District Operations & Priorities Survey

As part of planning our services for the coming year, we’re trying to understand where districts like yours are most stretched operationally, so we can build support around your real priorities. This takes about 8 minutes and there are no wrong answers. Your candid take is what’s useful to us.

Estimated time: 8 minutes • Responses reviewed by Midwest Data Center • One response per person

communications, district? or

About you and your district

1. Your Name *

2. District Name *

3. Email *

4. Best Contact Number *

5. Your Role *

• Superintendent
• Administrative Assistant
• Principal
• Technology Coordinator
• Business / Office Manager
• Other

6. How many people handle central-office administration (not classroom staff)? *

• 1
• 4-6
• 2-3
• 7+

Where the time goes

7. Roughly what share of your week goes to administrative / paperwork tasks (vs. instruction, students, facilities)? *

• Under 10%
• 50-75%
• 10-20%
• Over 75%
• 25-50%

8. Which of these consume the most of your team's time? (pick your top 3) *

• State reporting & data submissions (DESE / MOSIS)
• Athletics / activities announcements & coverage
• Grant research, writing & reporting
• Enrollment, registration & student records
• Board meeting prep (agendas, packets, minutes)
• Scheduling (staff, substitutes, facilities)
• Parent / community communications & newsletters
• Budget, finance & purchasing
• Social media & website updates
• HR, onboarding & credentialing
• Federal programs (Title I, nutrition / USDA)
• Policy & handbook maintenance

9. If you could hand ONE task off entirely tomorrow, what would it be? *

10. What administrative task most often gets deferred or done late because there's simply no time? *

Pressure and stakes

11. Which tasks cause the most deadline stress? (pick up to 2) *

• State reporting (DESE / MOSIS)
• Enrollment / registration
• Grants & funding deadlines
• Budget / finance
• Board meeting cycle
• Federal programs / compliance
• Community communications
• HR / credentialing

12. In the past year, did you miss or skip an opportunity (a grant, a deadline, an event) purely for lack of time or staff? *

• Yes
• No

If yes, what?

13. Where do small mistakes carry the biggest cost for your district? *

• State funding
• Staff morale
• Compliance / legal
• Community reputation
• Other:

14. How much work gets manually re-keyed between systems that you feel should be automatic?

Selected Value: 1

1 = almost none • 5 = constant

List Systems Involved

A few specifics

15. Does your district actively pursue grants? *

• Aggressively
• Rarely, due to capacity
• When we have time
• We don’t

16. How many grant opportunities do you think you miss yearly for lack of capacity? *

• 0
• 5+
• 1-2
• No idea
• 3-5

17. Who handles communications, social media & the website?

• Dedicated staff
• A teacher or coach volunteer
• Office manager as an add-on
• Outside vendor
• Superintendent / Principal
• No one consistently
• Other: (List Below)

Other:

18. How satisfied are you with your district's community engagement & online presence?

Selected Value: 1

1 = poor • 5 = excellent

19. How heavy is the burden of state / DESE reporting on your team?

Selected Value: 1

1 = light • 5 = crushing

20. How much office time does one full board-meeting cycle take (prep + minutes + posting)? *

• Under 2 hrs
• 5-10 hrs
• 2-5 hrs
• 10+ hrs

21. How much of a concern is maintaining or growing enrollment for your district?

Selected Value: 1

1 = none • 5 = major

Priorities and decisions

22. If you were given one more full-time staff member, what would you put them on? *

23. When you weigh a new tool or service, what matters most? (pick 2) *

• Saves staff time
• Improves community image
• Saves money
• Easy for non-technical staff
• Reduces compliance risk
• Other: (List Below)

Other:

24. Who's involved in deciding on new operational tools or services? *

• Superintendent
• Principal
• School board
• Technology coordinator
• Business manager
• Other: (List Below)

Other:

25. Anything about where your district feels stretched that we didn't ask? *

Submit

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