Miamisburg schools surveying community this week on safety, sense of belonging

The Miamisburg school district is asking for feedback from members of the community this week, regardless of whether those residents have children attending the schools.

Miamisburg schools started updating their Strategic Plan last year. One of the components of the district’s shared vision is “Safety and Sense of Belonging,” where the school district “fosters relationships, empowers the community, and values diversity, equity, and inclusion to create a safe environment for all.”

Surveys for students launched prior to work on the strategic plan, and a survey for staffers started this spring. Now through April 24, the district is asking residents to fill out a Safety and Sense of Belonging survey, too.

“In addition to parents, community members can take the survey as well,” said Superintendent Laura Blessing. “The ultimate goal of the survey is to give us an idea of where our community and parents stand in regard to the school and then we’ll make some goals and action planning based on that data.”

The surveys consist of 11 yes-or-no questions about whether people feel welcome in the schools and whether students and families are treated equitably, as well as questions about bullying and violence. There is also an opportunity to provide additional comments.

Blessing said the data will be analyzed to create a snapshot of where the district is today, so the schools can create goals for future growth.

“They (the three different surveys) all have very similar questions and ... (are aimed at) giving us a benchmark on how we’re going to move forward,” she said.

Community members can access the Safety & Sense of Belonging survey at www.tinyurl.com/mburgsurvey through April 24. It’s estimated to take between three and five minutes to complete, excluding additional comments one may choose to leave. Those with children at multiple grade levels may answer a survey for each level.

Results from the survey will be shared via a forum of some kind prior to the opening of the 2022-2023 school year, as well as on the district’s website, Blessing said.

The Strategic Plan will be updated by the district each year through 2026, with additional goals added to the plan each year.

“We plan for this to be a working document and then as priorities change or initiatives change moving forward in the next five years, we can change some of those action steps,” she said.

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