WPUSD fine-tunes community messaging as it seeks to improve facilities

The Western Placer Unified School District is working on its messaging to the community ahead of potentially seeking additional taxes for facilities. Representatives from FM3 Research gave a presentation detailing a survey of the community's take on the school district. Findings indicated a majority of those surveyed view local schools and the school district favorably but are more divided in their view of the district board. Two in five say they've heard something about the board recently with issues ranging from curriculum and book bans to LGBTQ, student safety and education. The most positive things voters have heard about the district are related to the quality of education and teachers. The most common negative things heard relate to poor test scores and politics in education. "Nearly all surveyed feel the schools are an important part of the local community," said a representative from FM3 Research at the Aug. 15 meeting. A majority say the quality of education is excellent or good, but only about one-quarter rate the district's financial management as excellent or good. The survey asked specific questions about the district's facilities and found that three in five voters said they see a need for funding for facilities and infrastructure. "There seems to be this mixed impression that some of the facilities are really good and some are in need of improvement, which means that people kind of land in the middle," a representative from FM3 Research said. Superintendent Kerry Callahan said the district called for this survey work after hearing various community comments such as "everyone feels …" or "I know lots of people think …" "We felt it was a good idea to truly survey our community to get the truth about where public opinion stands," Callahan said in an email to the Lincoln News Messenger. "There is a lot of miscommunication in the community about district finances, fiscal management, facilities upkeep, curriculum, and we take responsibility for some of this likely being a result of our lack of effective communication and education for the community on what and how we are doing." Asked what message the district hopes to convey, Callahan pointed to the its "long track record of positive budgets." She said the district has been conservative and responsible with its taxpayer money. She also touted the district's fiscal management of school bonds. "We built two new schools and modernized two more for much less than the going rate for such work in surrounding districts," she said. "We are a growing community and are reaching our capacity to serve all the new students moving into the area." Callahan said it's possible the district will go to voters for a future facilities bond, but no decision regarding that has been made. "We are gathering information and working to educate our community regarding our current reality and needs," she said. Callahan said the current cost to build a new high school is $220 million and the district was able to build Twelve Bridges High School for half of that. "We want to serve current students in Western Placer in well-maintained facilities as well as provide space for new students moving into our area, but doing this with only our annual operating budget and the developer fees we receive is not feasible," Callahan said. "It's not feasible for any school district." The district will continue its messaging work with Cherri Spriggs of Meraki Public Affairs. Callahan said Spriggs will help the district with public outreach and education efforts. The results of the FM3 survey will help "guide the direction of the work Cherri will do for us," Callahan said.