Sartell-St. Stephen Schools Seek Community Feedback Through Survey

SARTELL (WJON News) -- Some Sartell and St. Stephen residents could soon be getting an important phone call. The Sartell-St. Stephen School District has partnered with Morris Leatherman to conduct a community-wide phone survey. The district is looking for feedback on school quality, teacher performance, financial management, cybersecurity, and more.

Superintendent Michael Rivard says it is important for the district to know what the public is thinking:

"We need to know if they feel informed and included in our decisions, and we know that if trust is strong with us, that we can even strengthen that more, but if concerns do exist that we need to address them, and that's the hope in part of this survey also."

He says community feedback is crucial, and the survey will help the public let the district know their feelings.

What does Morris Leatherman do?

Rivard says the company excels at collecting unbiased data for schools:

"Using an outside firm helps build credibility in some of the information that we gather, it protects confidentiality for the folks who are going to respond within our school district and within the residents of Sartell and St. Stephen, and the goal is always ensuring that our school board is going to receive unbiased data."

He says getting the unbiased data is vital for the board as they start to look at anything before moving forward.

In addition to the survey, the district is also holding a listening session on Thursday night to get input from parents and students on the use of cell phones and electronic devices during school hours. The listening session will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the High School in Pines 101 - 102.