According to a recent annual community poll, 55 percent of Washoe County voters believe the Washoe County School District is headed in the right direction, a 6 percent gain over 2008.

Voters cited as the top reasons for agreeing with the district’s direction that it’s doing well in general, they know students who are performing well in school and that the hiring of Superintendent Heath Morrison has bolstered WCSD’s goals of transparency, communications and instituting a stronger vision.

In an effort to cultivate stronger community support, the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees directed district staff about 18 months ago to conduct a poll to assess public perceptions and attitudes about schools and communications. The results of the 2009 poll were discussed at Tuesday night’s board meeting, with many of its numbers increasing in terms of the district’s transparency with the public, its aggressiveness in achieving credibility and its goals toward improving the graduation rate and decreasing the dropout rate.

According to Steve Mulvenon, district spokesman, this year’s poll, taken by telephone survey and reaching out to parents of students in a Washoe County school and taxpayers, was set at such a time as to provide trustees and staff with numbers for its recent data summit.

“We have three goals (to accomplish through collecting public input),” Mulvenon said. “First, we want to build public understanding. The second is to lead the public to have trust and confidence in what we do and what you do, ultimately leading to their support.”

The survey found in 2009 that 44 percent of Washoe County voters and 57 percent of parents graded WCSD schools with an A or a B.

About 34 percent of voters this year cited lack of funding and financial issues as the biggest challenge facing the district, up from 26 percent who said so in 2008.

The percentage of parents who said that parent-teacher conferences and conversations with their child’s teachers is effective for tracking their children’s achievement is down from 36 percent last year to 31 percent this year. Generally, Hispanics who were polled said conferences are still the best way to monitor their student’s progress.

Initial impressions about Morrison, the poll found, were positive. Sixty-two percent of voters and 66 percent of parents agreed or strongly agreed that the new superintendent is a good fit for WCSD.

The trustees all had different concerns about some of the numbers and why some were so low, especially in the areas of how knowledgeable voters and parents are about contacting the board, how best to communicate its own message to the public and the divide between middle-class and low-income and minority families.

“We need to be looking at initiatives and see if they truly meet the needs of the community,” Trustee Estela Gutierrez said. “The parent magazine (Washoe Parent) – how effective is that, looking at it from a fiscal standpoint?”

In an attempt to determine taxpayers’ mood on voting for the renewal of the 2002 rollover bond program, Mulvenon said a question addressing the issue also was part of the poll. The bond expires in 2012 and the district is interested in finding out whether voters would be amenable to extending the program by another 10 years without an increase in property taxes.

Results showed that 81 percent of voters and 85 percent of WCSD parents would vote yes to renew the program.

But stating these are just preliminary numbers of a smaller sample, Mulvenon cautioned the board not to place a high stake on those figures.

“The public and voters are fickle,” he said. “Lots can change between now and the election.”

The poll, according to Sara Hart, director of research for InfoSearch International, which facilitated the survey, was available in English and Spanish to accommodate the Hispanic population. The sample interviewed was 700 adults, including 416 registered voters whose names were randomly selected from a computerized list, and 406 parents. The poll was taken from Sept. 11 to Oct. 2 and the confidence level for the 700 interviewees was 3.7 percent.