Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

Kyle Hayden, Lawrence’s incoming school superintendent, is right to meet with faculty at as many campuses as possible this year.

This week, results of a district stakeholder survey were released showing that more than a third of teachers surveyed expressed concerns about communication between the district’s administration and its staff members. The survey also showed many teachers feel they don’t have adequate input on major district initiatives such as blended learning, digital textbooks and the district’s new discipline model, Ci3T.

Some caveats about the survey, conducted as part of the district’s superintendent search, are important to keep in mind. It was anonymous. It was voluntary. And it was limited to 145 teachers.

Still, it’s smart of Hayden to pay attention to the issues that emerged in the survey.

“In large part, the current challenges our district faces focus on a lack of transparency and communication between the administration and the teaching staff,” one teacher wrote.

Another said, “There are too many new initiatives that are overwhelming and implemented without proper staff development or the time to make them work properly.”

Hayden is an assistant superintendent in the Lawrence district and he should be well aware of many of these concerns. Hayden takes over for Rick Doll on July 1. He said he plans to meet with teachers and students at all 21 of the district’s schools by the end of the school year. He will use those meetings to collect feedback that will be presented to the school board. Hayden said it’s one thing to make a comment in a stakeholder survey, but he said he would like to better quantify the feedback.

“We need to have an understanding of what that’s about,” Hayden said in response to the survey feedback. “Is that an isolated perspective or is that something that’s fairly pervasive that we need to understand more and figure out what adjustments need to be made?” Again, having served as an assistant superintendent for five years, Hayden should be aware of many concerns.

There are no shortage of challenges facing the Lawrence school district, and to tackle those challenges, Hayden will need districtwide support. Showing the district’s staff that he is willing to listen — and respond — to their feedback and input is key to gaining that support.