Our school will soon be administering the Kansas Communities That Care (KCTC) Student Survey*. This survey is taken by 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th-grade students statewide, and we will be giving it to our 10th and 12th graders in November.
We have administered this survey for many years, and it has helped us track trends in student behaviors and beliefs surrounding topics such as substance use, bullying, mental health, school safety, and more. It has provided valuable (and anonymous!) school-level data to evaluate the effectiveness of our school programming and help us plan for the future.
Each year for the past 8 years, we have surveyed almost all sophomores and seniors. St. James families have always been given the chance to opt-out of this survey during the enrollment process. While very few have chosen to do so, we have always respected parents’ input on what information is gathered from their children. Due to new legislation, however, families now need to OPT IN to this survey (see the options below). I am very hopeful that you will choose to do so.
The information from this survey has helped guide our decision-making and planning related to our drug and alcohol testing program, our SJA Strong initiative, our PE/Health curriculum, and more. In previous years, we have shared the results of the surveys at a session during parent-teacher conferences in the fall for anyone who wanted to attend (given the sensitive nature of the data, we prefer to share in person rather than publish electronically), though Covid put a pause on that sharing option the last two years. Plans are in place to share this information with parents again this spring in person so that the information can guide not only our decision-making as a school but yours as parents.
The survey can be viewed at www.kctcdata.org/families, click “View the survey”. You may also be interested to know the following:
1. It is completely anonymous. Students will not be asked for their names on the questionnaire, nor will anyone be able to connect any individual student with his/her responses. School staff will not see any one student’s responses, but only summaries of results.
2. Participation is entirely voluntary. Your child may decline to participate in the survey or may simply skip any question they do not wish to answer.
3. Annual participation is important. Even if your child has participated in previous surveys, annual data is extremely helpful in determining the effectiveness of previous efforts and changes in program areas.
I hope you will allow your child to participate. To view, your copy of the Guardian Informed Consent clicks or visit here. Please check the appropriate box below. All parents must complete and submit this form to SJA by November 1, 2022. To learn more about which survey questions St. James will administer to students, please feel free to contact me directly. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about this important survey.
Sincerely,
Dr. Shane Rapp
Principal
*The survey is provided by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, Behavioral Health Services Commission and administered by Greenbush – The Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, Research and Evaluation Department.
