COMPLAINTS FROM the public have been hot and heavy at School District of Lancaster board meetings over the past year.

Board members and administrators have been criticized for controversial budget cut proposals, the cheerleading program and a plan - now shelved - to adopt block schedules at the high school.

And last month, district officials came under fire again following revelations that the former McCaskey football coach had a criminal record.

But the negative sentiments expressed at meetings don't necessarily mean the public is dissatisfied with SDL.

In fact, a 2010 survey of parental attitudes found most folks are happy with the district.

Eighty-five percent of respondents expressed confidence in SDL, and about three-quarters said they believe district leaders will make the right decisions.

The survey of 1,570 parents of district students also indicates they're confident their children are receiving a quality education.

The survey marks the fourth year in a row that SDL has assessed public opinion by polling parents of district students.

Over the years, parental perceptions measured in the survey in general have risen slightly.

The numbers for 2010 - the second year of superintendent Pedro Rivera's leadership - follow that trend.

The percentage of parents who rated their child's education an "A" or "B" grew from 61 percent last year to 62 percent in 2010.

Sixty-three percent of the 2010 respondents, compared with 58 percent last year, said the quality of an SDL education has improved over the past two years.

Parents also gave higher marks to the district in 2010 for communications.

The percentage of parents rating communication as "good" or "excellent" rose from 65 percent in '09 to 69 percent this year.

More than half the respondents said they are well-informed about student achievement, the quality of teaching, school safety and school board activities.

Those percentages were up in all categories from the 2009 numbers.

About 75 percent of residents said they're confident that Rivera and the school board make the right decisions for the district.

And teachers and principals got even higher marks for decision-making - 88 percent and 87 percent, respectively.

So why all the rancor at school board meetings?

Board member Richard Caplan said it's human nature for people to complain at public meetings.

"The people who attend school board meetings usually have a gripe, but the people who are satisfied don't come and say how much they like the district," he said.

Caplan, who chairs the board's education committee, said he experienced the same thing when he served on the Ephrata Area school board.

"One of the hardships of being a board member is to put up with constant criticism that may not be founded," he said.

Nonetheless, Caplan said, it's encouraging to know that most parents surveyed have a favorable view of their children's schools.

"Parents are extraordinarily important in advancing the goals of the district in the home," he said.

But Caplan pointed out that the positive views don't necessarily mean their children are doing better in school.

In 2009, SDL's average PSSA scores declined by 1 percent in math and reading, and fewer schools made "adequate yearly progress" - the state yardstick for academic success - in '09 than in 2008.

PSSA results for 2010 have yet to be released.

Caplan and other board members want to see improvements districtwide in test scores in the coming year.

To that end, they plan to adopt a goal that the percentage of students scoring "proficient" or "advanced" on PSSA tests increases by 15 percent districtwide for 2011.

Parent survey results are available at the school district website, lancaster.k12.pa.us. Click on "for parents" and then "general info."


Brian Wallace is a Lancaster Newspapers reporter. Contact him at bwallace@lnpnews.com.