Steelville R-3 School District has become the first school in Crawford County to resume participation in the Missouri Student Survey after a Feb. 19 decision made by the Board of Education.

The Missouri Student Survey is a voluntary, anonymous survey administered to sixth through 12th graders every other year by the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Its goal is to track risk behaviors in students through questions related to substance use, bullying and mental health. 

Results of the survey will indicate the extent of alcohol and drug use among students as well as overall social and emotional well-being. This data will be used by the district and the Crawford County Substance Use Prevention Coalition to pinpoint areas of concern in order to create more targeted messaging and programming. It will also allow the district and the coalition to apply for grants.

The survey will be administered to students in the spring. It must be taken on a computer at school, in one sitting, and takes about an hour to complete. It is completely optional and students can choose to skip any of the questions as they fill out the form.

Students will not be asked to identify themselves on the survey form. The school will receive grade-specific data and the coalition will have access to data grouped by the middle school and the high school results. The data is not available to any third parties.

A full list of this year’s questions as well as survey data grouped by county are available online at the Missouri Department of Mental Health’s website. 

Since Steelville is the only school district in Crawford County participating, its results will not be posted online, as data could easily be linked back to the district.

Crawford County Substance Use Prevention Coalition Chairman Rob Viehman said the data will allow the group to tailor their messaging to specific needs within the district, whether that be vaping, alcohol or marijuana use. The coalition uses positive messaging that highlights the majority of students who choose not to use substances.

Superintendent Steven Vetter said the district has plans to send out communications to parents with more information on the survey through ParentSquare, the district website and social media so that families are informed about the survey’s questions and how to opt out.

Vetter also said he prefers not to cut into instructional time to administer surveys. The board discussed the possibility of utilizing free periods for the survey rather than cutting into class time.

The district last administered the survey in 2018, after which it decided to opt out. At the time, all districts in Crawford County were participating. That year, the survey contained additional questions regarding gender identity that districts could choose to include.

According to Viehman, the gender identity questions were mistakenly included in Bourbon’s survey that year without any prior discussion among the board or with parents. The mistake sparked outrage within the district and as a result, all Crawford County schools stopped administering it.

Viehman said gender identity questions can no longer legally be included on the test. 

“I think the smart thing to have been done is to say yes, this was a mistake, and this won’t happen again, but we really need to keep taking it, taking the survey, because we need this data,” Viehman said. “If we don’t have the data, we don’t know where we are as far as substance use with our students.”

All counties surrounding Crawford County administer the survey to students. The coalition is hoping Steelville’s decision will be a first step in re-establishing participation county-wide.