JC Schools releases surveys after subpoena from attorney general’s office

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City School District, one of seven the attorney general filed subpoenas against seeking student surveys, released documents related to the inquiry Thursday.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt said Wednesday that JC Schools was one of those it has issued subpoenas asking for surveys given to students. Schmitt said some of the surveys were administered without parents' permission. JC Schools was the only Mid-Missouri district to be subpeonaed.

"The district did administer a survey during the 2021-2022 school year to students in grades 3-8," JC Schools said Thursday in a news release. "The survey did not ask students about their parents' political beliefs, income levels, or racial biases, as suggested in the Attorney General’s press release.

"Parents were notified of the survey in writing and given the opportunity to opt their student out of participating in the survey."

Schmitt sought legal action against schools for coronavirus mask rules in the winter as Missouri fought the omicron surge. This latest legal action focuses on schools incorporating lessons on social equity and bias into their curriculum.

JC Schools released the survey questions on Thursday:

Survey questions for students in grades 3-5:

1. How sure are you that you can complete all the work that is assigned to you in your class?
2. When complicated ideas are discussed in class, how sure are you that you can understand them?
3. How sure are you that you can learn all the topics taught in your class?
4. How sure are you that you can do the hardest work that is assigned in your class?
5. How sure are you that you will remember what you learned in your current class next year?
6. Do you have a teacher or other adult from school who you can count on to help you no matter what? 
7. Do you have a family member or other adult outside of school who you can count on to help you no matter what?
8. Do you have a friend from school who you can count on to help you no matter what?
9. How often does your teacher make you explain your answers?
10. When you feel like giving up, how likely is it that your teacher will make you keep trying?
11. How much does your teacher encourage you to do your best?
12. How often does your teacher take time to make sure you understand the material?
13. Overall, how high are your teacher’s expectations of you?
14. If you walked into class upset, how concerned would your teacher be?
15. When your teacher asks “How are you?” how often do you feel that your teacher really wants to know your answer?
16. How excited would you be to have your teacher again?
17. How respectful is your teacher towards you?

Survey questions for students in grades 6-8:

1. How confident are you that you can complete all the work that is assigned in your classes?
2. When complicated ideas are presented in class, how confident are you that you can understand them?
3. How confident are you that you can learn all the material presented in your classes?
4. How confident are you that you can do the hardest work that is assigned in your classes?
5. How confident are you that you will remember what you learned in your current classes next year?
6. How often do your teachers make you explain your answers?
7. When you feel like giving up on a difficult task, how likely is it that your teachers will make you keep trying?
8. How much do your teachers encourage you to do your best?
9. How often do your teachers take time to make sure you understand the material?
10. How high are your teachers' expectations of you?
11. How many of your teachers are respectful towards you?
12. If you walked into class upset, how many of your teachers would be concerned?
13. If you came back to visit class three years from now, how many of your teachers would be excited to see you?
14. When your teachers ask how you are doing, how many of them are really interested in your answer?
15. How many of your teachers would you be excited to have again in the future?
16. Do you have a teacher or other adult from school who you can count on to help you no matter what?
17. Do you have a family member or other adult outside of school who you can count on to help you no matter what?
18. Do you have a friend from school who you can count on to help you no matter what?
19. Do you have a teacher or other adult from school who you can be completely yourself around?
20. Do you have a family member or other adult outside of school who you can be completely yourself around?
21. Do you have a friend from school who you can be completely yourself around?

The district said it would have no further comment because of the legal inquiry.

Schmitt on Wednesday also highlighted what he said was a Hickman High School assignment in encouraging parents to submit information to his office about assignments and activities they find objectionable.

The document appears to be a literature assignment and asks students how things such as gender identity, economic class and race play into a story's themes. The document was among several that Schmitt said his office obtained from school districts through open records requests.

Schmitt is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the August primary.