Loyal survey shows more support for educational needs/ less for athletic facilities

More than 300 Loyal School Distict residents who responded to a recent facility needs survey have indicated they would rather see the district invest in educational space needs rather than athletic facilities. In fact, improvements to the district’s outdoor athletic facilities were ranked at the bottom of a list of eight possible upgrades under consideration by the Board of Education.

A total of 324 survey responses were received in October by School Perceptions, the consulting firm hired by the district to gauge community interest in various school improvement needs and a possible future building referendum. That was a 23 percent response rate, said Rob DeMeuse of School Perceptions, who reported the survey results to the Board at a Nov. 17 monthly meeting.

DeMeuse had numerous breakdowns of survey results, the main one of which was the ranking of eight proposed projects. The top two most popular projects that survey respondents said they were most likely to support were a technology education area addition/renovation at an estimated cost of $1.9 million and a renovation of 4-yearold and 5-year-old kindergarten areas at $700,000. Ranked last by respondents was a baseball/ softball field/parking area upgrade at $3 million and seventh was a football field/track project at $3.7 million.

The other suggested upgrades were a project to upgrade safety/ security, add a central office/ high school commons area and renovate cafeteria space at $7.1 million (ranked third); an art and special education classroom upgrade at $490,000 (ranked fourth); a multi-purpose/ elementary gym renovation at $790,000 (ranked fifth); and a music classroom renovation at $630,000 (ranked sixth).

DeMeuse said the survey also asked residents how likely they would be to support certain referendum packages. The survey explained how much those projects would likely impact local property taxes, and respondents were asked if they would vote for them. Based on the responses, DeMeuse said the district may want to rule out certain projects as there does not appear to be enough community support to pass a referendum. For example, one specific question asked residents if they would be likely to support a referendum to build a community storm shelter with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a possible project the district has been exploring. The district could then use the space as a gymnasium or other educational space, as the Spencer School District is doing. DeMeuse said the survey showed a majority of respondents would not vote for such a project.

Although the survey drew responses from only 23 percent of the district, De-Meuse said that is actually a “great” response rate and is enough for the district to draw conclusions as to which direction it may want to take.

“When you’re pushing a quarter (25 percent), we really feel quite confident,” DeMeuse said.

An analysis of responses to questions about how large a referendum residents might support provides the Board with information on what they may eventually ask residents for. While all the listed projects would total $18.3 million, DeMeuse said there does not appear to be support for spending that much money. The potential support for a referendum drops below 50 percent at about $12 million, he said.

The Board has taken no steps toward a possible referendum and will use the survey information to develop possible next steps in addressing various facility needs.

For a breakdown of facility project rankings, please see page 6