SFASD: Survey Shows Sense of Ease in District, Awards Given to Outstanding Students

Superintendent David Goodin went over survey statistics from Spring-Ford Class of 2009 alumni at Monday night's board of education regular meeting. While many of the results seemed favorable to the board members, one result stuck out as a concern: 49.12-percent of students felt they needed more challenging courses while at Spring-Ford. [41.15-percent said no, 9.73-percent did not respond].

This opened up a dialogue between the board, while involving students in the audience as well.

"These are the discussions the board should be having on a regular basis," said board president Joe Ciresi. "Now we're challenged to get to the heart of what this all means. We need a report in three to four months. This is the whole purpose as to why we sit here."

Ciresi went on to ask if the courses were more challenging, would students get into better colleges, find better jobs and overall find themselves in better situations in the future.

The survey was mailed to 525 students. Of the surveys sent, 10 were returned to the school as undeliverable, 138 students responded and 88 parents responded. Here are some notable statistics:

Post-high school status:

• 15.93-percent work full-time
• 31.86-percent work part-time
• 2.65-percent joined the military
• 65.04-percent are attending a four-year college/university
• 10.18-percent are attending a two-year college
• 1.33-percent are attending a vocational or tech school
• 11.5-percent did not respond

Did teachers quote high standards and quality of work?

• 80.89-percent said yes
• 9.78-percent said no
• 9.33 percent did not respond

Were you taught qualities of responsibility, motivation and self-esteem?

• 77.34-percent said yes
• 12.93-percent said no
• 9.73-percent did not respond

Were you adequately prepared for college or the workforce?

• 72.5-percent said yes
• 17.7-percent said no
• 9.73-percent did not respond

Student-representative Elizabeth Brady was asked by the board what she thought of the puzzling statistic. Brady said she thought the survey was a good idea in gauging these types of feelings from the students. Then, a student came up to the microphone to speak his mind.

"Looking back, I thought maybe I should have taken harder classes," the student said. "It's something we think about in retrospect. It's not the school's fault, but the students."

To that, board member Ed Dressler responded by asking if the students are being advised correctly. Board member Bernard Pettit then asked for a show of hands of the approximate 30-40 students in the audience to see if they were being challenged enough in school. All but about five raised their hands for "yes."

Goodin reported that the company that administered the survey will no longer be doing it for Spring-Ford and that the survey will be done in-house in the future. He also said the survey would be done five years out of high school as opposed to a year and a half.

Otherwise, the board presented awards to Caroline E. Bayliss, Dan Lawrence, Nana S. Nimako, Taylor A. O'Connor, Jackson C. Ranheim and Michael David Williams for being named as "Commended Students" in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. The meeting agenda stated: "These individuals were among the 34,000 students out of more than 1.5 million students who scored in the commended academic achievement range on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT)."

Also receiving awards were Reem E. Hamoda and Kristin L. Robinson for being named as "Outstanding Participants" in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship Program. The agenda stated: "These individuals were among the 4,700 students who scored in the top three percent out of more than 160,000 Black American students who requested consideration in the 2012 National Achievement Program when they took the PSAT/NMSQT test."

The scholarship program was initiated in the 1960s.

"To be recognized on this level is such an honor and tribute to their academic skills," said Goodin of all those who were honored on Monday night.

Finally, the policy recommendation to use a raptor system for allowing the public to use school facilities during the school day was tabled. The original policy of no public use during the school day will continue to be used. Members of the board stressed that they must figure out a way to enforce it.