Survey says work ahead for Watertown k-12 system
The Watertown Unified School District has some work to do, according to student and parent surveys reviewed last week by School Perceptions Senior Research Director Derek Gottlieb and the WUSD Policy Committee.
Out of 2,061 surveys sent to students, 1,393 responded, representing a 68% return rate.
Students’ overall satisfaction with District schools was 5.91 (on a scale of 0-10), down from 6.06 last year.
Gottlieb said 2,935 parent surveys were sent out and 409 parents responded, resulting in a 14% response rate.
WUSD parents were surveyed on a scale of 0-10 regarding their likelihood to recommend schools to friends and family members. Eleven percent of parents responded extremely unlikely, while another 11% responded extremely likely. Twenty-two percent were neutral, bringing the overall score to 5.61. This is a 16.3% decrease from last year’s score of 6.74.
Regarding the school district’s educational excellence, the parent rating was 3.07 in 2026 (on a scale of 1-5), down 8.1% from 3.34 last year.
On another question, “The school board is doing what it takes to make our district successful,” parents scored 2.08 in 2026. This score is a 24.9% decrease from last year’s 2.72.
———
315 Watertown 4k-3rd graders scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
