Improving Communication

Another topic I’m hearing a lot about is communication.  While things have definitely gotten better, there are still opportunities to improve communication between the district and the community.

First of all, I believe the community is everyone in our community.  The school board cannot just focus on the public school students & their families – the public schools have to exist within community means and desires.  Of course, our community wants excellent schools.  But we want them at a price we can afford, and we need to be sure the district is spending the tax dollars we provide responsibly.

I believe the main problem is in the attitude: that the board members are elected “for the kids” and not “for the community.” The job is both – and to balance both for the benefit of all.

So how do we solve the problem of getting information out to the community?  And who’s responsibility is it – the district’s to promote the information, or the community’s to actively seek it?

The answer is “both,” but I believe the district, and especially the board, must make every effort to disseminate information in a variety of ways that are easy to access and digest.  There are various “groups” in our district:  public school families; private school families; those with grown children; those with no children; retirees; young people.  Each will have a preferred way of receiving information.  We need to figure out what these are and determine if we can accommodate them.  Sure, we can mail information to people:  but will it get read?  We can post information on the website:  but will people visit regularly, especially if they do not have children currently in the school?

I believe this is a huge challenge we need to focus on immediately.