North Canton School District Asks Parents to Take Family and Civic Engagement Survey

North Canton City School officials want to know: Does your child volunteer in the community? Do you and your children have Internet access? Do your children get assigned enough homework?

Those questions, plus a few dozen others, make up the district’s Family and Civic Engagement survey, which school officials hope parents will take before April 21. The survey, which takes about 10-12 minutes to complete, asks parents about everything from their involvement with the schools to access to technology.

It’s designed to give officials a look at how they can better serve families in the district, said Peggy Savage, director of curriculum for North Canton City Schools.

“The focus is on how we can help our families — not necessarily what’s bad about our schools,” Savage said. “This is a whole different approach than what we’ve done in the past.”

The survey focuses on six areas: collaborating with the community, communicating, decision making, learning outside of school, parenting and volunteering.

Although hard copies are in each school’s main office and district office, Savage urges all parents submit the survey online through the district’s website.

The district’s Family and Civic Engagement (FCE) Team designed the survey. Parents, teachers and administrators, as well as representatives from community organizations, local businesses and faith-based organizations make up the FCE Team.

After reviewing the results of the FCE Survey, the FCE Team will develop a five-year family and civic engagement plan and make a presentation to school administration in June. It will present its findings to the school board in July.

School officials could start making changes as soon as the next school year, or it could take one to three years to roll out changes, depending on what they are, Savage said.