Spotsylvania School Climate Survey Reflects Positive Impact of School Resource Officers

Respondents to biannual survey also reported improved working conditions in division schools.

By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The results of last year’s Virginia Survey of Culture and Climate in Spotsylvania schools reflect the significant positive impact from 2022 to 2024 of the school resource and school security officers, the school division’s director of safety said this week.

Jeremy Siefker presented an analysis of the results from the survey—which is conducted by the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services as part of annual school safety audits required by Virginia Code—at Monday’s School Board meeting.

He drew attention to a “statistically significant” improvement between the 2021-22 school year and the 2023-24 school year in how students and instructors rated the success of the school safety and school resource officer programs.

The survey asked respondents to rate from 1 to 6—with 1 equaling “strongly disagree” and 6 equaling “strongly agree” —their agreement with the statement “My School Security Officer/School Resource Officer makes me feel safe.”

In January of 2022, students at the five county high schools rated their agreement between 3.9 at Chancellor High School and 4.4 at Courtland and Riverbend high schools.

In January of 2024, student responses from all of the schools indicated a higher degree of agreement, between 4.3 at Chancellor and 4.9 at Courtland with “statistically significant” improvements of 0.5 or more at Courtland, Massaponax, and Spotsylvania high schools.

Responses to the same question from high school classroom instructors also improved across the board over 2022, with statistically significant improvement at Chancellor, Courtland, and Spotsylvania high schools.

Responses from both students and instructors went from being at or below the state average at all schools in 2022 to at or above state average at some schools in 2024.

The survey is administered to classroom instructors and all other staff at the high school level in even years and at the middle and elementary levels in odd years. Students in grades 6 through 12 are also given the opportunity to complete the survey.

There must be responses from more than 50% of any of these groups in order for the division to receive results, Siefker said. There were 4,411 responses to the 2024 survey from Spotsylvania high school students and 453 from high school instructors.

Siefker said the division has been “intentionally focused” in the last two years on improving the effectiveness of the SSO/SRO program. “[We wanted to] move the needle,” he said. “I didn’t like where the scores were.”

This week, the school resource officer and administration at Massaponax High School identified an improperly parked vehicle in the school parking lot that belonged to a student. Upon questioning, according to a press release from the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office, the student informed the team that there were firearms in the car, which the SRO collected and turned in as evidence. The student was arrested and charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property.

“This case highlights the partnership between school administrators and the School Resource Officer,” the press release stated.

Teachers report improved working conditions

Another area that saw statistically significant improvement over 2022, according to the 2024 survey results, was in how classroom instructors responded to the statement “Over the last year, the working conditions for teachers in this school have 1) Become much worse to 7) Become much better.”

In 2022, responses from the five schools were between 2.5 and 3.4, all at or below the state average of 3.4. In 2024, responses from four of the five schools were between 3.6 and 4.5, all at or above the state average of 3.6.

Riverbend was the only high school at which instructors reported that working conditions worsened between 2022 and 2024.

The survey also reflected statistically significant improvement in how classroom instructors and staff—a category that encompasses all other adults working in the building—responded to the statement “Overall, my school is a good place to work and learn.”

In 2022, the average response from teachers in the division was 4.3 (out of 6) and the state average was 4.5. In 2024, the average response from teachers in the division had increased to 4.8, slightly above the state average of 4.7.

Responses to the same question from high school staff increased from an average of 3.7 in 2022 to an average of 5.1 in 2024.

Siefker noted one area where there was a significant decrease over 2022—the rate at which high school staff agreed with the statement, “Professional Development I receive meets my needs.”

Teachers, across the board, reported stronger agreement with this statement, but staff reported that professional development was not meeting their needs.

“So now we’ve got to focus on our staff,” Siefker said.

Siefker noted that student and classroom instructors’ responses to questions about bullying has not changed much from 2022.

“There’s been no real change in data in terms of kids feeling safe,” he said. “This is where I want to focus. In two years, I want to see reporting above those state numbers.”

The division is preparing to install advanced weapons detection systems at the five high schools and Spotsylvania Career and Technical Center this month, superintendent Clint Mitchell announced at Monday’s meeting, and Siefker said he hopes this will have an impact on perceptions of safety.

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