HANOVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Officials at Hanover Area School District are asking for answers, not for a test or a pop quiz, but for a survey on the climate of the schools in the district. It's a survey they hope will help them make positive changes in the district.
"Families and students and community members and parents are to fill out the survey and then we get a good look as to what students are feeling like when they're arriving, we're getting a good look as to what parents feel like dropping their kids off here," said Hanover Area Superintendent Nathan Barrett.
There are four surveys accessible on the district's website, each tailored to the taker's relationship to the school, whether it's a student, parent or guardian, staff member, or community member taking it.
The student survey asks about things like bullying in the school, while the community member survey asks how they are treated by students outside of school.
"The overall purpose of this is providing a safe and nourishing environment for the students that come here on a daily basis. They feel better about where they're at, they're going to perform better," Barrett said.
People tell Newswatch 16 they think it's a good idea that the schools get the input from community members whose only connection to the school may be from paying taxes.
"Considering being a taxpayer, it's very important because if that's your money going in to the district, you need to see cause and effect, so yes, if you're looking for like 1 through 10 out of importance, it's a 10," said Nanticoke resident Samantha Moore.
The district says this is the final push for the surveys as part of a three-year study. Once this is completed, they will create an action plan to make changes based on the input. Hanover Area's deadline to fill out the survey is February 28.