Suffolk Public Schools last month rolled out a parent perception survey to make an assessment of each school’s educational environment. The survey concludes March 16.

Survey questions are broken down into five sections based on the school board’s goals, and the answers will help the school division plan for continuous improvement.

“The educational environment is just the school environment, and it is based on the categories of questions — supporting student achievement, providing safe and nurturing environment, providing strong leadership, and strengthening collaboration with families and community,” spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said. “This survey provides an excellent opportunity for parents to provide feedback about Suffolk Public Schools and to express perceptions about the learning environment at their child’s school.”

The five goals — improve student achievement and close the academic achievement gaps; provide a safe and nurturing environment; provide strong leadership for effective and efficient operations; advance academic achievement through enhanced instructional skills gained by

professional development; strengthen collaboration with stakeholders and increase parent and community satisfaction — are measured on a four-point scale.

The scale offers strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly agree. There is no neutral option.

The last few questions on the survey feature questions regarding the amount and frequency of children’s homework, following a recent policy change that limits the amount of homework assigned to elementary students.

Parents were sent emails to fill out the survey that featured a school-specific link, and the survey should only take approximately 10 minutes. The answers will be compiled, and a summary report will be provided to the specific school’s principal.

“Suffolk Public Schools always works to improve how we serve our students, our families and our community. Schools will use the information from the survey to help identify areas for improvement,” Bradshaw said.

Parents without internet access or who did not receive an email can participate in the survey with a paper copy. Paper copies can be picked up at their child’s school.

Paper copies of the survey require only the school name at the top of the survey.

Last March, a similar survey found three areas that were in need of improvement throughout the entire division — bus transportation, getting information about school improvement initiatives and academic help or enrichment.

The report also featured areas with the best ratings among the division. An expectation to work hard, support of learning and use of technology featured some of the highest ratings.

The survey also found that parents’ biggest challenge in attending school events was their work schedule. The same set of questions was featured on the current parent perception survey.