AUBURN – A survey of 163 Auburn parents shows that most of them like the city’s schools and teachers, but many question whether the school system gets enough money.
Created by Sherwood Heights Principal Katy Grondin as part of a graduate school project, the 33-question survey was sent randomly to 520 parents, or 40 per grade. About 30 percent returned it.
Grondin presented the results to the School Committee on Wednesday night.
Results showed that most parents think their children are happy, challenged and well-prepared in school. About 70 percent thought class sizes are appropriate. They were largely split on whether Auburn schools gets enough money.
There were some contradictions that surprised Grondin and school officials. For example, most parents think their children are safe in school, but about 80 percent also wanted Edward Little High School to install surveillance cameras.
They were also surprised to find that most parents said they get their school information from school newsletters, teachers, friends and the newspaper. Few said they used the school department’s Web site or the State of the Schools, a comprehensive, citywide newsletter that school officials worked on for nearly a year to create.
Although the poll was relatively small for the 3,500-student school system, school officials said Wednesday that they’ll consider the results when making future decisions. Now that they know many parents use school newsletters, for example, Grondin said she and other elementary school principals may put more information in them.
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