SHELDON—Ninety-six percent of students at East Elementary have a positive attitude about school, but principal Jason Groendyke still would like to see that figure go up to 100 percent.
He shared that statistic Wednesday, Jan. 13, while discussing results of a school climate survey during the Sheldon School District Board of Education’s regular meeting.
Counselor Heather Craig recently gave students in grades 1-4 an anonymous survey that asked — among other questions — if they felt safe at recess, on the bus and in the classroom. Students also were able to write comments under the prompts to flesh out their thoughts.
Board member Steve Waldstein pointed out how a few of the students wrote they did not feel safe at recess because there was not a fence surrounding the school’s outdoor playground and athletic field to keep strangers off school property.
Groendyke said the topic also came up during a recent discussion with East Elementary’s special education teachers. Another related concern was keeping students to stay on school grounds.
“That has been a concern with some of my special-ed teachers and gen-ed teachers as well,” he said. “They are starting to have some students that do take off running. It’s not a lot by any means, and it’s a long way before they hit the road. But it’s still a concern.”
Waldstein pointed out how it was a concern that came up in three of the four grade levels’ survey results and was an issue he had heard spoken about for a few years.
Groendyke agreed and said a solution would not necessarily mean erecting a fence around the whole school’s perimeter.
“We’ve talked a little bit about how you would divide it up,” Groendyke said. “You probably could divide the playground up to where you could put a fence around a portion of it and still have gates so they could still go out and play soccer and football and still have access to the sledding hill and stuff. It’s a conversation we’re probably having at some point.”
Waldstein also asked if transportation director Mark Pritts was aware of some of the comments students had about being on the buses — such as fears of bullying and students not wearing face masks — that he could pass along to the bus drivers.
“It’s a good idea,” Groendyke said. “I can share it with Mark, absolutely.”
