When I became Superintendent of Schools in 2018, my first order of business was a Listening Tour. I met with hundreds of employees and students across our division to understand how I could best support you in your work, not just in providing resources, but in helping to create a climate that allowed you to prosper and grow as a professional.

If you read my Weekly Check-in on Friday, you know that one of the most important parts of my week, every week, are my visits to one of our schools or departments. These visits are today’s Listening Tours, providing me with the chance to learn from many of you about how the school division can support you and, especially, how I can support you in the important work you are doing.

It’s impossible, of course, to talk with each of you every week, but it’s also important to hear from all of you. That’s why this year, we brought in one of the most experienced and respected organizations to help: Gallup is a management consulting company that has been conducting public opinion surveys for more than 85 years, influencing government and policy in the United States and all over the world. This year, we have partnered with Gallup to ask each of you for your opinions about our school division and your working conditions in a survey that takes less than five minutes to complete.

So far, about six out of ten of you have anonymously shared your opinions in this confidential survey, and while I am grateful for your help, we need to hear from many more of you. That’s why I have directed that the survey, which was to have closed by now, be extended through Thursday, May 12.

At a time when we have created our own Human Resources Department and have required that our department be focused on improving employee service and support… at a time when the challenges and opportunities before each of us are greater than ever before… we need to respond, greater than ever before, with the resources and support you deserve. And to do that, we need your straight-forward and honest guidance. To make this as easy as possible, on Wednesday, May 11, we will email a new link to those of you who have not yet had the chance to complete the survey.

Among the values in our strategic plan, Learning for All, are excellence and wellness. Please take a few minutes to help us achieve these values by completing your survey.

Thank you,

Dr. Matthew Haas
Superintendent of Schools