City officials and members of the Business Education Alliance of Alabama (BEA) are extending the deadline for a community survey on the Troy City Schools system.

Phil Hammonds, one of four individuals from BEA, said the original deadline of October 9 did not account for the fall break from October 8 to October 10.

“With that in mind and realizing some families or community members may be out of town during that time to enjoy the break, we are extending the deadline until the following Tuesday, October 16,” Hammonds said.

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves and Dr. Joe Morton, director of the BEA, announced the survey at a meeting of the Troy Elementary PTO on September 18. The survey is accessible now on the Pike County Chamber of Commerce website or at surveymonkey.com/r/TCS-survey.

“The reason this is exciting to us and the reason we agreed to do this is because Troy is exciting,” Morton said at the PTO meeting. “A town this size with the university that it has – there are so many positives here. I know you’re grappling with some issues right now … We’re here to give some outside ears and eyes to this situation and look at all aspects of the schools in Troy. We’re here to make observations and recommendations for guidance about getting through the era you’re in now and getting to a better place. Economic growth begets a lot of things, including better schools.”

The questions include simple demographic questions, such as whether the participant is a current student in the system, the parent of a student, an employee of the system or otherwise.

It also includes ranking the areas that most need improvement and that the system does best in key categories including curriculum and instruction, facilities, adequate funding and financial stability, technology supporting instruction, community partnerships, communications with parents and extracurricular activities.

It concludes with open-ended questions about the greatest challenges and opportunities for the system moving forward.

Morton said it is critical for the community to be involved in the process.

“If everyone that takes the survey doesn’t highlight any opportunities or anything to improve on, it won’t be much of a roadmap,” Morton said. “That’s why this is so important.”

The results will be displayed collectively, not individually, which Reeves said residents need to feel free to give completely honest feedback.

“We want to know the good and the bad,” Reeves said. “We want to fix whatever needs fixing. This is an honest opportunity for honest feedback. It’s about getting better.”

The study comes at a time where the Board of Education is facing a budget shortfall of $365,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Mickey Daughtry, board CFO, said board officials have been working with city officials to find new possible revenues for the board with no success so far. The board discussed Monday the potential of a raise in the millage rate to cover the gap, but the process would have to go through the state legislature and the citizens of Troy to be approved.