Fayetteville-Manlius School District voters who completed an exit survey during the district’s annual school budget vote in May indicated that their top budget information source was district publications.
“We are pleased that 70 percent of the respondents indicated district publications were their best source of information,” Superintendent Craig J. Tice said. “It is critical that residents are informed about what is happening in the district, and budget communications is one of our top communication priorities. We strive to be the community’s first and best source of news about the district and will continue to make that a priority as we embark on a new school year.”
District officials also use the survey to assess community priorities related to the programs and services the district offers its students, as well as community satisfaction with the district overall.
The exit survey was available during the annual school budget vote, which took place May 17. District voters approved the $79.6 million 2016-17 budget proposal at an overall 77 percent passing rate (1,738 yes; 519 no).
School officials recently certified that the projected 2016-17 tax levy increase of 1.88 percent was indeed below the district’s calculated tax levy limit of 1.89 percent (per the state’s property tax levy cap law). Based on this tax levy, the F-M Board of Education will establish the corresponding school tax rates at its regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 22. The exit survey collected demographic data about who voted on the budget and information about why voters voted the way they did. The survey was voluntary and anonymous.
Surveys were made available to voters at the polling site for anyone who chose to fill one out after voting, both electronically and in paper form. While the survey results do not represent the opinions of all voters, they do provide many residents’ perceptions about the district and its proposed budget.
In 2016, 2,257 residents voted on the school budget, which is 28 fewer residents than voted in 2015. Of the 2,257 residents who voted, 646 chose to fill out an exit survey, which is a response rate of 29 percent. This response rate is 9 percentage points lower than the response rate of the survey conducted during the 2015 budget vote and 2 percentage points lower than the previous year.
Check out the report to find out what voters’ best sources of information were about the budget, why voters voted the way they did and what non-mandated areas they would want the district to preserve if it is necessary for the district to make future budget cuts. The report can be found at: fmschools.org/exitsurvey.
