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Survey sheds light on Poland school issues
POLAND
Nearly 59 percent of people who live in the school district could support a plan to build new schools.
That’s one of the takeaways from a recent community survey to which 1,448 people responded.
The school board commissioned the Ohio School Boards Association to conduct and analyze the survey in an effort to gather more information about why 62 percent of voters in November voted against a bond issue to finance construction of a new school, and about what kind of facilities plan the community would support.
Although Superintendent David Janofa cautioned that the survey does not provide definitive answers, he called it a “useful tool” in school officials’ planning process.
Some of the main questions the survey asked were:
Do you believe Poland Local Schools are on the right track? Fifty-seven percent of the respondents said yes.
If the district proposes a plan that would require successful passage of a bond issue in May 2017, how would you vote? 32 percent would vote yes; 37 percent weren’t sure; 28 percent would vote no; 3 percent can’t vote.
Why did you vote no in November? Respondents gave answers ranging from already-high tax burdens, to their desire to preserve historic school buildings, to not liking any plan that they’ve heard so far.
The survey also gave respondents information about a new plan – Plan B – that’s being considered to take into account community concerns about historic preservation. That proposal is to build a new 6th- to 8th-grade building on the historic middle school site (with preservation of parts of the old building), and construction of a K-5th-grade building at the current site of Dobbins Elementary.
For that question, 18.2 percent of respondents said they’d support the costlier Plan B; 40.6 percent support the original plan for a K-8th-grade building that was defeated at the polls; and 41.2 percent do not support either plan and “feel the buildings are more than adequate.”
“Am I saying that if you put those all together, we have 59 percent of our people in support of a new building? No, I would not say that,” Janofa said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
But those results tell school officials that 59 percent of people could support a new-buildings plan.
The trick will be to come up with a plan that satisfies most of the community, gives students what they need, and is financially responsible.
“We’re at a point where 59 percent of the people, at least right now, understand, ‘Hey, is there a plan out there that we could support?’” Janofa said. “Obviously 40 percent aren’t interested in doing anything. Well, that puts us in a very challenging spot, because we’re not providing facilities that are warm, safe, and dry.
“If you’re in not in favor, I respect that, but those 40 percent also need to know: We’ve got leaking roofs. We’ve got heating and cooling problems. All the things we’ve talked about for two years now,” Janofa said. “They’re your schools. It’s our community. It’s your residence. Out of those 59 percent, what plan do you want us to move forward with? I get that 40 percent want the K-8th building, but 40 percent doesn’t pass a bond issue. So, we’re going to have to figure out a way within these 59 percent of people, and a very complex set of circumstances, what do you want us to do?”
Another takeaway from the survey is a need for better communications between the school district and residents.
To that end, the school board is slated to set in motion at its Monday meeting a formal strategic plan to improve communications with the community.
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the township administration building, 3339 Dobbins Road.