St. Charles School District continues to gather community feedback

Nomination packets for those interested in running for the St. Charles District 303 School Board next year are now available.

St. Charles School District 303 residents who were unable to attend one of the district’s recent listening sessions will be able to fill out a digital survey.

“We’re really trying to get as much feedback as we can,” Chief Communications Officer Scott Harvey told School Board members at the Oct. 11 board meeting. “It’s really important that we’re listening and learning in this first round so that we can take some really key data from the feedback and develop action items from that feedback.”

Last month’s session at St. Charles East High School was the fourth and last in the first round of listening sessions. Another round of listening sessions is set to take place in the winter/spring and a third round will be scheduled in late spring.

The sessions are part of the district’s new community engagement plan – Listen Learn Return. Harvey and new School Superintendent Paul Gordon started with the district July 1.

Harvey said the district will send out a digital survey to those people who weren’t able to attend one of the in-person sessions so they can share their feedback with the district.

“It’s called listen and learn because it is literally for us to hear the community as well as the board members to hear the community,” Gordon told participants at last month’s listening session. “That’s the real goal here – to help us be informed … all these different perspectives help shape the work that we’re doing.”

In group discussions, participants talked about the challenges facing the district, the opportunities for growth and what they were most proud of within the district. During the discussions, participants talked about such challenges as overcrowded school buses caused by not having enough bus drivers.

Participants also said the district needs to do a better job of conveying information and addressing any misinformation that is being disseminated in the community.

Board member Kate Bell thanked Harvey for his efforts.

“I really appreciate the way you’ve engaged with the various attendees,” she said. “I’ve really appreciated your attention and your focus and drive.”