LCPS school census response slows down

I took note this morning of this report that says the LCPS school survey being taken now is resulting in fewer responses than hoped for. One reason, officials suspect, is the rumor that the staff there has picked up on that says respondents to the survey will get a higher tax bill.

[Census coordinator Hank] Hegener said he wasn’t sure of the reason for the lower response, but is concerned about one rumor picked up by the staff, that responding to the census would result an high tax bill for the homeowner. The exact opposite is true, he said. Because of Loudoun’s growth over the past three years, Loudoun could lose “an alarming amount” of state funds without better participation and that money has to be made up by local taxpayers.

I would propose that the reason people are coming to incorrect conclusions about the census is that the type and scope of questions asked can seem a bit overreaching and suspicious. The survey was sent out asking questions that were not adequately explained in the literature that rode with the survey. There was plenty there about how important it was to respond and that accurate responses would result in more tax money coming to Loudoun, but there was nothing in that letter to explain how knowing how many bedrooms a respondent’s house had or whether the family owned a computer would aid in that result. I know, but that’s only because I wrote asking for an explanation. As I mentioned in the post on the matter, LCPS would have been better served explaining their reasons for wanting to know these things up front. They might be having better results now if they had.