When all is said and done, it is the quality of the subjects taught to their children — the curriculum — that South End parents care most about.
Virtually all respondents to a recent telephone survey, 97 percent, said that a quality curriculum was the crucial cog in creating an excellent school district. Parents said it was more important than smaller class sizes, sports programs, counseling services or enrichment programs.
The survey was commissioned by the South Whidbey School District in response to repeated criticisms this past year that district officials and the school board weren’t listening closely enough to parental concerns.
Telephone surveys were conducted last month with 200 randomly selected heads of households who had at least one child enrolled in the public system. The margin of error was plus or minus 7 percent.
“This was probably the most accurate survey undertaken by the board,” said Carolyn Tamler, whose Greenbank company conducted the survey at a cost of $4,585. “And it was good to see most folks are satisfied with the education their children are receiving.”
Overall, the survey found that 86 percent of island parents were either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the education their children are receiving.
That doesn’t mean they didn’t have a few ideas on what works and what doesn’t, though.
Regarding the current plan to close Langley Middle School and relocate students and programs to the high school campus, 83 percent of respondents said it was very important to keep the younger students separated from the high schoolers after the consolidation in 2012.
The district has proposed a restructuring plan as a way of dealing with a $1.85 million shortfall. Currently, the district has 1,599 students enrolled in five building sites — down from 1,768 one year ago.
School officials have been fighting the budget battle for more than a year, often hosting large, animated crowds at school board meetings. During the recent school board election, a prime campaign pledge among the candidates was greater transparency between the board, administration, parents and community.
The survey said 93 percent have heard about the district’s enrollment problem. It also said 53 percent prefer keeping class sizes low whenever possible, even if it meant larger classes meant more specialty teachers.
Getting kids to and from school showed another divide.
The district has realized it can save money if it establishes a single daily schedule for school buses. But only 52 percent were in favor of combining ages on single buses, while 44 percent prefer to keep the current system.
Earlier start times earned a more favorable response; a whopping 93 percent favor single start times no earlier than 8 a.m., but are split on the details. Roughly a third of those surveyed want the time to be either 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m. or even later.
Asked for suggestions to improve the school system in the coming year, parents said they wanted the district to put students first, keep class sizes small, keep and hire the best teachers, have fewer administrators, increase accessibility to school officials and improve academics, especially math and English.
“The board and I will use the data, which we feel is reliable and valid, to inform our future decision-making,” said District Superintendent Fred McCarthy.
Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.
