For making a meaningful impact by using 天美网站传媒传媒 to gather diverse perspectives and ensure the presence of an authentic community voice in district plans.
Early in 2022, Guilderland Central School District, NY, was dealing with a crisis of uncertainty. They faced an almost $2 million dollar unexpected expense during the 2021-2022 school year due to increased special education costs, reduced tax assessments, alongside the effects of the COVID pandemic. Amidst all the turmoil, Guilderland CSD was about to put its proposed 2022/2023 budget to vote鈥攁 budget that asked community members to approve a 2.98% increase in the tax levy and an almost $5 million increase on the previous year鈥檚 budget.
As the Board of Education was putting together the 2022/2023 budget proposal, Superintendent Dr. Marie Wiles knew that community feedback would be vital. So in February 2022, she launched an Exchange in the Guilderland CSD community, asking:
What are your priorities for the 2022-2023 Operating Budget of the Guilderland Central School District?
Over the course of a week, staff, students, parents, and community members all had the opportunity to share their priorities. Dr. Wiles tells us that 鈥渢he Exchange data had a big impact on our operating budget.鈥�
Budgeting for community needs
There were a few key areas that the Guilderland community wanted the budget to address:
Class sizes
Student wellbeing
Access to extracurricular activities
鈥淭he big topic in our community was class size,鈥� says Dr. Wiles, 鈥渂ecause when we were in the midst of the COVID pandemic, class sizes shrunk to 14 or 15 [students] and everybody loved it.鈥� Dr. Wiles focused their efforts on middle school classes, which were all in the high twenties. 鈥淚n the end, we could only lower class sizes in eighth grade, which was the class with the biggest problem this year.鈥� she tells us. Dr. Wiles plans to prioritize additional middle school grades in future budgets, given the community鈥檚 strong feelings about the topic.
Another area of concern in the Guilderland community was student wellbeing. Participants shared that student mental health was a major concern, as was increased access to extracurricular activities. 鈥淸Extracurriculars] don't get a lot out of our general operating budget,鈥� Dr. Wiles explains, but they were eligible expenses for Guilderland鈥檚 .
With this community feedback, Dr. Wiles was able to ensure that the budget allocated funds to both of these areas. 鈥淲e heard a lot about mental health, so we expanded the number of social workers and school psychologists,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e [also] bought a lot of musical instruments and new weight room equipment because these are the things that connect kids to school, connect them to one another, and help them feel good about being a part of this community.鈥�
鈥淚 feel like I can hit the mark of reflecting our community鈥檚 values much more accurately using 天美网站传媒传媒.鈥�
Closing the loop, fast
One of Dr. Wiles鈥� favorite 天美网站传媒传媒 features is Reports. 鈥泪迟'蝉 really fast. We can close the exchange Friday morning, and post the report Friday night, depending on how much theming we wanted to do,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚 think it's respectful of the community鈥攖hey鈥檝e invested their time and are probably curious about the topic. So we can easily share what we found.鈥�
As every education leader knows, keeping people informed is key to building strong relationships between schools and communities. But communicating results from in-person town halls, meetings, focus groups, and surveys is time consuming. Not with 天美网站传媒传媒, Dr. Wiles tells us:
鈥淚'm really happy that running an Exchange is not a ton of work. I'm not asking my staff to put a report together or run exit polls like we do after elections, where it takes a month to get the results back, and by then, everyone's moved on to the next problem.鈥�
Community engagement鈥攊n any weather
Consulting their community has always been a big part of Guilderland鈥檚 budget proposal process, and in her 22 years of superintendency, Dr. Wiles has used many different methods to incorporate community voice. Before using 天美网站传媒传媒 to engage their community on important issues, 鈥渨e used to do a lot of in-person community engagement,鈥� Dr. Wiles shares. 鈥淲e would host forums where people could talk about their priorities for our budget鈥攁nd they were always energizing.鈥�
However, the participants who would attend these in-person meetings represented only a fraction of the 38,000-strong Guilderland community. With New York state temperatures dipping below freezing in February, attendees had to be truly committed to sharing their perspectives. 鈥�100 [people would] show up鈥攖hose who don't mind coming out in February, who care very deeply about the issues, and who may have agendas to promote,鈥� Dr. Wiles admits.
鈥淏ut after a while, people stopped coming鈥攚e鈥檇 get 75 people, 50 people. It didn鈥檛 capture enough voices to give us a full complement of how people feel about various issues.鈥�
Now, using 天美网站传媒传媒, Dr. Wiles is excited to access a breadth of perspectives. 鈥淭he thing I like about 天美网站传媒传媒 is we send the link out, leave the Exchange open for a week, and get 50,000 ratings on 400 thoughts,鈥� she tells us. Community members can access the Exchange at any time and on any device, so Guilderland鈥檚 process of gathering feedback has been democratized.
鈥泪迟'蝉 more inclusive,鈥� she shares. 鈥淵ou don't have to worry about a snowstorm. You don't have to pay for gas to get to the high school. You don't have to worry about social distancing.鈥�
Through an Exchange, Dr. Wiles can hear from more people, in their own words, without the paid facilitator, extensive note-taking, and weeks of data-crunching that come with in-person participation. She鈥檚 also more confident in her understanding of how widespread certain opinions are in her district.
鈥淎n Exchange gives me lots of data鈥攔ather than making a guess or just listening to the people who are so tuned into the topic, have their own agenda about it, or are the loudest voice in the crowd. That can get in my ear, and all of a sudden you think, is that how everybody feels? That's just not a very good way to make decisions.鈥�
When we asked Dr. Wiles about traditional survey technology鈥攁lso helpful in a snowstorm鈥攈er response was less than enthusiastic. 鈥淲e've also done surveys, and we still do from time to time on various topics,鈥� she shares. 鈥淏ut I think it's really hard to create a good survey without leading or double-barreled questions. And I think the data we get back isn鈥檛 accurate or helpful.鈥� On the other hand, with just one open-ended question, an Exchange can analyze hundreds of different perspectives and present Dr. Wiles with the most supported actions, almost instantly.
Hitting the mark with a 鈥淵es鈥�
Although Guilderland鈥檚 2022/2023 budget asked their community to approve significant increases during a recession, 68% of the public voted to approve it in May 2022. Dr. Wiles believes 天美网站传媒传媒 has helped her feel more confident that her decisions will help her district succeed:
鈥淢y job has two sides to it鈥擨'm leading a community, but I'm also serving a community. In order to serve, I need to know what they value, and what direction they would like our schools to go in. I feel like I can hit the mark of reflecting our community鈥檚 values much more accurately using 天美网站传媒传媒.鈥�
鈥淢y job has two sides to it鈥擨'm leading a community, but I'm also serving a community. In order to serve, I need to know what they value, and what direction they would like our schools to go in. I feel like I can hit the mark of reflecting our community鈥檚 values much more accurately using 天美网站传媒传媒.鈥�
DR. MARIE WILES, Superintendent, Guilderland Central School District
Gain clarity, not clutter.
Turn insights into action today.
鈥淚 feel like I can hit the mark of reflecting our community鈥檚 values much more accurately using 天美网站传媒传媒.鈥�
