Last month, we conducted an independent community survey of community residents to guide our Long-Term Facilities Task Force Planning. About a third of respondents were parents of current per-K through grade 12 students and the rest were long-time residents of the community. We were exceptionally proud of the survey results:

• When asked about the top three things respondents most liked about Princeton School District, respondents volunteered: #1 Good teachers. #2 High-quality academics. #3 The variety of programs.

• 88% of respondents rate the quality of education provided by the District as excellent or good, with 26% saying excellent.  

• A majority, 51% of respondents, believe the schools are improving over previous levels of excellence, with 33% indicating the schools are somewhat better and 18% stating much better; while a third say things have remained the same over the last five years.

• People expressed strong support for how the District has handled the pandemic; 86% of respondents rate the District’s implementation of COVID-19 protocols as excellent or good, and 90% of respondents believe the district has communicated well throughout the COVID planning and response. More importantly, most people think we are continuing to do a good job meeting all students’ needs—results on this question were two times higher than the average for districts surveyed in Minnesota during the pandemic. We know things aren’t perfect, but our staff is really focused on meeting student needs, and it appears as though the efforts are appreciated.

• A majority acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest issue the District faces.

• Respondents rated the performance of the School Board, Superintendent and staff favorably, and 88% of respondents believe that the community receives good-value for its investment in the schools.
   

We continue to appreciate the strong community involvement and support for our schools and our students. In the coming months, we will be bringing our facilities planning group back together and we will share more information in future issues of Tiger Times.