BELLE — The Maries County R-2 Board of Education on Nov. 26 was presented with Culture and Climate Survey results that assist the district in measuring its communication with parents and the community.

Superintendent Dr. Lenice Basham explained the results.

“We had 67 respondents (an increase from 44 last year) to the staff survey — for a total of 64 percent of staff members,” Basham said.

The Family and Community Survey results had 80 responses.

“Forty-seven respondents had children in the elementary school; 31 respondents had children in the middle school; and 29 respondents had children in the high school,” Basham said. “An estimated three respondents didn’t have any children in the school district.”

The Belle High School survey results included 117 responses from 24.8 percent from ninth grade; 25.6 percent from 10th grade; 30.8 percent from 11th grade; and 18.8 percent from 12th grade.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) required three questions to be asked on the Staff Survey. The questions and staff responses were:

1. Educator teams address positive classroom learning environments of which 98 percent of staff agreed.

2. The school system assures student voices are heard and respected of which 94 percent of staff agreed.

3. The school system provides school culture and climate data and reports periodically to all, of which 95.5 percent of staff agreed.

DESE requires two questions to be on the Parent and Community Survey. The questions and responses are below:

1. The school system assures student voices are heard and respected of which 80 percent of parents and community members agreed.

2. The school system provides school culture and climate data and reports periodically to all, of which 40 percent agreed and 54 percent were unsure.

DESE only required one question on the high school Student Survey. The questions and responses were:

1. The school system assures student voices are heard and respected, of which 66.7 percent agreed.

Basham noted that the Culture and Climate Survey asked the questions required by DESE but the district added to it.

“The other questions provided administration answers to common issues within the buildings and the district,” Basham wrote in the report.

A feedback meeting between the district and the community followed the results of the Culture and Climate Survey.

“That committee developed district strengths and areas of growth from the survey results. The list developed will be submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as required,” Basham wrote. “The committee documented the following areas (that need) growth.”

• The district is not doing an adequate job of communicating the importance of respecting all cultural beliefs and practices based on the parent survey as an estimated 74 percent of parents and 69 percent of students agreed that the district was doing this on a regular basis.

• There is a student perception that the school is not enforcing school rules equally for all students. Results revealed 33 percent disagreed with this statement and three percent were unsure.

• There is a perception that parents are not being involved in decision-making at school as only 26 percent of parents disagreed with the statement.

The committee documents the following areas that are strong:

• A high percentage of both parents and students believe that all students are given opportunities to participate in classroom activities.

• A high percentage of parents are comfortable talking to their child’s teachers.

• Survey results revealed a high percentage of the community believes the district’s instructional staff implements a comprehensive, rigorous, guaranteed, and viable curriculum for all instructional courses and programs are aligned to the Missouri Learning Standards.

“The committee felt that there were too many questions and that the respondent was not always sure what the question was asking,” Basham wrote. “The consensus was that the district will reduce the questions to 10, plus the required questions.”

The committee suggested including a glossary of terms with the survey to help provide clarity for respondents when answering.

Overall, the results of the survey indicate a positive perception of the district’s culture and climate, according to the report. Respondents overall perceived all voices were being heard and the district maintained a high percentage of positive responses regarding school safety, security, and feeling comfortable with teachers. There was also an increase in parental perception that school rules were being equally enforced.

“At the district level, we have put a lot of focus and resources on safety and security,” Basham wrote. “It is clear that this focus has created an environment where all feel safer, including students.”

While the district presents the results of the Culture and Climate Survey annually, a high number of respondents reported they either hadn’t come across them or weren’t sure they saw results in the past. Basham said she would be working on that.

“It is clear that I am not communicating the results of this survey back to respondents in a way that they remember,” Basham told the board. “Last year, we included the results in the Community newsletter and also placed smaller batches of questions with results on Facebook on six or eight different posts throughout the year.”

She added that the small number of survey participants is also a weakness.

“This may be tied to the above perception that the results were not shared after the survey,” Basham said. “We had 37 respondents in 2023 and 80 respondents in 2024. That’s a large increase, but still a small percentage of our families that complete it.”

Basham also mentioned that 73 percent of staff surveyed agreed the district ensures that technology effectively supports teaching and learning. She listed it as a survey weakness that could be improved in the future.

Basham closed by suggesting the 2024 Culture and Climate Survey results be revisited shortly before the 2025 Culture and Climate Survey is released to promote the information and future communication within the community.