March 10, 2005.
Following-up on a review they did four years ago, the Charlottesville Education Association released a survey of educators to get their opinions on the state of the school system. The biggest finding was that people are concerned over the way the Central Office treats building employees.
"This has always been a historic problem in terms of communication between the board and the rest of the school division," said Bekah Saxon of CEA.
"We're going to move right away to developing a strategic planning process," added Chairwoman Dede Smith. "It will be a wonderful opportunity for teacher's the community, and central office staff to come together."
The employees felt the biggest change was a better relationship with their superiors.
"They really feel that they have the support of their principals and direct supervisors and four or five years ago that was not the case," said Saxon.
"They look forward to coming to school each day: What could be better?" asked Smith.
A key issue plaguing the school board re-surfaced. "The achievement gap is a major issue in education today and the need to address this was overwhelming in the survey," said Smith.
The survey was not sponsored by the school board, but they will review it for more insight. Only about one third of Charlottesville School District staff members responded to the questions.
