When Parents Want a Survey (more than leaders do)

Clint Holden, MA
Nov 26
3 min read

A good survey is a stewardship tool—one that strengthens mission, clarifies reality, and reveals what’s working and what isn’t across the school’s most critical domains. When leadership commissions the process, communicates clearly, and handles the results with integrity, the entire community benefits.

But that is precisely why no survey should ever be launched unless school leadership commissions it.

Not parents. Not committees. Not informal groups trying to “prove a point.”

When a survey is initiated apart from leadership, it fractures trust, fuels suspicion, and works against the very clarity everyone is hoping for.

If your parents want a survey more than you do, that is not a threat—it’s information. It may signal that people care deeply about the school, or that they’re feeling unheard, or that they’re sensing blind spots. But their desire cannot take the place of leadership’s responsibility.

Leaders Must Own the Process

And here’s an important truth—one that often gets lost in the tension: Parents are called to honor the God-ordained leadership that has been placed over the school. Even when decisions are slow. Even when conversations feel overdue. It is not the role of parents to work around authority or create parallel paths simply to get a survey done. Doing so—even with good intentions—begins the quiet work of undermining the leadership God has put in place. If leadership isn’t ready or willing to commission it, the God-honoring posture is to wait, pray, and trust—not force the issue.

Parents Must Never Undermine Leaders

And this is where the word undermine becomes a fitting warning. The English word comes from Middle English and Old Norse roots meaning “to dig beneath” or “to wear away at the foundation.” In medieval warfare, armies literally tunneled under castle walls to collapse them from below. It wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t visible—it was slow, hidden, and destructive.

That is exactly what happens when a survey is started outside the authority God has put in place. It quietly digs underneath the leadership structure, weakening the foundation of trust and unity long before results are ever discussed. Even if intentions are good, the method itself does damage.

A survey should clarify truth—not erode the walls of leadership. We believe the process must honor the authority God has established. Anything else begins the slow tunneling work of undermining the very purpose of the survey.

At SchoolRight, we will never conduct a survey that is not commissioned by school leadership or the governing board.

What Can Parents Do?

When leadership refuses to commission a survey, parents will feel the weight of that. Not because they want power, but because they want clarity. Their next step shouldn’t be to go around you—it should be to pray for you, support you, and trust that God’s timing is wiser than their urgency.

What Should Leaders Do?

Commissioning a survey is not a sign of weakness. It is evidence of courage, humility, and mission-driven leadership. And if parents are asking for a survey more than you are, that may be God nudging you through them—not to surrender authority, but to steward it faithfully. Their desire for clarity does not replace your responsibility to lead, but it may highlight areas where leadership needs to listen more intentionally.

So ask yourself:

Is my hesitation rooted in wisdom—or fear?

Am I avoiding information that could strengthen our school simply because it might challenge me?

Final Thoughts

Surveys done well strengthen a school; surveys done poorly weaken it. The difference always comes down to ownership and authority. When leadership initiates, communicates, and stewards the process, the results are constructive rather than divisive. And when parents choose to support rather than sidestep that authority, everyone benefits. If leaders and families hold that shared conviction, surveys become what they were meant to be—catalysts for clarity and tools that strengthen the mission rather than undermine it.

Authored by Clint Holden