Hernando School Board okays second district-wide survey to evaluate superintendent

BROOKSVILLE — A second district-wide survey to evaluate the performance of Superintendent Lori Romano soon will go out to about 3,000 Hernando County School District employees, giving them a chance to weigh in on the job she is doing.

The instrument, known as the 360 Survey, was approved 3-2 by the School Board Tuesday, the second of its kind facilitated by University of South Florida professor George MacDonald. Unlike the first, which cost the district $11,000, it will be done for free.

MacDonald said a "timely contract" between the district and USF became impossible, so he and his partner on the project, senior researcher Reginald Lee, decided to do the work pro bono.

"We were not able to get the contract to work out, but we are prepared to do the work for the board," MacDonald said. "We are just trying to be faithful to what we agreed to."

Board members Linda Prescott and Gus Guadagnino were the opposing votes. Board members Beth Narverud and Susan Duval, and Chairman Mark Johnson voted in favor.

Results of the first survey, released in July, showed both criticism and praise for Romano. A group of 940 respondents gave her an average overall rating of 2.86 out of 5. The worst scores were in the communication and community relations category, which the report called an "area of concern."

Officials opted for the second survey in November. It will look similar to the first — 52 multiple-choice and some free-response questions — but the information will be collected a bit differently, MacDonald said. The second survey also will be different in that USF can no longer guarantee anonymity to respondents.

Results will be provided to the School Board without names attached to responses, but information about those who fill out the survey will be available by request under public records law, MacDonald said.

Contact Megan Reeves at mreeves@tampabay.com. Follow @mareevs.

MORE:View results of the first 360 survey here

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