TSPR San Angelo School District

Appendix B
PARENT SURVEY RESULTS

A. Demographic Data/Survey Questions

B. Narrative Comments

NARRATIVE COMMENTS
The narrative comments below reflect the perceptions and opinions of parent survey respondents.

SAISD is very happy being mediocre.
Too much pressure [is] exerted on teachers to keep a low failure rate.
Standards are very low...even in accelerated classes, but especially in "regular level" classes.
SAISD rarely hires a teacher with more than 3 years experience. They have encouraged all teachers with 20 plus years of experience to retire so that they can be replaced cheaper.
Often positions for advanced courses are filled according to seniority, with no regard to the academic qualifications of the teacher.
There is a wide spectrum that many of the master's teachers have recently retired due to a retirement incentive
Overall the teachers and programs in SAISD are commendable. There are, however, concerns over the retirement of so many master teachers over the last three years due to a retirement incentive. The school board says the reason is to cut costs, but often these teachers are not replaced, thus enlarging teacher-student ratio. In addition, administrative positions are always filled and even created for people who have retired as principal or another high level position. The discrepancy in administrative salaries and teacher salaries is alarming and the cause of much tension in the district.
Two of my three children have substitute teachers at least once a week due to "training" or "teacher development courses" or to serve on committees. One teacher saw my child once a week! Not good!
Some parents can't speak English, which causes some challenges in communication.
After 6th grade, math is horrible. The kids don't learn what they need and struggle for the rest of their junior and senior high years. Most kids fail at least 1-6 weeks of math. They get no good basic fundamentals.
All schools need better food for our kids. All kids and parents need to know every three weeks if their kids are not going to pass.
Anytime anyone questions the use of tax dollars or any of the superintendent's activities, he immediately announces that it is a personal or a racial attack.
As a whole, I believe that the best interests of students be considered and met by school staff. However, many policy questions are left unanswered to parents and staff. Private information about teachers and employees is published in the newspaper with great abandon. This information is way too accessible to indiscriminate usage by administrative staff and is shared without regard to privacy and social risk. I do feel our schools are safe and that, for the most part, teachers are effective and caring. There is always room for improvement in every walk of life and we, as parents, would like to see some positive changes.
As a whole, our teachers and principals do a wonderful job. Our school board and current administration; however, are very irresponsible in all matters of education - from discipline, to core subjects, to fiscal management.
Morale is on the skids at SAISD. Primarily because of what appears to be an injudicious use of district funds to benefit administrative positions rather than improve the situation of students and teachers. The superintendent has instigated such 'misuse' and has been backed totally by the board until recently. Now that the superintendent has been called upon to explain some of his actions he has become very defensive and angry.
By spending millions from our fund balance on non-essential programs (community education, public relations, excess training and travel), this district has squandered the future of its students. Experienced teachers are encouraged to retire, while new, inexperienced teachers cannot keep order in the classroom or relate materials effectively. A curriculum of phonics and teacher-directed instruction has been replaced with a disjointed reading program (scholastic) and learner-centered, student -directed group learning. Portfolio reports don't tell parents what we want to know. It seems like there is constant change (one program to another) just for the sake of change. Teachers are constantly in training and substitutes are used too frequently to maintain a stable classroom environment. In short, the district is a mess.
Central High School is much too large to be safe. There are way too many students to have a handle on them. The Junior High and High School have been a bad experience.
I fear the standards are a little behind as to what the kids are being taught, especially the Kindergarten class. Also, when there is a problem with grades assignments, the parent should be called for a parent-teacher conference, not when your child has been assigned to an after-school program - by that time, hopefully, it is not too late.
District superintendent and wife both work for the District. Nepotism???
Questionable spending by superintendent leads to an appearance of corruption.
The superintendent has been an exceptional superintendent and his leadership skills are respected by all.
Drugs are a problem in the schools. Kids are smoking during the school and behind the buildings.
Kids are sharing drugs on the transport bus (transporting from one school to another for a school event).
Education dollars are being spent on administrative salaries - not on our children. Poor management by the superintendent and the school board. Inefficient use of funds to the point of illegality. Employees are people who can be controlled by the superintendent. He personally hires them.
The school board has permitted the superintendent to get away with unethical and immoral conduct. There are many good teachers in SAISD. Figure out a way to involve the critics of SAISD in school processes.
Gangs and related problems exist. The students can easily hide whatever they need to.
Fiscal affairs by superintendent and school board are handled very poorly. Since his arrival, the superintendent has diminished a surplus budget on activities not necessary for the district. Examples include enormous travel budget, sending teachers to seminars in other states, large office budget for superintendent, overpaid administrators, and so forth. The teachers seem to be qualified, but the district is suffering from poor administration.
Fiscal responsibility is sorely lacking when school superintendent can write his own check so to speak there is something wrong. Diverting funds for his defense from situations he has created means less money for educational purposes. Also using a method of diverting funds from salary to district funds, then going back and reclaiming after fiscal year has lapsed should be a misdemeanor! That is a replica of Texflex. Use it or lose it! This district sorely needs a complete investigation.
Good experience with principal and asst principal and most teachers. Central High is too big! We need another high school. I am willing to pay more in taxes for another HS in the Southwest part of town.
High quality of teachers. Very low quality of school board. I can't imagine a weaker school board in a city of this size. They have very little business knowledge and are incapable of administering an $80 million budget.
I think SAISD is doing a fairly good job. As a parent, we have been very happy with our children's education. I feel that the Administrative staff is overpaid in many areas and the teachers underpaid. I have personally dealt with some elementary teachers who are not certified when there are many without jobs who are ready and qualified to teach. I am not really "politically" involved with the school's activities, but I feel that our funds have not been well used and could be re-arranged better.
I have seen improvement made to every campus and I have seen teacher/student ratios go down. This is a good thing. The bad thing-district wide-, I believe that I can safely say that principals are not on their campuses nearly enough. That is not the fault of the principal but the higher administrators pulling them away. Our budget is greatly changing and I believe all improvements are going to come to a quick halt.
I am absolutely disappointed and embarrassed by the fiscal mismanagement or fiscal confusion present in our district. If monies and budgets are being correctly applied there should not be 3-4 numbers represented for 1 budget item.
With the threats being made to teachers "who will not go along", we are losing experienced teachers at a time our students are needing experienced teachers; the teachers are not being backed up by their own campus administration for disciplining actions and consequences outlined in the Student Code of Conduct, so unruly behavior is encouraged.
Students are continually passed on when they have not earned the grade because the teachers have been ordered to pass the students.
I am extremely unhappy with our superintendent. His financial dealings are more than a little questionable. The teachers here work very hard and try to stay above the political fray that the superintendent has caused but the morale among teachers is desperately low.
I am not affiliated with the school or SAISD group. My impression of the superintendent after attending an elementary school meeting was that he was defensive. The school board has lost credibility with the community for not holding his spending tactics up to proper standards.
The financial bungles have made us a laughing stock and it is the quality of education of our children that is suffering. The size of the administration seems very large for a district our size and the salaries large compared to the classroom teacher who does the real work of education.
I cannot comprehend or understand how we can spend so much money on administrative desires, not needs, instead of spending money on students. I cannot understand all the perks the superintendent gets as he wishes and no one calls his bluff. I'm self-employed and if I ran my business like they run the SAISD I would be laughed out of town.
We feel helpless as parents as we watch the financial condition of the school system go down the tube because of personal wants and desires of the superintendent.
I am very concerned about the fiscal responsibility of our board. Our superintendent has, on numerous occasions, used his position in order to intimidate or retaliate against teachers, principals, and even our private citizens.
We start and stop programs on an on-going basis and our teachers are very frustrated. We have cut expenditures at the campus level in order to "feed" a growing administrative function. Public input is discouraged and our board currently acts as if it serves our superintendent.
Our TAAS scores have improved, but we are still below the state average in almost all areas. We have achieved this level at the expense of teaching to the TAAS.
We have an early separation incentive that has removed experienced teachers from our schools. We have approved excessive administrative travel with little or no classroom benefit.
I realize that school districts are locally controlled, but ours is out of control and we need a complete, comprehensive review by our Comptroller to force our board and administrative team to again focus on the needs of our children.
I feel expenditures made by the SAISD administration and board members for vehicles and travel are excessive and not competitive.
I have concerns about other schools that are not implementing content mastery and the other special education programs. There are too many kids being put back instead of getting them the help they need. It is too easy to label these kids as not being mature enough instead of helping them. Kids don't need to be held back. They need to utilize the programs that are available.
I feel that if the teachers were paid enough, they would try better educating the students.
At the cafeteria, my children say that they run out of food and that some kids do not get to eat.
I feel that the San Angelo ISD Superintendent does nothing but ignore all the issues that are brought to him. Your child's problem just gets passed from one person to another.
I feel that we do not need people in administration that have two assistants for the person to do their job. The money should be used to hire more teachers for our children. We have people in the administration office making $60,000 or $90,000 but they cannot tell us what they do exactly to warrant this pay.
We have too many chiefs and not enough Indians and our children are suffering. We need to regroup with a new leader that does not take offense to constructive criticism.
Our administrators should be our examples and not our excuses.
I strongly believe that the downsizing in our SAISD will critically impair our children's academic success. We desperately need more excellent teachers in Math and the Sciences to help educate our children enough to succeed in our society. Additionally our children need much more attention in reading.
I support the superintendent 100%. He has achieved so much during the last few years while superintendent. He has always addressed my concerns either personally or through someone else. I hope he continues to stay on as superintendent and work vigorously for the children and their education.
I think that we have a good educational program; however, increased parental input in the affairs of the SAISD would help greatly in increasing the quality of education in our district.
I think they need to look to the future; we have one of the largest 5A high schools in Texas. We need a plan to build a small high school in the area of town where San Angelo is growing. Central is too large and some students get lost in the cracks. Lake View is a nice size but is situated too far from the new population.
If a company CEO managed his organization and dealt with its customers as our superintendent, he would have been fired two years ago.
I believe SAISD has an excellent gifted program for students on the elementary side, which has allowed my child to excel significantly.
I'm glad you're coming to investigate.
Communication is a problem and has been one.
Parents and students are treated with little respect - unless they are "somebody."
A little genuine concern on the part of teachers costs nothing and would be a far more productive investment than any training. Some of the elementary teachers are wonderful; they not only care about the students but they even seem to like them. Others are a disgrace to their profession. By the time a child gets out of their class, self-esteem is destroyed and the child hates school. Our teachers need monitoring by outsiders.
It's not right when students from one area have to go to another school for athletic sources or classes that the primary school does not have. My child has to go to one school for 3 hours and then travel back to his other school. He is missing important things at the second school being at the first school on those days. Why do both high schools here not have the same courses and resources?
Vandalism in one school boy's restroom is solved by locking the restroom - ludicrous. A school board member ignored the complaint. Bullying and unkind teasing continues to be a problem.
My kids have been in several different school districts. At each one of the districts, they spend about a month practicing for the TAAS test. During that month, they only study and prepare for the types of questions asked on the test. School funding from the state should not rely so much on the test scores. As a parent, I feel that the time spent preparing for this test is actually taking away from my child's education.
Athletics gets the bulk of financial support as well as physical assets (buses, facilities, etc.) Band and UIL Math often play second fiddle to athletics. We are busing PE and ROTC to the High School from the Junior High daily. I want that money back in the budget.
My concern is that the GT program is only through the 3rd grade at this moment and at a regular school. What happens to these children between 4th and 6th grade? I know that they have classes starting again in Junior High.
Not enough communication between administration departments. Being new to public schools, it seemed as if we were given the run-around - taking tests, getting test results, etc.
Not enough notification time of some events, special programs, etc.
Our school district is extremely discriminating against Anglo students. I feel this is probably a nation-wide problem. Anglo students are not given the same "perks" as "minorities."
Our taxes are high, yet our school district is in financial trouble. This year, many of the school administrators received very large raises. I don't understand - especially considering that we are several million short. The school board is now considering closing two elementary schools.
Our taxes need to be higher! We do not spend nearly enough on education compared to Austin Westlake!
Home schooling is not the answer for teen parents.
Overall in this state a very good school district and somewhere for a child to get a decent start on an education.
Overall the school district works for the better of child/parent. Counselors are accessible for high school student.
Overall we are very satisfied with our children's education here in San Angelo. Discipline is good and they are all doing well. I believe a new high school is needed in the Southland/Bentwood area sometime soon. Keep up the good work!
Overall, I feel my children have received an adequate education and have been fortunate to have dedicated teachers. My negative feelings toward this district stem more from the administrative branch. I do not feel welcome as a parent to "partner" in my child's education as the law clearly allows. I have asked questions of very highly paid individuals who never return calls or seem unable to answer my questions. I have become extremely concerned over the "top" administrators behavior and blatant disregard for the taxpayers hard-earned money. Basic needs are not being met at the campus level and yet, there seems to be money to do frivolous things!
Overall, I think the schools are great, for sure the ones my kids attend. I'm not involved with the PTA but I try to support fundraisers. Since I'm not concerned about my kids' education at this point, I don't feel I have to keep an eye on what goes on at the SAISD level. I do listen though to their meeting coverage on the local news.
PC in grades K-6 needs updates. LV is ok because of the new school.
Safety - when a student is attacked by someone else and they try to defend themselves, is it right to punish the person that was attacked? I think this could lead to bigger problems later. It is hard to be hit and punched and stand there and takes it - could you?
SAISD is doing a very good job, however, in some areas, i.e. budget, dropping ADA, completion of bond (taking too long), community concerns regarding superintendent and teacher morale being perceived as poor.
Public trust in the board and administration has severely diminished.
SAISD is in financial difficulty now because the current administration has spent the majority of our fund balance on unnecessary items. The district is planning to cut 40 teaching units, 100 non-teaching units and are currently on a hiring freeze. Some schools have lost key people, such as secretaries that have key roles. The district left the schools in a bind by not hiring someone to replace those people, but sent aides that have never performed the jobs required. I think the districts priorities are no longer on the children.
SAISD needs to worry about the child's education, rather than statistics. SAISD seems to have a very bad drug and gang problem. Someone needs to stop spending our tax money on themselves and start spending it on education.
SAISD needs to develop a working relationship with parents to help teach our children to be there for our kids. Too much politics and not enough education.
SAISD school board trustees make no effort to meet with parents or teachers, individually or as a group. There is a very real feeling by faculty and staff that speaking out against the current administration will result in repercussions.
The gifted and talented program procedures are almost a secret.
School administrators are over-abundant and overpaid. The superintendent appears to be primarily interested in promoting himself, has attempted to thwart efforts to determine the extent of his inappropriate personal use of public funds, has bought the support of administrators with excessive salaries and intimidation, regularly practices deceit rather than honesty, seems to use threats and intimidation toward those who disagree with him, appears to be incompetent as to budget matters, and has many citizens upset.
Some teachers treat some students better than others.
Talk about no gangs and guns in school; teach our kids that there is more. To many school shootings here in USA. I want my child safe.
Teachers in elementary schools need to have more compassion for the children. They need to realize the things they say to and/about the students affect their self-esteem.
The 500 block of Guadalupe Street at Central is very dangerous. At least 3 students have been hit there in the past 2 years. The students have requested speed bumps be installed. Students drive way too fast, especially at lunch-break on that block while many are crossing, including multiple Special Ed students. Will it take one of our own to be seriously injured in order to spend the money for speed bumps?
The biggest negative for our school district is our superintendent.
The current board has always been a rubber stamp for the superintendent they have. The current superintendent has an attack style with the public when questioned, and has a history of fiscal difficulty.
The education performance at SAISD is good because of excellent teachers doing a good job in spite of inadequate salary.
The fine arts programs in SAISD are under-funded and under-staffed. Fine arts are a valuable tool in the education of our students. Many studies have shown that participation in Fine Arts, Music in particular, increases students overall education development. Students involved in these programs score much higher on SAT exams than the average student. These programs should be fully funded and staffed by SAISD.
The morale of our teachers is very low is SAISD. They feel underpaid, under-respected and under fire. I am not a teacher, but I feel sorry for their plight. What other college degrees provide a career where your opinions do not count and is threatening to its administration? Our superintendent is too defensive to be in control of his situation. This hostile situation is not in the best interest of our students.
The SAISD allows for public comment after voting, the comments are then ineffective. Our superintendent has nearly bankrupted our district in two short years going through an almost $22 million fund balance. When requested by parental rights groups, information is slow and ambiguous. We cannot find out what the money was spent on. Teachers' attitudes and morale is low with the higher quality teachers taking early retirement. The administration is top heavy with high salaries to match the top-heavy district.
I have lived in San Angelo most of my life and I have never seen the school district in such desperate conditions.
There are many excellent teachers in the district, but their hands are tied when dealing with disruptive students and students who refuse to do their part in the learning process. Students who do not learn content material should not be passed. The number of students doing remedial Math and English at public universities in Texas is appalling and its due to K-12 policies that continue to allow students to not learn anything. Children need to experience early on that their behavior has consequences.
The superintendent has been nothing but divisive and the public no longer trusts his leadership. The district also needs more effective content in-service training. Most of my children's teachers have been competent, but a few have needed help.
There are many high quality teachers in the SAISD but there are also too many entry level, unsupervised teachers. The early retirement incentive encouraged many of the skilled, experienced educators to retire, thus being replaced with entry-level people. Mismanagement of funds created a severe budget crunch, thus the incentive program was "beefed up" to get rid of "expensive" teachers.
The superintendent answers only the questions he chooses to answer - rarely do we receive a straight answer. Elementary schools are treated differently depending on ethnic makeup and money.
The two high schools are definitely not treated equally.
We appreciate you looking into the SAISD. Parents have been asking many questions that remain unanswered. Teachers have had their jobs threatened by the superintendent if they do not agree with his programs or if they publicly disagree with him.
There has been a big problem with teachers being out of the classroom, sometimes a week for curriculum training or workshop. This is hard on younger children. Some teachers are out one-half day a week for twelve weeks.
There is almost no communication from teachers, and when there is, the teacher usually calls the student by the wrong name. Teachers should be more observant and know what is going on around them. Once the student enters the school, the parent no longer has control and the teachers are not interested.
SAISD is spending too much money on trying various fix-it programs. When there is discipline in the classroom (parents need to be involved) then learning can take place. Maybe installing cameras (parents can see problems of child's behavior and parent takes action or child is removed.)
Things here are over all very good but, as with everything, there is room for improvement.
This district should be a role model for others to follow. My grandchildren only attended school here for a short period. Very pleased and impressed. The schools, teachers and education here they received should be commended. No complaints, that's for sure.
Timely, consistent communication between parents and teachers of Jr. High students is a serious problem.
Too many talented, intelligent, creative children are at risk and falling through the cracks!
No child going through this system will be prepared for serious university work. The time and money spent by the district does not reach the student - your system is wrong when the teachers are less rewarded than the administrator!
We need more teachers that do like their job and teach children with respect and sincerity. I am satisfied with the teachers that my child has had in the past. These teachers care so much!