Wellman

The Mid-Prairie school board heard from Ben Curtis of Eocene Environmental Group about a recent survey of district employees.

Curtis told the board the results “were very encouraging,” with 206 of about 250 employees responding, a participation rate of about 82%.

The survey ran from August 23 to October 3. Employees gave an average score of 8.35 out of 10 when asked whether they would recommend the district as a place to work, with about 56% rating it a 9 or 10.

Employees were also asked about their motivation and its primary source. About 88% reported being highly motivated or motivated most of the time, with meaningful work being the leading source.

The homeschool assistance program had the highest workplace sentiment scores, along with an average recommendation score of 9.23. About 77% rated their likelihood of recommending the district a 9 or 10.

Among respondents, 59 had eight to 15 years of service, while 47 were in the 16-plus-years group. Of those with less than one year of service, 89% rated the district a 9 or 10 as a place to work.

When asked what made them proud of the district, caring staff, teamwork and relationships led the written responses at about 34%.

Curtis summarized the strengths as high participation, strong motivation and meaningful work. Communication, resources and collaboration each received more than 80% favorable responses.

Areas for continued attention included work-life balance, at 70% favorable, and feeling valued and appreciated, at 74%. Results varied across work locations, and longer-serving employees gave fewer 9 or 10 recommendation ratings.

Still, Curtis said the numbers were “pretty high across the board.”

Board member Jed Seward discussed what the board should consider when reviewing the survey next month.

“I think it's more this next month we need to look at it and say, hey, where do we want to start tackling for the next one? … We think we need to find some areas of improvement in this area, so that's the one we're going to try to get.”

The board also discussed adjusting future survey questions, with board president Randy Billups adding, “Questions may change to try and improve.”

Board member Ryan Schlabaugh emphasized transparency when sharing the results.

“I think it's important that however we get it out, that transparency is the key. Like this is independent. This isn't any of us.”

The board agreed to review the survey during its November 23 work session.

Eighth-grade sports eligibility

Later in the meeting, superintendent Brian Stone brought the board information about a change allowing districts to decide whether eighth graders could play at both the junior high and high school levels in the same winter sport.

Some board members suggested the change might be intended for smaller schools without enough students to field teams.

Seward said moving between teams could be difficult and affect team chemistry.

“You’re supposed to be building team chemistry, so if you go to practice for two days here, then two days there, you screw stuff up in both places. I’m not saying they would; I’m just using that as an example. It would be hard for a kid to learn an eighth-grade offense and then learn a completely different JV offense because there are two separate coaches. So that's just my opinion.”

After the discussion, Stone said the district interpreted the change as playing the same sport at different levels, though clarification was still needed on whether it could involve two different sports.

“So the way that we're interpreting it,” Stone said, is “that a junior high kid playing basketball can play high school basketball.”

The board took no action, as the district had only recently received information about the change.

Next meeting

The next Mid-Prairie school board meeting will take place on Monday, November 9, at the Central Office Community Room at 6:15 p.m.