To have 80 percent of respondents say they support a bond I think speaks for itself. – District spokeswoman Sandy Riesgraf
SOUTH JORDAN — Results of a survey by the Jordan School District in light of remarkable growth show residents and parents are in favor of a five-year, $520 million bond or more portable classrooms.
Of the 7,982 responses, 80 percent said they were in favor of the bond.
"To have 80 percent of respondents say they support a bond I think speaks for itself," said district spokeswoman Sandy Riesgraf.
The Board of Education is reviewing the survey results and will decide how to move forward with the student growth, she said.
The board commissioned the survey from Dan Jones & Associates. Jordan School District sent two emails to all parents and employees and two postcards — nearly 72,000 — to all residents to encourage them to take part in the survey.
Riesgraf said the district was overwhelmed with a nearly 11 percent response from residents who "took the issue serious enough to take the time to fill the survey out."
Of those who participated in the survey, 96 percent said they were registered to vote or plan to vote by November. Riesgraf said that number is important because those are the people who could be voting on the bond, if the Jordan Board of Education decides to move forward with that option.
Without a bond, the school district would have to look at other housing options like portable classrooms, which 80 percent of respondents said they were in favor of.
"It was interesting and good to know that that was the No. 1 favored housing option," she said. The results indicated that "they're OK with portables, they're OK with more year-round schools and, this one really kind of surprised us too, 74 percent are OK with boundary changes," Riesgraf said.
The survey also found that 78 percent believe the education in Jordan School District is equal or superior to education in other districts and 69 percent agreed that students receive good value for the dollars spent in the school district.
Seventy-four percent of respondents have children in the home, 10 percent have students who attend private or charter schools or are home-schooled, and 6 percent have school-age grandchildren living in the home.
"But those who responded, whether you have children in your house or not, they all seem to support bonding," Riesgraf said.
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