Twinsburg Happy With School's Education; Needs More Communication

The community has spoken and while it's happy with the quality of education in Twinsburg, more transparency and communication is a must.

The Impact Group, a marketing firm in Hudson, revealed data from phone and online surveys and community forums asking parents' thoughts on the . In total, 767 people took either the phone or online survey and 24 people participated in the focus groups.

Superintendent Kathryn Powers said this information is vital as the schools move forward.

"It's very helpful on several fronts," said Powers. "With the coming this year, we wanted to be on the money with what the community was saying about it."

One thing the survey revealed is that the community believes the district provides an "excellent education for its students," the report said. According to the surveys, 55 percent said it provides excellent academic education.

"For the community to say that educational excellence is a big part of our district really validates us," Powers said.

However, while the education is excellent, communication is lacking.

According to the study:

The Board of Education should work on being more transparent with information for community members and continue its efforts listening to suggestions from the communities, demonstrating the value it places on resident input.

Respondents said they want the schools to be more consistent with communications. They said they would like to get more information through email and other sources, keeping them updated.

"One of the things that was apparent to us is that the district needs to implement a strategic communications plan," said Powers.

One of the methods approached at Thursday's board meeting was the use of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. But that would require either creating a new position or pulling someone from their current job to do so, she added.

The issue of school finances was also a major discussion topic.

According to the results, finances were the biggest challenges faced by the school district (69 percent). While 69 percent also said the education was a good value for the taxes they pay, the financial management was rated between neutral and good.

The big-ticket question was the community's support for a levy.

When asked about support for a 4.9 mill levy, respondents said they would be very likely to support it (68 percent). Support for a 6.9 mill levy was less likely (47 percent). In fact, many voted they would be "very unlikely" to support a levy of that millage (35 percent).

Powers said she was glad to hear this information, helping the district to make a decision on what to ask for. .

Editor's Note: In order to better understand the numbers, the percentages of the phone and online survey were averaged.