Patrons of the Grand Coulee Dam School District will soon have an opportunity to officially comment about local schools.

The district just recently prepared a survey, which will be online, covering a number of topics relating to different aspect of schools.

The survey follows up Superintendent Paul Turner’s efforts to communicate more directly with staff and patrons of the school district. Turner, who took over duties of superintendent last August, stated then that “communications” was one of his top priorities in the months ahead.

The district’s board of directors also plans to use the survey information to help reshape its strategic plan, which outlines the direction the district is going in education and how it is going to get there.

Each year the district’s board of directors updates its strategic plan to take advantage of current educational trends and community school challenges, and finds a way to incorporate them into the local plan.

The school board approved the survey at its meeting Monday night, and the survey questions will soon be reachable from the district’s webpage at http://www.gcdsd.org. Patrons can respond to the survey online or print it out and mail it in. Copies of the survey will be available at the district office for those who want a hard copy.

UPDATE: The direct survey link is now available. It is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VJH5GP8.

The nuts and bolts of the survey ask staff and patrons to name three strengths of local schools, and also for the three areas where respondents think the district can make improvements.

The survey also asks respondents to identify the level of school — elementary, junior high, or senior high — they identify with and their age grouping.

The information from the survey will be tabulated for the school board and made available to the public.

Turner encouraged everyone to take part in the survey.