KSD 2025 Annual Survey: 
What We Heard

Each year, Kearney School District asks students, families, staff and community members to share their feedback through our Annual Survey. The 2025 survey gives us an important picture of what’s working well and where we need to grow.

PRESENTATION: KSD 2025 ANNUAL SURVEY SUMMARY

Who responded

In 2025, 1,882 people shared their perspectives:

• Parents/guardians: 36%
• Students: 38%
• Staff (including those who are also parents): 17%
• Community members: 9%

Thank you to everyone who took time to complete the survey. Your feedback helps shape our work.

Big Picture

Overall, responses show strong and improving confidence in Kearney School District:

• Three out of four respondents (about 75%) rated their overall perception of KSD as Excellent or Above Average, up from 65% last year

Stakeholders gave especially high marks to:

• Well-qualified teachers and staff
• Safe and secure learning environments
• High student achievement
• Positive reputation in the community
• Timely communication
• Well-maintained and up-to-date facilities

Climate, Belonging & Support

Students who took the survey reported positive experiences in several key areas:

• About three out of four said they feel like they belong and are accepted at school, an improvement over last year
• Agreement that student voices are heard and respected increased from about two-thirds to nearly three-quarters of respondents
• Perceptions of access to social-emotional support at school also improved

We still have work to do to ensure every student feels known, supported and included, but the trend lines are moving in the right direction.

Communications & How People Get Information

Respondents reported stronger satisfaction with KSD communications overall:

• The share of people who feel district communications are “extremely” or “very” effective increased from 58% to 66%

When asked how they prefer to get information from KSD, respondents most often chose:

• Email
• Text message
• The district website and mobile app
• Online calendars
• Two-way messaging tools

These results support our ongoing work to keep information timely, consistent and easy to access across multiple platforms.

What We’re Working On

The survey also highlighted some important areas for growth:

• Staff pay and benefits: Across all employee groups, salary/compensation was the most important benefit area by far, followed in a near-tie by healthcare coverage and workplace culture/climate
• Class sizes and capacity: While ratings improved, smaller class sizes continue to be a concern for many families and staff
• Including stakeholders in decisions: A majority of respondents feel included, but this remains one of our lower-rated district characteristics
• We also saw that nearly one in four students who responded are not involved in any clubs, sports, performing arts or other activities, which has implications for belonging and engagement

What Happens Next

These survey results have been shared with the Board of Education, district leadership and school teams. Over the coming months, we will:

• Use the data to set district improvement priorities
• Work with each school to review its results and identify specific action steps
• Continue to refine our communications and engagement based on what our stakeholders told us
• Plan adjustments to our survey outreach so that even more students and families participate next year

We are grateful to everyone who took the time to share honest feedback. Listening to our stakeholders—and acting on what we hear—is essential to making Kearney School District the best place to learn and work.