DAPHNE, Ala. — As the school year draws to a close, the Baldwin County Education Coalition wants to hear from parents and teachers about key issues to be addressed in the school system’s new co-owned strategic plan, scheduled for presentation to school board members on May 17.

The community-sponsored online survey has been sent by the coalition to all public school parents whose email addresses are registered with the district’s SchoolCast program.  Any parent interested in taking the survey who did not receive the original message is encouraged to contact the coalition at YesWeCanBaldwinCounty@gmail.com and an email link with instructions will be provided.

A second questionnaire designed to benchmark attitudes and awareness among teachers and principals has also been distributed. Results from all three surveys will be used to inform the development of school system and community work plans over the summer in keeping with the timeline for implementation of the comprehensive strategic plan.

Five priorities for improvement emerged from 85 community conversations conducted by coalition volunteers in homes, churches and community centers across the county during July through October last year. College and career readiness, data-driven accountability, leadership, funding and communication were the areas of greatest interest among the 1300-plus residents who took part in those discussions. 

Findings from the conversations were collected in the Yes We Can Community Agreement adopted by the county’s school board in December as a guiding document for future planning. 

Since then, more than 100 community members and educators have worked together to develop a comprehensive strategic plan that lays out objectives for both school system personnel and community volunteers over the coming year.  The overarching goal of this new blueprint is to align efforts in the schools and out in the community to make progress in those areas that citizens say they care about most. 

All survey responses are anonymous; however, upon completing the questionnaire, participants are invited to provide their email address if they would be willing to take a follow-up survey next year in order to measure possible changes in attitudes and awareness.

The Baldwin County Education Coalition is an independent partnership of seven local education foundations that together serve all public school students in the county.  Their stated mission is “to engage community stakeholders in public education and to advocate with one voice for the success of every child in Baldwin County.”

The Yes We Can model for public engagement was developed by the Mobile Area Education Foundation in 2001 and has been used successfully by other Alabama communities over the past ten years to engage citizens in meaningful school reform.