SPRING VALLEY – The Spring Valley School Board Feb. 26 combed through the results of a staff, parent and community survey conducted by School Perceptions in December 2025.
School Perceptions …
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SPRING VALLEY – The Spring Valley School Board Feb. 26 combed through the results of a staff, parent and community survey conducted by School Perceptions in December 2025.
School Perceptions has conducted more than 3 million staff, parent, student and community surveys for school improvement. It has also helped more than 1,000 school districts navigate the strategic planning process, which Spring Valley School District is about to do, and the referendum process.
The survey compared Spring Valley against 24 other districts of similar size/demographic taken in the last three years.
“We went through the survey results and talked about the strengths that we saw,” said Superintendent John Groh. “As I told the board, personally I focus right on the lowest number because it’s what I want to fix first.”
The survey showed that the district has work to do in the community’s feeling of strong financial stewardship and transparency with the financial budgeting process.
“They want more connection and more information,” Groh said.
Ideas kicked around to foster more transparency and information availability included an email newsletter, an anonymous suggestion/solution box and more coverage in the newspaper.
The survey showed that overall, the district was in the 84th percentile for delivering a high quality education, the 55th percentile for keeping the public informed, the 56th percentile for building pride in the community, and the 37th percentile for managing fund appropriately.
As for “raw scores” on a scale from 1-5, with anything over a 3.0 considered “good,” according to School Perceptions, the community rated communication (hears from and feels listened to by our schools) at 3.77, climate (a safe and supportive climate in the schools) at 4.00, leadership at 3.67 and academics at 3.93.
Other items rated by all respondents:
“We were very pleased that so many people recognize the good things our students and staff are doing,” Groh said. “We also couldn't do anything without the financial support and encouragement of our broader community.”
The top three items respondents said they want more information about are district goals and plans (71%), facility improvement plans (66%) and school finance/budgets (62%).
Respondents listed the top three items on which the district should focus its improvement efforts/priorities as providing students with life skills (56%), career and technical education courses (51%) and community/business partnerships (26%).
Four skills that survey takers believe students need to be successful after graduation are financial literacy/managing money (55%), training in career and technical education courses (37%), communicating effectively in small and large groups (35%) and managing stress/strong mental health (30%).
As for the staff only questions, five fell within the 99th percentile:
However, staff put the district in the 22nd percentile for making them feel their input is valued, the 49th percentile for seeking input from a broad group of staff members, and the 53rd percentile for feeling supported by their supervisor/administrator when they make a decision.
“Staff feeling their input is valued,” Groh said. “That was our lowest 22nd percentile compared to the 25 school districts in the cohort; 60% felt like their input was valued. Definitely an area of focus moving forward. The flip side is our highest five staff topics were all in the 99th percentile, which sets the bar. We have work to do and like the company that did the survey said, you should feel good about where you’re at but because … your lowest five, you should honor those and give those attention.”
As for parents’ only responses, the five highest scoring items (scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best) were school facilities are clean and well-kept (4.39), my child feels safe at school (4.24), if my child breaks a rule at school, they are treated fairly (4.19), I am updated on how my child is doing at school (4.17) and my child is able to handle the emotional challenges of school (4.16).
The five lowest scoring items on the parents’ responses, by percentile, were:
Strategic plan
For community members and parents wanting more say in the district’s direction, they have an opportunity to participate in crafting the district’s updated strategic plan.
Groh said the district hired Howick Associates to facilitate a strategic plan. The district has accomplished almost all the goals named in the 2021 plan and it’s time to refresh it.
The first step is the administration team meeting with Drew Howick to draft a plan. Then a design team of 13 people in the community identified by the board as leader stakeholders (representing municipal, students, school board and religious, parent and business groups) will meet to identify people to directly invite to community conversations, along with community members as a whole, who are welcome.
For a commitment of 12 hours spanning three days (April 16-18), people will hear presentations on how the district is doing, its history and where it wants to go. Groh acknowledges it’s a “huge commitment,” but the goal is to have a new strategic plan directed by the community by the morning of April 18, which the board would then adopt in early June.
“We’re hoping to get between 75 and 100 community members who think 12 hours of their time is important enough to give to the future of the school,” Groh said.
Those community conversations will be held (with refreshments) 5:30-9 p.m. April 16, 5:30-9 p.m. April 17 and 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Elementary Commons.
Enrollment projections
The board also discussed staffing level considerations related to the 2026-27 enrollment projections.
Groh said about 296 elementary students are projected for next year, which should go above 300 once everyone is signed up for 4K.
The district also hopes to expand to full-day, full-week 4K, which makes sense financially for students and the community, Groh said. This would require adding a half-time teacher; however, it would allow parents the option for kids to start school in the district and alleviate daycare needs for families. Currently, some 4K students are enrolled in other districts based on where their parents work and daycare availability.
“Any family that is worried about the day being too long, it’s not compulsory attendance,” Groh said. “We will really work with families on that; the only catch would be they would have to work on the transportation in the middle of the day. We’re trying to be an answer and not a barrier for people. We want to be the education solution especially for people who live in our district.”
The board also talked about adding a third-grade teacher, based on an area of need with reading requirements.
These items will come up again at a future board meeting.
2026-27 School Calendar
The board also approved the 2026-27 school calendar. Notable items include:
