Oakwood schools get high marks on survey, some improvement areas identified
Apr. 29—Results of a survey for Oakwood City Schools show residents giving it high marks in many areas, but uncertainty in others is prompting actions planned by the district.
Eighty percent of those surveyed rated the quality of education excellent, and 78% said Oakwood schools do an excellent or fair job of preparing students for the future, according to the district.
Schools continue to be a main reason people move to Oakwood, first-year Superintendent Neil Gupta said.
The results also show there's a need for better communication on the district's facility plans, its finances, and the diversity, equity and inclusion program, Gupta said.
"This is a baseline," he told the Oakwood school board recently about the first districtwide survey since November 2018. "We're not coming up for a levy. We're not coming up for a facility. We're not coming up for something else.
"My hope, or my goal, is that if we do this every two or three years, we'll be able to look back and start looking at some comparisons," Gupta added. "And hopefully the numbers ... will be getting better in positive way. If not, we'll lean into it."
Among the actions the district plans include: — Enhanced communication: Address a need for more targeted communication to better inform residents about key priority areas. — Financial transparency: Improve trust and clarity, keep reflecting on practices to implement clearer and more frequent updates on school finances. — Increased engagement: Continue interactive forums, such as community coffee meetings with school leaders, to "foster open dialogue and collaboration."
Fallon Research & Communications of Columbus was paid $14,000 to perform the survey, said Amanda Brown, the district's community relations director.
The questions were posed online, by phone and text messages with 352 responses between Feb. 12 and March 1, officials said. Results had a margin of error of 5%, Gupta said.
Respondents to an Oakwood schools survey indicated teachers were among the top sources of information about the district.
Oakwood has historically scored high among Ohio's public school districts in state test scores. The high school earned the highest performance index on 2016-17 state tests of any high school in the state, according to Ohio Department of Education data.
U.S. News and World Report ranked OHS among the state's top 10 "best public high schools" three years ago. It was ranked sixth best in the state this year, the only one in the Dayton area to make the publication's top 25 list.
Oakwood's survey results show "residents are overwhelmingly satisfied with the quality of education being provided," Gupta said, but they "are eager for information.
"Few indicated they were dissatisfied with the schools," he added. "And some were unsure about key area priorities and the need for more targeted communication."
Uncertainty was reflected in two areas in particular, the district's finances and its DEI program, Gupta said. About 20% of survey respondents said they were unsure how to rate the district's budget and finances while 18% reacted similarly about the DEI program, he added.
"We want to build trust, we want to reflect our professionalism and provide (a) community trust," Gupta said.
Oakwood's survey results show "schools are the driver of why people move to — or move back — to Oakwood," Gupta said.
