Springfield Public Schools release results of survey

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Springfield Public School leaders asked for feedback. They received it.

Springfield Public Schools sent out an open-ended question to parents, as well as students and employees in the district, asking what they think is working well and what areas could be improved. The district received responses from more than 3,500. The district shared the results of the from their Thought Exchange, allowing the public to read the responses they received.

New hours for some school buildings brought the biggest concerns. Many parents said the three-tier schedule, with some children going to school from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., was not working well. Families said the new schedule is making time for family, friends and other activities difficult. Some complained kids aren’t getting home until 6 p.m.

The district implemented the new schedule to allow for more busing. In previous years, high school students allowed to ride the bus had to live more than three-and-a-half miles from school to qualify for busing. This school year’s three-tier bus system allows the district to offer a busing option for more than 3,000 additional high school students. The district says it is considering feedback from the Thought Exchange, but changes likely wouldn’t come immediately.

“Likely any changes would be next year because what we want to do is we want to continue to evaluate,” said Stephen Hall, Springfield Public Schools. “We know that the feedback is shared early on, and we didn’t anticipate that some of these significant changes are going to be challenging for families in the initial stages. And so that is why we expanded before and after school programming so the week of provided additional support for families as they adjusted to the new schedule.”

Not all of the comments included complaints. Many parents said they were thankful to have their kids return to a five-day week in-person schedule. Many also mentioned their appreciation for teachers.

To read the responses in the Thought Exchange, click here: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/report/fb2ddc253ab09e2237fe4a529291813f/topthoughts

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