Surveys & Polls

Updated 27 Jul 2023

Welcome to Your Say, the portion of myshortpencil.com dedicated to listening to your confidential opinions and sharing them with others.  No information about you is collected apart from the questions you choose to answer in the surveys.

All active polls and surveys on this site have a link on this page.

I have installed a script that prevents multiple votes on the same survey from the same computer.  The advantage is that a person cannot dramatically skew the survey with multiple resubmissions of identical responses.  The disadvantage is that multiple users of a single computer have only one vote among them.  I apologize for that.

The goal for the surveys is not to win your point, but to find out what our online community thinks.  You can win your points, if you'd like, in School Talk.  Thanks!

CURRENT SURVEYS

2005 S-G Community Survey:  This is the school district's survey, which it wouldn't put online because it feared multiple voting.  If you take the survey, you'll see that I managed to prevent multiple votes.  The survey takes about 5 minutes to complete.  A much better community survey is here.

BLOCK SCHEDULING:  Should block scheduling be used at the high school level?  You can explore this topic with the links provided in School Talk, then add your opinion to this confidential, single-question poll.

SUNDAY PRACTICE/REHEARSAL: Should school boards authorize non-mandatory sports practice, and drama/music rehearsals for Sundays?  Add your opinion to this confidential, single-question poll.

PROPERTY TAXES:  Some say that funding schools through property taxes is unfair to lower-income groups. It does not take into account one's ability to pay and penalizes the elderly and retired.  This confidential, single-question poll asks how much, if any, of school revenues should be raised through property taxes.

CHARACTER EDUCATION: This 3-question survey asks whether and to what extent students, parents, and the community should participate in the development of the character education curricula.

GAY COUPLES AT SCHOOL DANCES: This single-question poll asks whether schools should admit gay couples to dances and proms?

HOMEWORK:  This 36-question Homework Survey takes about 8 minutes to complete.  Accurate information about homework issues is essential for making improvements to the current policies, which are currently undergoing review and revision.  The Homework Committee, of which Jerry Moore is a member, is scheduled to make a report to the school board in January 2001.  The school is not taking a survey on the issue, which seems inappropriate to me.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:  Tractor-trailer traffic, warehouses, a power plant, Wal-Mart, and Lock 9 development will all work to change the nature of our community.  Is the change for the better?  Here's an 8-question survey based on the editorial by Richard W. Lewis, Jr. found in July 9's .

MORE TIME IN SCHOOL:  Do schools need to provide students with more time in school?  See these related articles and take the survey.

COMMUNITY SURVEY ON SCHOOLS:  Online Community Survey for Scotia-Glenville Schools covering communications, Board performance, funding, safety, etc.  The same survey for Niskayuna is also available.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION POLICY:  Should schools prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation?

DRUG, ALCOHOL, & TOBACCO POLICY: Survey on Drug, Alcohol & Tobacco Policies.

CDC SURVEY: The CDC's 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey for Scotia-Glenville Students Only and For All Other Students.