Survey: Class Size Reduction Popular

2/06/09

A survey of more than 7,700 parents, employees and community members regarding program priorities in light of the budget crisis shows a desire to preserve elementary school class size reduction, counseling services and elementary school libraries, among other items.

 The brief survey was administered for two weeks recently at www.lbschools.net.  About 6,200 surveys were filled out online, and 1,500 in hard copy form.

The survey generated more than 2,500 open-ended comments.  The data and comments will be used by the school district’s Budget Advisory Committee, which includes 27 people representing employee unions, administrators, business people, parents and other community members.

No immediate decisions will be made based upon the survey.  The Budget Advisory Committee will consider the information as it later makes budget recommendations to the Board of Education.

Overall, preserving grades K-3 Class Size Reduction (reduced numbers of students per teacher) by far was considered the top priority.  The second most important priority overall was grades 4-5 Class Size Reduction.  The third most important priority overall was a virtual tie between elementary counseling services and elementary library/media centers, which were followed closely for third place by elementary nursing services and high school counseling services.

While not intended to be comprehensive, the survey will provide the Budget Advisory Committee with some guidance regarding top priorities.

The survey also separately asked participants to prioritize items within the elementary, middle/K-8 and high school levels.

For more detailed data, visit the Budget Update section of this website.