Foxborough Public Schools (FPS) announced that favorable perceptions of school safety rose 14 percentage points among parents/guardians and 12 percentage points among secondary students between the 2023 and 2026 survey administrations, an improvement up to six times higher than the national rate between 2022 and 2025.
The gains were achieved without investing heavily in new security hardware. Instead, the FPS district used annual school climate survey data, collected and analyzed through Sogolytics Managed Research, to identify awareness gaps in its existing safety practices. Through a data-based action plan, the district was able to communicate, contextualize, and build trust around the protocols already in place.
Results at a Glance
- Parents/Guardians: Favorable safety perceptions rose from 70% to 84%. National benchmark moved from 72% to 76%
- Secondary Students: Favorable safety perceptions rose from 68% to 80%. National benchmark moved from 65% to 67%.
- School Resource Officers: Student approval climbed from 67% to 85% and staff approval from 64% to 89%.
- Bullying Behavior: Student agreement that bullying behavior does not take place rose from 59% to 71%; staff agreement also rose.
A Data-to-Action Approach
When FPS reviewed its 2022–2023 results, district leaders noticed many respondents selecting “Don’t Know” on items related to safety procedures and reporting tools. The pattern signaled an awareness gap, not a satisfaction gap. The practices were already in place, but the community didn’t have a clear understanding of the policies and procedures.
In response, the district increased awareness of its anonymous bullying-report tool, localized and clarified safety protocols, strengthened its school resource officer (SRO) program through classroom and lunchtime engagement, standardized emergency-response language across schools, and highlighted joint communications with local police partners.
Each year, the district used the next survey to test whether those changes were landing. By 2025–2026, the data showed they were making an impact across every stakeholder group.
“When data collection is supported by Sogolytics Managed Research, school and district leaders can more confidently triangulate findings to understand overall experiences,” said Dr. Amy Berdos, Superintendent of Foxborough Public Schools. “Triangulated survey data strengthens our understanding and builds trust in the story the data tells. Coupled with item‑level analysis, this approach provides a practical springboard for reflection, informs purposeful district planning, and guides targeted school improvement actions.”
Why It Matters Nationally
School Safety and Security has been the lowest-rated dimension in Sogolytics’s Annual Report on School Climate for three consecutive years. Federal data and independent research point to a paradox in U.S. school safety: despite a decade of investment in cameras, controlled entry points, and other visible security infrastructure, parent and student perceptions of safety have moved only modestly. Foxborough Public Schools offers a working counterexample: a district can and did improve community safety perceptions at up to six times the national rate by making its existing safety framework more visible, credible, and connected to a transparent feedback loop.
“Foxborough’s results show what becomes possible when districts treat survey data as the start of a conversation rather than the end of one,” said Dr. Jennifer Coisson, Director of Research and Advisory Services at Sogolytics. “Sogolytics Managed Research is designed to remove the operational burden of running rigorous, multi-stakeholder studies so leaders can focus on what the data is telling them and act on it.”
The full case study, Beyond School Safety: How Communication, Trust, and Data-Informed Decision-making Shape Perceptions of Safety in K–12 Schools, is available from Sogolytics. The report includes Foxborough’s six-pillar safety framework, item-level survey results, and practical implications for district leaders.
About Foxborough Public Schools
Foxborough Public Schools serves students in grades K–12 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The district administers the Sogolytics School Climate Survey annually to parents/guardians, staff, and secondary students (grades 5–12) to inform district planning, school improvement, and community engagement.
About Sogolytics Managed Research
Sogolytics Managed Research is a full-service research partner that helps K–12 districts and other organizations design, administer, and interpret stakeholder feedback studies. The service includes survey design, deployment, item-level analysis, longitudinal and benchmark comparisons, and board-ready reporting — allowing leaders to focus on decision-making and action rather than managing the research process themselves.
