Results of nearly 1,200 surveys, part of the performance evaluation of Washoe County School District Superintendent Traci Davis, revealed many respondents don't think Davis has an effective understanding of the district's employees.

The survey identified three areas most needing improvement, according to OnStrategy, the independent third-party company that facilitated the review. Changes to those areas could improve Davis’ effectiveness as superintendent and the community’s perception of the district, according to OnStrategy.

The three top areas for improvement, in order of how much potential positive impact they’d have on perceptions of the district, were:

Organizational leadership: Developing a more effective understanding of Davis’ employees in all levels of WCSD Instructional leadership: Having a grasp of the needs of her instructional staff, maximize resources for best student outcomes and her ability to recruit and retain highly effective employees Collaborative leadership: Better articulating the direction and goals of the district, and then getting everyone on board with those goals

Respondents who identified themselves as certified staff — the category that includes teachers — gave her the lowest scores on her understanding of district employees. Just 15 percent agreed that Davis “demonstrates an effective understanding of all people in the district.”

An overwhelming number of anonymous comments left with the survey echoed this perceived disconnect between the superintendent and her staff on campuses.

The complete versions of these comments were obtained through a public records request made by the Reno Gazette Journal.

“Try coming out of the office and meeting the people,” wrote one commenter, responding to a question asking how Davis’ understanding and leadership of the district could be improved. “You can't understand and lead people if you don't know them or if you don't talk with them or speak with them. Stop hiding behind the doors and come on out and meet the people.”

More than 7,600 surveys were distributed to every WCSD employee and select parent, student and community organizations; 1,191 were returned.

The goal was to capture as many responses from as many people as possible.

“People have to have an opportunity to respond, we’ve got to hear from them,” said Howard Olsen, president of OnStrategy.

Last year, just 154 surveys out of 659 were returned. The results yielded in this year’s survey painted a much clearer picture of how people perceive Davis’ job performance, according to Olsen.

Improvements in those three areas may reach further than just improving Davis’ effectiveness as a superintendent, said Olsen, who handled much of the statistical analysis of the survey results. They may have larger implications for the community’s perception of the school district.

“If we can do something that will help an organization to be more effective, chances are you can make a big impact on the environment,” he said.

Davis was briefed on the results of the survey before the public discussion of her review at a meeting of the board of trustees on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Davis acknowledged at the meeting that she can solicit more employee input, work to improve the climate of the district and increase teacher representation in the high-level decision-making process.

Davis was eventually given a job review of “accomplished” by the board of trustees. A preliminary report released prior to her review being made official listed Davis as earning a result of “minimally effective.”

Board members disagreed with this preliminary rating, which was based on their own evaluations of the superintendent, and voted to upgrade her final rating.

The vote was 4-2, with trustees John Mayer, Angela Taylor, Malena Raymond and Debra Feemster voting in favor. Trustees Scott Kelley and Katy Simon Holland voted against, with trustee Veronica Frenkel absent; she had left in the final minutes of the meeting due to illness.

Frenkel and Kelley were two of the most vocal opponents of the board’s decision to scrap the evaluation results.

“I understand there are weaknesses in every process, and this is the process we chose to use,” Frenkel told the trustees during the Thursday meeting. “ … I’m having a hard time changing the process here in mid-stream, because I don’t know if anyone else being evaluated for anything else would have that opportunity to do that.”

Frenkel confirmed with the Reno Gazette-Journal that she would have voted against the decision to upgrade Davis’ rating. Even with Frenkel’s vote, the motion still would have passed 4-3.