2014 psd heat survey executive summary

8/11/2019 2014 PSD Heat Survey Executive Summary

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EARLY RELEASE PILOT PROGRAM

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1


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Background:Northern Colorado typically sees higher temperatures in late August and early September which results in

heat issues within PSDs non-air conditioned buildings. In the past, PSD has employed a variety of actions to helpstudents and staff deal with the heat that builds up during the day. Strategies include use of fans, opening doors early in

morning to let in cool air, water in hallways, modified outdoor activities and encouraging students to wear light clothing

and bring water bottles.

State regulations require that PSD circulate outside air into the buildings throughout the day which can keep air

temperatures high in classrooms on hot days. Renovations from the 2010 Bond did not include air conditioning but did

replace HVAC systems with those that provide tempered air. History shows that as evening temperatures begin to fall,

temperatures in the buildings cool proportionately.

In September 2013, PSD schools experienced several consecutive days of hot temperatures with high nighttime

temperatures as well. This did not allow the buildings to cool down at night, resulting in hotter beginning of day

temperatures each day in classrooms. New Superintendent Dr. Sandra Smyser called a Heat Day to allow the buildings

to cool off and give students and staff a break from the high temperatures. At that time, Dr. Smyser indicated she

wanted to find a long-term solution to the issue.

As part of this process, PSD convened a Heat Committee, comprised of staff, parents and administrators to study the

issue and make a recommendation to the Superintendent. After more than 20 hours of discussion, the committee

recommended that the Superintendent consider a 2 hour early release for K-8 for the first two weeks of school. The

Superintendent accepted this recommendation and the calendar was adjusted for the 2014-2015 school year. Dr.

Smyser noted this was a PILOT year and the program would be evaluated in September 2014.

The Early Release Pilot Program was implemented in August 2014 smoothly. The district heard from parents about the

inconvenience to their schedules as well as the hardship of finding and paying for child care during these two weeks.

In September, PSD sent out an electronic survey to determine community and staff sentiment regarding the Early

Release Pilot Program and gauge community and staff support for five viable options for the future.

Process:To gauge community sentiment, PSD administered an electronic survey to parents/community and staff and

solicited free form comments via email. Focus groups were also held with parents (District Advisory Board), principals

and Spanish speakers (ELL CPAC).

COMMUNITY SURVEY

The Early Release Pilot Program Community Survey was administered online and in both English and Spanish from

September 5ththrough September 19th. There were 4,715 respondents, 11 of which accessed the Spanish language

version of this survey online. An additional 26 Spanish surveys were completed at the English Language Learners parentadvisory committee.

The participants were asked three main questions:

1) Did they agree or disagree that the Early Release Pilot Program was a good solution

2) How did it impact their families?

3) Rank five viable options to explore for the future

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2


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Outcome:The majority of the respondents (96%) identified themselves as parents, with 71% of them disagreeing that

the Early Release Pilot Program was a good solution. In the comment section, a few themes presented themselves:

The program was inconvenient for working parents

The program was a hassle in terms of cost and availability of child care

Weather is unpredictable and the cooler weather this year made the program irrelevant

Many respondents felt the two weeks of early release was a waste of instructional time and did not help thehigh school students who did not participate in the program.

With regard to the ranked options, three options arose as the most favorable to the community for future

consideration:

Return to 2013 Calendar (Mid-August to end of May), but have opportunity to call a K-12 Early Release day as

necessary based on weather forecasts and conditions in buildings. Decisions would be made 48 hours in advance

to give families time to prepare

Start all schools the first week in September and end in the middle of June

Install cooling systems/AC in all PSD Schools

STAFF SURVEY

The Early Release Pilot Program Staff Survey was administered online from September 5ththrough September 19th.

There were 1,331 respondents.

Outcome:The majority of the respondents (63%) identified themselves as licensed staff members with 68.% being from

elementary schools, 27.3% being from middle schools and 22.1% being from high schools.

Approximately 57.8% of respondents agreed that the Early Release Pilot Program was a good solution with 42.2%

disagreeing with this statement. In the comment section, a few themes presented themselves:

The program was confusing for students and parents and created a hardship for families

The program was disruptive to the start of school

Weather cannot be predicted

It was a good attempt to try something new

The planning time was valuable for staff

Many respondents felt the two weeks of early release was a waste of instructional time and did not help the

high school students who did not participate in the program

With regard to the ranked options, three options arose as the most favorable to staff for future consideration:



to give families time to prepare.


Install cooling systems/AC in all PSD Schools

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3


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In discussions with principals it was noted that many high school staff and community members did not take the survey

as they did not believe the program impacted them. Depending on which option the district decides to pursue for the

future (especially starting the school year later as that has significant impacts to high schools), additional input may need

to be gathered to ensure all levels are represented equally.

EMAIL COMMENTARY

The Early Release Pilot program gained more than 140 emails with commentary from community members and parentsvia [email protected]. The majority of these emails DID NOT favor the Early Release Pilot Program.

24 Positive

4 Neutral

119 Against

A few major themes from the comments emerged:

Child care was a hassle and inconvenience

Child care was expensive and inaccessible

Staff enjoyed the planning and collaboration time

The weather was unpredictable and did not cooperate for the program

FOCUS GROUPS

The Early Release Pilot Program was discussed at three focus groups: parents, principals and Spanish-speaking parents.

Parents

The Early Release Pilot Program was discussed at the September District Advisory Board meeting with participants

offering positives and challenges of the Pilot Program. Comments included:

Liked the smooth transition for students

Child care was a huge issue (both availability and cost)

Program was very disruptive for working families

Shortened day meant no real work done (lost instructional time)

Did not impact high schools, who also had hot days to deal with

The parents in the room ranked the five viable options presented in the survey with the following outcome:



to give families time to prepare.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Principals

The Early Release Pilot Program was discussed at the September Principals meeting. Both elementary and secondary

principals attended the discussion, offering positives and challenges of the Pilot Program. Comments included:

Liked the smooth transition for students

Child care was a huge issue for parents (both availability and cost)

Some parents just let kids walk home or go off on their own

Staff liked the collaboration and planning time

Families expressed frustration at delay between release and start of athletic practices

High schools had students leave early to take care of siblings

The principals discussed the five options, noting benefits and challenges to each, but did not rank them.

Spanish-Speaking Families

The Early Release Pilot Program was discussed at the September ELL CPAC meeting at Harris Bilingual School. Parents

were given the Spanish survey to take in lieu of a discussion. About 26 surveys were returned with the following

outcomes:

The majority liked the option of installing AC/cooling units in all schools

Second most favorable option was to return to the 2013 calendar and call early release days 48 hours in advance

based on weather forecasts and conditions in buildings

The third most favored option was the Early Release Program

Conclusion:The Heat Survey had the best community participation of any survey PSD has conducted in the last three

years with nearly 6,000 responses and an additional 200 people engaged through direct focus group dialogue. Parentsand staff were honest in their opinions and offered not only quantifiable answers, but also free-form comments that

included praise for the program, ambivalence, and visible disagreement with the decision.

Based on the survey results, a few conclusions can be drawn:

The majority of the community did not like the Early Release Pilot Program

Staff favored the Early Release Pilot Program, but also ranked other options in the top

Many members of the community would prefer PSD employ an as-needed solution for heat in classrooms at the

beginning of the school year to accommodate unpredictable weather patterns

Starting later in the year (ie. in September) is a top option for the community

Installing cooling systems in all schools (not just the newest 9) is another consideration the community favors

The community would prefer to see a solution that addresses all students and all grades, not just elementary

and middle schools.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5


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Next Steps:The District is preparing to hold Community Conversations in late October to discuss the top options in

depth with staff, parents and students. The sessions will be streamed live on the PSD website and broadcast live on PSD-

TV Channel 10. Discussions will also be facilitated through social media and email. Parents and community members will

be encouraged to submit questions ahead of time and audience interactions will be facilitated at the meetings

themselves. The benefits and challenges of each option will be discussed along with possible solutions, impacts and

ramifications.

All input will be summarized and given to the Superintendent and her leadership team for consideration when making a

recommendation to the Board of Education regarding the 2015-2016 school calendar.

The district is planning to bring the 2015-2106 calendar to the Board of Education for approval in early 2015.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6


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SURVEY RESULTS

Question 1:

Respondents were able to select more than one category within the options provided for question #1, which is why the

percentages are greater than 100.

Community survey

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7


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Staff Survey:

Approximately 63% of respondents were licensed staff members, with 34% being classified employees.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8


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Question 3:

The Early Release Pilot Program was a good solution to address heat in classrooms:

Strongly agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

The responses varied between the community survey and the PSD staff survey. The preponderance of community

respondents (70.88%) indicated that they disagree or strongly disagree with the statement, while 57.79% of PSD staff

respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9


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Staff Survey

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10


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Question 5:

Rank Order 5 options for addressing heat in classrooms. The 5 options were described within the survey:

Option 1: K-8 Early Release schedule

Option 2: Return to 2013 Calendar (mid-August to end of May)

Option 3: Return to 2013 Calendar with option of calling K-12 Early Release Heat Days 48 hours in advanced (for

planning purposes) based on weather forecasts and building conditions.

Option 4: Start school the first week of September (typically after Labor Day but calendar dependent) Option 5: Install AC/Cooling systems in all PSD schools

Communit Rankin s:

Staff Rankings:



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When combining the top two options for both community and staff, it is apparent that Options 3, 4 and 5 are the most

favorable. Likewise, Options 3 and 4 have the lowest disapproval ratings (meaning there would be less opposition in the

community to these two options than others).

Top 2

Community Survey

Bottom 2

Community Survey

Top 2

Staff Survey

Bottom 2

Staff Survey

1st+2nd 4th+ 5th 1st+2nd 4th+ 5th

Option Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent

1 941 11.12% 2,463 29.78% 475 17.92% 469 20.35%

2 1,150 13.59% 1,979 23.92% 234 8.83% 642 27.85%

3 2,205 26.06% 800 9.67% 588 22.19% 265 11.50%

4 2,293 27.10% 1,357 16.40% 551 20.79% 450 19.52%

5 1,873 22.13% 1,673 20.22% 802 30.26% 479 20.78%

Total 8,462 8,272 2,650 2305

FOCUS GROUP RANKINGS:

Parents (DAB):

1) Option 3: Return to 2013 Calendar with option of calling K-12 Early Release Heat Days 48 hours in advanced (for


2) Option 4: Start school the first week of September (typically after Labor Day but calendar dependent)

ELL CPAC:

1) Option 4: Start school the first week of September (typically after Labor Day but calendar dependent)

2) Option 3: Return to 2013 Calendar with option of calling K-12 Early Release Heat Days 48 hours in advanced (for


3) Option 1: K-8 Early Release schedule


2014 psd heat survey executive summary

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