationships among coworkers.
Board member Sarah Richins said she also felt the responses to the survey were “overwhelmingly positive.”
“I think it’s fantastic,” she added. “I was very happy.”
She said the district should dive into the details a little more and tease out the items where common ground solutions can be formulated in response.
Superintendent David Styler invited Richins and Nelson to present the survey results at the district’s next principals meeting, with goals in mind for how the district might improve in some areas.
Board member Adam Britt said he agreed the responses were predominantly positive, but that there was plenty of negativity in the results as well. He said he didn’t like the anonymous nature of the results and preferred district employees raise concerns directly to the board.
“If somebody is going to ask me something, I’ll tell them what I think and I’ll tell them my name. I don’t want to be anonymous,” he said, noting he would like to know who holds some of the negative opinions expressed. “I’d like to know who they are so we can go talk to them and say hey let’s fix it. What can we do better?”
Nelson agreed she’d like more face to face feedback as well.
“I agree with you, I would like to have the ability to talk to these individuals, and there are some who will come to you and say this is what I think, but…” she said.
Styler said some employees simply don’t feel comfortable coming to district administrators or even school principals to share their concerns. Fear of retribution or hurting their career can cause some to shy away, he said, from directly confronting issues in the district.
“Which I don’t think ever happens, but they still have that concern,” he told board members.
