Communications

Audit Report
Conducted
by the
National
School Public Relations
Association
for the
Baltimore County
Public Schools
Towson,
Maryland
February 2002
A&q lft

. . .
THELEADER IN SCHOOL
COMMUNICATIONS `
National School
Public Relations Association
15948 Derwood Road, Rockville MD
20855
0
301/519-0496
0
www. nspra. org
Table of
Contents
Introduction
Perceptions ofFocus Groups
Observations
and Recommendations
Appendix
Introduction
Superintendent Joe Hairston and members of the Board of Education are commit-
ted to improving communication within the Baltimore County Public Schools and with
residents . This audit was contracted for, approved and supported by the Board and
superintendent as part of a commitment to increase communication both within and
outside the
organization. It clearly demonstrates their willingness to risk change in order
to improve educational opportunities
for
Baltimore County Public Schools
students .
The challenges of building and maintaining public and community
engagement,
dealing with growing enrollments and inadequate funding, and communicating effectively
with all segments of the community affect not only the school district but the community
as
well .
Throughout
the focus group sessions with a variety of school employees and
community representatives, it was obvious to the
consultants that there is a solid base of
support for and pride in the school district .
The goal of this communication audit was to seek facts as well as perceptions, and
from these to propose recommendations that could ensure improved management of
public
relations, greater parent and community involvement, and enhanced two-way
communication between the
internal and external publics of the Baltimore County Public
Schools .
The
observations
and
recommendations included in this report should be reviewed
carefully. Whether they pertain to the work of the district' s Office of Communications or
any other unit, they are intended to improve communication in a school district that is
poised and committed to facing the challenges of education in the 21 st century.
NSPRACommunication
Audit

Baltimore County Public Schools

Processes and Procedures
Acommunication audit conducted by the National School Public Relations
Association enables a school district or agency to view its communications from an
"outside" perspective. The audit is performed by seasoned communications professionals
who have many years of experience in educational public relations/communications.
Thefirst step
in anNSPRAcommunication audit occurs whenthe district sends
the consultants samples of its communications policies, newsletters, booklets,
news
clippings, demographic data, etc. These are carefully examined
from
a
reader's
perspective, to see what they are communicating and whether that communication is
as
good as it could be.
Amajor segment of the
audit occurs whenthe consultants conduct on- site focus
group sessions to hear from
many segments of
the
district's internal andexternal
audiences. In our audit ofthe Baltimore County
Public Schools, the consultants met with
24
groups and conducted individual telephone interviews
with twoBoard
members.
The
consultants for this communication audit wereKaren
H. Kleinz, APR,
Associate Executive
Director of the National School Public Relations
Association, and
Kenneth K. Muir, Ed. D
. , APR . Ms. Kleinz has morethan 1 8 years of experience in
public
relations
in several school districts, and Dr.
Muir is a former president of the National
School
Public Relations Association, and for 20 years
was director of information for the
Montgomery County (Md. ) Public Schools.
As a result
of our review of district materials and focus
group discussions, the
consultants prepared
recommendations which webelieve can help
the district improve its
public
relations and communication
practices . Thefinal report was
reviewed carefully by
NSPRAExecutive Director Richard
D . Bagin, APR.
Findings in this report reflect our review
of many district documents
and the
perceptions
of participants whomet with
the consultants in focus groups on
Wednesday
andThursday, November
28 - 29, 2001 . These perceptions
were based onanswers to a
series of questions
the consultants posedto each group .

NSPRACommunicationAudit

BaltimoreCounty
PublicSchools
Guiding
Definition
Since 1935, theNational School Public
Relations Association(NSPRA)
has
workedwith school districts, stateandnational
educationorganizations andagencies
to
advancethecauseofeducationthrough responsible
public relations, informationand
communicationpractices . I ndoingso,
NSPRA uses the followingdefinition
as a
foundationfor all educational
public relations programs :
Educational public relations is a planned,
systematic managementfunction,
designedto help improvethe programs
andservices ofaneducational
organization. I t relies ona
comprehensive, two-way communication
process involvingboth
internal andexternal publics with the
goal
of
stimulating
better understandingoftherole, obj ectives, accomplishments
andneeds
ofthe organization.
Educational public relations programs assist in
interpretingpublic attitudes,
identify andhelp shapepolicies and
procedures inthe public interest, and
carry oninvolvementand
informationactivities which earnpublic under-
standingand
support.
Assumptions
I t is assumedthatschool districts undertake
communicationaudits becausethey
are committedtoimprovingtheir public relations/communication
programs . I t is also
assumedthatthey wish to view thedistrict and
its work through theperceptions ofothers,
andthatthey wouldnot enter into an
auditunless they were comfortable indoingso.
However, some
cautionshouldbe observedregardingthenature ofsuch
a review.
Whenever opinions are solicitedaboutaninstitutionandits work, there
is a tendency to
dwell
on
perceivedproblem areas . This is natural and, indeed, is one ofthe
obj ectives of
anaudit. I mprovementis impossible unless there is information
onwhatmay needto be
changed.
NSPRA CommunicationAudit

BaltimoreCounty Public Schools

Parameters of
theAudit
I t is diffic ul t to measure publ ic
rel ation s. However, in dividual el emen ts c an be
assessed. I t c an bedetermin ed whether
spec ific programgoal s an d obj ec tives havebeen
met. Thereal measureof suc c essfor an y program,
however-in c l udin g
a
publ ic rel a
tion s/c ommun ic ation program-isto determin ewhetherit is
hel pin g theorgan ization
work towardits
stated mission . Ac c ordin gl y, in devel opin g therec ommen dation s,
the
c on sul tan ts reviewed
the perc eption s of the foc usgroups an d resourc ematerial s in
l ight of
thedistric t' s vision ,
mission , bel iefs an dgoal s.
Resourc e
Material s
Beforethe c on sul tan ts'
on -site visit, ac omprehen sive c ol l ec tion of
sc hool distric t
an d c ommun ity material s was
sen tby the Offic e of Commun ic ation s for ourreview
.
These
in c l uded:
"

D istric t
pol ic ies regardin g Commun ity
Rel ation s
"

Organ ization al
c harts ( distric t an d departmen ts)
"

Sprin g 2000 Paren t

I n vol vemen t Survey
"

1997 Review of
the Sc hool System' s Strategic
Commun ic ation Pl an
"

Bl ueprin tforProgress
: Real izin g the Vision bookl et
"

Con c eptual framework

for devel opin g aStrategic Commun ic ation s
Pl an
Sc hool -Based Man agemen t
GuideforSc hool I mprovemen t
Teamsan dSc hool
Admin istrators
"

Overview
of Gen eral Fun dFY02
Budget an d Commun ic ation sbudget
"

Exc erpton publ ic

in formation an dc ommun ic ation
fromMGT of Americ a
report
on sc hool system
organ ization an d man agemen t
"

Bal timoreCoun ty
Publ ic Sc hool SystemFeedbac k
Report2000 on Bal drige
Assessmen t
"

Misc el l an eousn ewspaper

c l ippin gs

Media Tipsfor April

21-27, 2001
"

Sampl e
rec ogn ition l etters an d
c eremon y programs
"

Sampl en ewsrel eases

"

Sampl e Superin ten den t' s

Bul l etin
"

Sampl eEmergen t
Bul l etin
"

Paren tAGuardian Rights,

Expec tation s
&
Respon sibil itiesbroc hure
NSPRACommun ic ation Audit

Bal timore Coun ty Publ ic

Sc hool s
"

Communicating with the Board of Education

brochure
"

Various issues of The Retiree

Review
"

Various issues of StaffExchange

"

2001-2002 BCPS School Information Calendar &Annual Report

"

2001-2002 Student Handbook

"

June 2001 issue of Equity andAssurance Newsbrief

"

2000-2001 School &Office Personnel Directory

"

2000-2001 Confidential Personnel Directory

"

Welcome to the Baltimore County

Public Schools information folder
"

School Directory 2001-2002

"

Crossroads : A Multicultural Guidebook

"

Samples of building-level newsletters

"

L ist of administrators'
interpersonal
communication activities
"

News media
list
"

Sample Board of Education agenda

"

Press Release Writing 101 workshop materials

"

Basic PR Workshop materials

"

Miscellaneous PR tip sheets

and articles
"

Information
on School-Business Partnerships
"

BCPS
Magnet
Programs brochure
"

Volunteer Baltimore County Pitching In For Progress October 1999 activities

"

United Way information

"

KidHelping Hopkins Child to Child

brochure
"

Shared use agreements with

community
agencies
"

Emergency
Procedures
andSafety Manual
"

Emergency Procedures guide

"

Job descriptions for Communications Office personnel

NSPRA Communication Audit

Baltimore County Public Schools

NSPRACommunication Audit

Baltimore County Public Schools

Perceptions of the Focus Groups
The following is an overview of perceptions id entified by the
consultants in the focus
group sessions held d uring the on- site
visit. This section is not a verbatim report ofresponses
to
the consultants' questions. Rather,
it contains comments that appear to id entify significant
beliefs,
concerns and suggestions ofparticipants. Many ofthese comments led
to recommend ations in
this communication aud it report. Other comments may be helpful
to
the
school board and
superintend ent in ad d ressing staff and community concerns in other
areas.
Group:
Central
Office Secretaries
This group reported that the d istrict has high stand ard s and hold s
stud ents accountable for
good
work. Implementing and
upgrad ing technology was another strength, as well as
magnet
programs, outstand ing
athletics, and good stud ent support. From a more personal
point of view, they also listed the number of paid holid ays and flex ible work
hours.
When asked , "What is your best source of news and information about
the d istrict? " this
group mentioned the Superintend ent's B ulletin, the news fold er
on the Outlook e- mail
system,
and StaffEx change,
although some noted that the newsletter is not d istributed to
all office units. Most said they receive
communication
mainly
through e- mail, although
some felt that the system's server was not too reliable.
The majority of participants in this group said they rarely watched the d istrict's cable
television channel (Channel 7 3 ) , and complained that many parents hear about early
closings or other weather- related changes on rad io or television before employees are
notified internally. This group felt that e- mail was ad equate for routine communication,
but urged activating and ex pand ing the telephone tree to central office units for emergency
communication.
Some questioned the
need
to have two d ifferent telephone d irectories,
NSPRACommunicationAud it

B altimore CountyPublic Schools

and some
noted th at th e more complete di rectory , wh i ch i ndi cates of f i ce personnel
responsi b i li ti es, i s not
di stri b u ted to all central of f i ce staf f.
Wh en
asked to grade th e di stri ct on i ts "cu stomer
serv i ce, " th i s grou p gav e i t a B+. Some
noted th at th e
su peri ntendent h as di rected th at "v oi ce mai l i s not to
b e u sed b y of f i ces" i n
li eu of answeri ng teleph ones i n
person, and th at th e prof essi onal dev elopment u ni t h as
sponsored cu stomer serv i ce
trai ni ng (Fred Pry or) f or prof essi onal, b u t not cleri cal staf f.
Asked
to name one th i ng th at th e
di stri ct cou ld do to i mprov e commu ni cati on
i mmedi ately ,
grou p memb ers answered more
cab le access to Ch annel 73, enh anci ng th e
role and serv i ces of th e
Of f i ce of Commu ni cati ons (i nclu di ng
2417 ph one answeri ng), and
b etter sh ari ng of th e
Su peri ntendent's Bu lleti n wi th staf f wh o don't
recei v e an e-mai l
copy .
Some f elt th at newspaper
cov erage of th e sch ools i s b i ased,
and
f ocu ses
pri mari ly
on b ad
news . Some f elt th e Staf f
Exch ange mostly cov ers old news and "f lu f f . "
Grou p :
Assi stant Pri nci pals
Th i s grou p f elt th at th e di stri ct's
strength s i nclu de saf e sch ools;
extracu rri cu lar acti v i ti es;
good
tech nology th at i s growi ng ; a
h i gh ly -edu cated staf f , th e
Blu epri nt f or Progress; clear
expectati ons
f or stu dents; and good
cou nty wi de stu dent h andb ooks
.

Th i s grou p's b est

sou rces of news and
i nf ormati on i nclu de: Th e Su n; each oth er
; th e
Su peri ntendent's
Bu lleti n ; e-mai l ; weekly sch ool
b u lleti ns; Board mi nu tes; and th e
su mmary of Board meeti ngs on
Ch annel 73 . Some f elt
th at th e Su peri ntendent's Bu lleti n
i s i ntended
to clari f y i nf ormati on,
b u t th at e-mai li ng i t only to
pri nci pals and secretari es f or
copy i ng
and di stri b u ti on to staf f cau ses
i t to b e a spotty sou rce.
"Send i t to ev ery one, "
one person sai d .
Anoth er noted th at
th e Bu lleti n's di stri b u ti on b y e-mai l on
Fri day
af ternoon i s not th e b est
ti mi ng f or sch ool-b ased
staf f.
Some b arri ers to good
commu ni cati on th at were
noted b y th i s grou p i nclu de th e
need f or
more
trai ni ng on h ow to u se
th e Ou tlook e-mai l sy stem,
and central of f i ce u ni ts th at
ov eru se answeri ng mach i nes and
don't respond to calls
f or two to th ree day s. Some
sai d
th ey arri v e
at sch ool at 7 : 00 to
7 : 30 a. m. and can't get any
response f rom central of f i ce
u ni ts u nti l 9
: 00 a. m. ; oth ers noted th at
some memos are dated
sev en to 10 day s pri or to
th ei r recei pt .
Th ey compli mented th e
di stri ct on i ts new Internet
h ome page, i nclu di ng
news messages,
b u t also sai d th e teleph one
tree was sti ll
pref erred f or emergency
messages.

Th i s grou p gav e
sch ools a B+or A- on
cu stomer serv i ce ef f orts,
f eeli ng th at th ey and
oth er
admi ni strators were v ery good at
deali ng wi th i nappropri ate
staf f responses
to th e
pu b li c .
NSPRA
Commu ni cati on Au di t

Balti more
Cou nty Pu b li c Sch ools
Group: SecondarySchoolTeachers
Things
t hat t he
dist rict coulddot o
immediat elyimprovecommunicat ion
include: sending
communicat iont oalladminist rat orsinab uilding, not
j ust t heprincipal; using t heweb sit e
foremergencycommunicat ionsandpub licizing t hat fact ; permit t ing
assist ant principalst o
at t endprincipals' meet ings; andt heneedforsome
principalst odoab et t erj ob of
communicat ing wit h
t heir
assist ant s.
Thisgroupdescrib edt he
dist rict ' s
st rengt hsas: t hewide-ranging curriculum; nurt uring of
st udent s; highq ualit yeducat ion; aninclusionprogram t hat workswell; andt hehigh
q ualit yof new t eachers. Theyalsonot edt hedist rict ' s
encouragement of parent
involvement , goodcommunicat ionwit hparent s, andq ualit y
ex t racurricularofferings.
Alt hought hisgroupfelt t hat t hepub licschools
weregenerallyb et t ert hanlocalprivat e
schools, somefelt t hat somepub licschoolsareb edeviledb yundeservedreput at ions.
Somefelt t hat great erst andardizat ionof t hecurriculum andofferingsfrom schoolt o
school( i . e. , someschoolshaving four-periodvs. seven-perioddays) might
helpimprove
pub licschools' images. F inally, t hisgroupcomment ed
t hat
t hey
havegoode-mailcont act
wit hmanyparent s, andonepersoncommendedamiddle
schoolt hat put sst udent
homework assignment s
onit sweb sit e
.
Whenaskedab out weaknesses, somefelt t hat manyposit ivest oriesab out minorit yst udent
achievement arenot pub licized. Thegroupagainment ionedt hat t herearepercept ion
prob lemsab out somepub licschoolst hroughout t hecount y.
Somefelt t hat great er
communicat ionisneededb et weenst aff from element ary
t hroughmiddleandhighschool
sot hat t herecouldb eb et t er
"K-16
alignment . " Thisgroupfelt t hat st aff development
offeringswereex cellent , b ut somenot edt hat t hereislit t let imet ot alk wit hcolleaguesand
ex changeideas. Somewerecrit icalof "meet ingsj ust fort hesakeof having ameet ing . "
Somefelt t hat t eachersarenot informedab out dist rict event sandprocesses, andcit edt he
recent reorganizat ionasanex ample. F inally, manyfelt t hat t he
dist rict shoulddomore
market ing of it sprogramst okeeporat t ract st udent saway
from privat eandparochial
schools.

Thisgroup' sb est sourcesof newsandinformat ionincluded: school administ rat ors;

person-t o-personcommunicat ion; curriculum offices( part icularlymat h) ; andt henews
folderont heOut look e-mailsyst em ( alt hought woint hegroupweren' t awaret hat t his
resourceex ist s) . Thisgroupwasnot awareof t heSuperint endent ' sBullet in. Somealso
ment ionedTheSunandnewsont hedist rict ' sweb sit e. Somewerecrit icalof alack of
NAACPanddist rict pub licit yorrecognit ionof AfricanAmericanst udent swhowere
honoredwit hACTSO awards.
NSPRA Communicat ionAudit

Balt imoreCount y
Pub lic
Schools
When asked about viewing
Channel 73, some
said ther e was
too
much
"canned"
pr ogr amming .
They would like to see mor e locally pr oduced pr ogr amming, especially
on
student achievements
. Somef elt that notices of meetings wer enot timely, sometimes
r eaching
them onthe day of or
the day bef or e a meeting . Many said they pr ef er r ed to
r eceive
news and inf or mationby e- mail, but
other s
noted that they do not have
convenient
access to a computer
ter minal .
This gr oup f elt that customer
ser vice was good distr ictwide, noting that the
per sonnel,
benef its, and payr oll of f ices
ar e ex cellent in r esponding to staf f inq uir ies .
I n r esponse
to what the distr ict could
do immediately to impr ove communication,
suggestions included
having a centr al clear ing house f or inf or mation
. Somef elt that the
Of f ice of Communications
needs to do a better job of coor dinating inf or mation,
and one
per son said that Staf f
Ex change f r eq uently mentions the samepeople and
schools .
Another
suggestion was to
pur sue better ar ticulation with the community colleges,
enabling
students to ear n college cr edits .
Cr oup:
Stakeholder s
This gr oup of
"stakeholder s"
included individuals f r om non- pr of it
or ganizations, a police of f icer ,
the county
ex ecutive's chief of staf f , a
r ecr eation depar tment staf f per son, and
a r ealtor .
This gr oup said
BCPS of f er s a ver y good
education ( "at least as good as pr ivate
schools,"
one said) ; ease of
communicationwith teacher s
and pr incipals ; competitive and saf e
schools ; a r elatively
small amount of discipline pr oblems
; and wise spending on
f acilities
and
maintenance of
buildings .
w

Someweaknesses
noted by this gr oup
included a lack of consistency
in communication,
with the suggestion
that it should be
disseminated f r om one place,
and the need f or gr eater
consistency in dealing
withthe media . Somef elt
ther e is too muchvar iance
in pr incipals'
attitudes
and behavior s
f r om school to school. One per son
f elt that some centr al of f ice
per sonnel
need to better
under stand the use and contr ol
of joint par k and r ecr eation
sites .

Responses
to the q uestion,
"What is your best sour ce of
news and inf or mation about
the
distr ict? "
r anged f r om newspaper s, to
no r eliable sour ces, to "I
call Shar on Nor man
. "
Few in this
gr oup look at the distr ict
web site. Some suggested that
a single sour ce of
school news and
inf or mation would be helpf ul
.
Some in this gr oup
f elt that the distr ict
web site should be the sour ce
of inf or mation
about
schools .
Some suggested using dif f er ent
media channels to
r each dif f er ent gr oups and
communities
. Other s f elt that
a lot of inf or mation comes
f r om r umor s, and much
of the
distr ict inf or mation is
one- way. Some
complimented the school- business
par tner ships .
NSPRA Communication Audit

10

Baltimor e
County Public Schools
Several
suggested wider use of the Welcome
Wagon, and more contact with Realtors .
Some
felt
that
Channel 73 could be
a good source of information, but that it needed more
p ublicity .
Customer service, this group felt, was good at the central office,
but varied from school to
school
. "A p rincip al' s attitude toward the p ublic is communicated
to the staff," one
p erson noted
. Some
in the group rep orted having unp leasant
exp eriences with school
p ersonnel .
When asked what the district could do to immediately imp rove communication, one
p erson said, use the Office of Communications to better coordinate information. Another
said there was great communication and rap p ort between the p olice dep artment and
schools .
Group : Board of Education Members (Group 1)
D istrict strengths
mentioned by this group of two Board members were : diversity ; a
talented staff; good curriculum and infrastructure ;
and many longtime
emp loy ees who
have a commitment to students and to the community . They felt there was a p ositive
relationship between the sup erintendent and the various unions who rep resent emp loy ees,
as
well as with Baltimore County state legislators and the county government . They
believe there is
strong community sup p ort both sy stemwide and at individual schools . One
noted that a
large board (12 members) is a great strength, because "its members are
inq uisitive, and there is more active engagement with a
large
and diverse community . "
These Board members felt that district weaknesses include diversity (disp arities in racial
and
socioeconomic factors in various geograp hic areas), siz e, and the difference between
eq uality and eq uity ,
which they saw as based on p eop les' p ercep tions . They felt that
"sq ueaky wheels" tended to get
the most attention at both schools and districtwide, and
that tended to create "up sets . "
They felt that the district doesn' t alway s make the best use of
resources, and that its
community and p ublic relations efforts are not adeq uate or p roactive . They felt the central
office should anticip ate "negatives" and have p lans for dealing with them. They
believe
there should be better utiliz ation of community structures and group s . They felt that the
district
does not resp ond adeq uately to criticisms .
These members felt the Board needs help in anticip ating events, p resenting its case, and
obtaining more community engagement .
The school sy stem, they said, needs to p lan and
deliver more effective communication. One p erson
felt that the sy stem needed to develop
some strategy for the
forthcoming elections (Sep tember and November 2002) for the
county executive and county
council because of a p otential for the schools to become p art
NSPRA Communication Audit

1 1

Baltimore County
Public Schools
e
of the p ol i ti c a l deba te
. Other i s s u es tha t need c a refu l c ommu ni c a ti on p l a nni ng a nd
s tra tegi es a re redi s tri c ti ng
for the new hi gh s c hool , a nd the forthc omi ng mi ddl e
s c hool
s tu dy . Al s o ra i s ed wa s the fa c t tha t the
Bl u ep ri nt
for
Progres s
ha d been devel op ed, bu t
not wel l
di s s emi na ted or p romoted . And,
fi na l l y,
thes e Boa rd members s a i d tha t p a rents
a nd others need to
better u nders ta nd howthe s c hool s ys tem works a nd how to a c c es s i t to
get wha t they need .
Grou p :
Pa rents
Thi s grou p s a i d fel t the di s tri c t offers
ex c el l ent s ec onda ry ma gnet p rogra ms a nd s c hool s ;
good di s c i p l i ne ; a
s trong rea di ng p rogra m wi th ba s a l
rea ders a nd p honi c s ; a nd good
res ou rc es (p a p er
a nd books ) i n s c hool s . Some s a i d tha t the di s tri c t does a good job
of
hel p i ng s tu dents p rep a re
for the s ta te MSPAP tes ts . Other s trengths i nc l u de:
s a fe s c hool s
a nd
nei ghborhoods ; a good l ea rni ng
di s a bi l i ti es p rogra m; c l ea n bu i l di ngs ; a nd good
bu i l di ng
ma i ntena nc e . Mos t s a i d there wa s good
c ommu ni c a ti on between p a rents a nd
s c hool
s ta ffs .
Thi s grou p s a i d
i ts bes t s ou rc es of i nforma ti on a bou t the di s tri c t
i nc l u de: PTA meeti ngs ,
the p ri nc i p a l s ; s c hool news p a p ers
; the di s tri c t c a l enda r ; a nd
vi ewi ng Boa rd meeti ngs on
Cha nnel
73 . Some s a i d, however, tha t
Boa rd meeti ngs on tel evi s i on were
c onfu s i ng
bec a u s e no
one p rovi des the c ontex t or
ba c kgrou nd for the i s s u es tha t a re di s c u s s ed .
Some fel t there
wa s a l a c k of p u bl i c i ty a bou t s c hool
events .
When a s ked a bou t other s c hool
i nforma ti on they wou l d l i ke to ha ve,
s evera l i n thi s grou p
s a i d "more
i nforma ti on from tea c hers
a bou t wha t the s tu dents a re
goi ng to l ea rn thi s
yea r, "
a nd "why the c u rri c u l u m
keep s c ha ngi ng . " They wou l d l i ke to hea r
from tea c hers
a bou t wa ys
p a rents c a n hel p thei r c hi l dren
l ea rn . They s a i d mos t s c hool s
ha ve news l etters
tha t keep them
p retty wel l i nformed, a nd a few
ha ve a u toma ted p hone
c a l l i ng s ys tems .
Sec onda ry s c hool s
need to ma i l i nforma ti on to
p a rents , a ddres s ed to them, a s op p os ed
to
c ou nti ng on s tu dents
to c a rry i t home.
Wi th
res p ec t to the di s tri c t' s
c u s tomer s ervi c e, there wa s a
wi de ra nge of feel i ngs . Some
who s p end a l ot
of ti me a t s c hool fel t i t
wa s very good ; others
s a i d i t dep ended on the
ra p p ort between
the p ri nc i p a l a nd p a rents .
One p ers on s a i d i t wa s
l i ke "p u l l i ng teeth" to
get a ny
i nforma ti on from the s ec reta ry
a t her c hi l d' s s c hool .
Some s a i d they fel t tha t the
tea c hers
i n thei r s c hool were "very
a p p roa c ha bl e . " Mos t fel t
tha t not enou gh p a rents
ha ve
c omp u ter a c c es s to
the Internet to ma ke thi s a good wa y
of c ommu ni c a ti ng
wi th s c hool s .
When
a s ked wha t one thi ng the s ys tem c ou l d
do to i mp rove
c ommu ni c a ti on, the grou p
s u gges ted
p rovi di ng for more money
for s c hool news l etters , a s
op p os ed to redu c i ng
a
s c hool ' s c op yi ng bu dget ;
a u toma ti c di a l i ng p hone s ys tems
tha t s c hool s c ou l d u s e
to
NSPRA Commu ni c a ti on
Au di t

12

Ba l ti more Cou nty

Pu bl i c Sc hool s
remind parents of coming events; and phone mail systems
that would allow parents to
leave messages for teachers .
Group : Advisory Councils and
Committees
"

Some participants in this group felt that staff needed training in how to
communicate
with
parents and others, and that the district doesn't tout many of its good programs, or
what
they described as "buried strengths . "
For this group, their best sources of information about the schools were
through
volunteering in their schools, kids and other parents, and
school newsletters . Some use
the district
web site and Channel 73 . Others mentioned
PTSA meetings, newspapers, and
the very negative nature of talk radio .
"

This group said they would like to receive more information about "positive things, " and
would like to see more participation by school staff in community organizations . Some
said parents need to understand how the system works and that
BCPS ought to do
more
outreach to parents . Some recommended a parent orientation regarding
homework
expectations, dress expectations, and behavior at each
school level .
These participants rated schools as average in customer service, with some saying it was
not uncommon to be left waiting at school counters for a long time . One person said that
the possibility of a student receiving failing grades needed to be communicated in advance .
Immediate steps to improve communication included telephones in every classroom ;
greater
efforts to "get the good news out" ; and more marketing .
Group : Employee Union Leaders
"

Many in this group felt that the district leadership was "a bit too distant" from their
members
( district
employees) ;
that
communication was frequently
delayed
or
sluggish
;
that employees got mixed messages ; and some questioned the accuracy of communication
.
One person felt that the former area administrators were "a layer between the
superintendent and principals who put their own ` spin' on information . " Some felt that
the district is characterized by confusion, spinning wheels, and frustration
. One said that
some people don't do
anything "because in three weeks, it's going to change . " One
person argued for "message simplicity, clarity, and straightforwardness .
Implementation
should be clear ; when it's not, people make up what to do, and as a result lots of time and
energy are wasted . "
NSPRACommunication Audit

13

Baltimore County Public Schools

Whenasked about thei r best
sour ces of news and i nfor mati on, sev er al pr ai sed the
Super i ntendent's Bul l eti n as good,
i ntr oduci ng
consi stency, but noted that i t i s not
di str i buted
consi stentl y i n school s . Somefel t that pr i nci pal s must keep i n cl oser touch
wi th the ESS staff
si nce ther e i s no l onger an ar ea staff. Some sai d that the r ecent
r eor gani zati onhas di sr upted
somecommuni cati on channel s and new channel s and
r esponsi bi l i ti es hav en't yet been establ i shed . Oneper son noted that
expul si on hear i ngs ar e
mor edi ffi cul t
because the peopl e i nv ol v ed
hav e to tr av el to a centr al l ocati on r ather than
to an ar ea
offi ce.
What the county
coul d do i mmedi atel y to
i mpr ov e communi cati on i s to dev el op
one
message,
sti ck to i t, and fol l ow thr ough,
one
per son
sai d . Some suggested that the
super i ntendent
shoul d meet monthl y wi th
uni on l eader s for a Q&Asessi on, or
meet wi th
ar ea focus gr oups .
Oneper son suggested that the
super i ntendent and a deputy l unch wi th
empl oyees per i odi cal l y
"to fi nd out how i t i s pl ayi ng out ther e
. "
Gr oup :
Counsel or s
For thi s gr oup, thei r
best sour ces of news and
i nfor mati on about the school s ar e
The Sun,
Channe 73, i nfor mati on that pr i nci pal s shar e fr om meeti ngs, Staff Exchange, uni on
publ i cati ons,
and l ocal newspaper s .
Di str i buti on r esponsi bi l i ti es
for the Super i ntendent's
Bul l eti n, some
fel t, ar e uncl ear . E-mai l i s
a sour ce of i nfor mati on,
but somewer e cr i ti cal
of
anti quated softwar e,
ci ti ng the DOS schedul i ng
pr ogr am . Thi s
gr oup fel t that the web
si te has i mpr ov ed . Most
fel t that ther e ar e
not enough tel ephone l i nes
for good
communi cati on to
and fr om school s . Somefel t
that v oi ce mai l woul d
be a bi g hel p i n
i mpr ov i ng the publ i c's
i mage of school
accessi bi l i ty .
Somefel t that
meeti ngs and deadl i nes ar e not wel l -coor di nated . Oneper son sai d
ther e
was too muchi nfor mati on
i n the Super i ntendent's Bul l eti n, and a fi l e of thi s
year 's i ssues
i s
about 3" thi ck i n
thr ee months . Wi thpr i nci pal s r esponsi bl e for scr eeni ng thi s
document
and copyi ng
i nfor mati on for teacher s
and other s i n thei r school s, sev er al peopl e fel t that
thei r member s
ei ther don't see i t or get the i nfor mati on
too l ate. One per son suggested
that about
25% of the Super i ntendent's
Bul l eti n v ol ume was speci al educati on
i nfor mati on and suggested
that per haps that offi ce coul d cr eate i ts own
newsl etter . In
addi ti on, some sai d, peopl e al so
r ecei v e memos or i nfor mati on
fr om other depar tments .
Member s of thi s
gr oup fel t they need mor e
i nfor mati on about good
pr ogr ams and best
pr acti ces i n
other county school s,
and that the di str i ct
needs to do a better
job of
pr omoti ng i tsel f i n r ecr ui ti ng
new teacher s . One
per son ci ted the staff
dev el opment
acti v i ti es the day
befor e Thanksgi v i ng
as excel l ent for shar i ng among
staff
.
Another
fel t
that ther e shoul d be
systemwi de confer ence
days for secondar y
as wel l as el ementar y
school s .
NSPRACommuni cati on
Audi t

14

Bai dmor eCounty

Publ i c School s
Some
f el t t h a t t h e d i s t r i b u t i on met h od f or p r i n t
ma t er i a l n eed s i mp r ovemen t ; a l t h ou gh on e
p er s on s a i d t h a t
h er
s ch ool h a s a n "u r gen t s p ot " on t h e of f i ce b u l l et i n b oa r d f or t h i n gs t h a t
ever yon e n eed s t o r ea d
.
Some f el t t h a t p r i n ci p a l s n eed mor e a u t on omy i n commu n i ca t i n g
wi t h p a r en t s i n emer gen ci es . Sever a l i n t h i s gr ou p s a i d t h a t d eci s i on s
t o cl os e s ch ool s f or
i n cl emen t wea t h er n eed t o b e ma d e ea r l i er ; s ome s t a f f a n d s t u d en t s
h a ve a l r ea d y l ef t h ome
b y t h e t i me t h e Ba l t i mor e Cou n t y a n n ou n cemen t i s ma d e on
t h e r a d i o.
Mos t ga ve
s ch ool s h i gh r a n ki n gs f or
cu s t omer s er vi ce, a l t h ou gh s ome s a i d t h a t s ch ool
of f i ce s t a f f s wer e "t oo s t r et ch ed . "
"Sen d mor e p os i t i ve s t or i es t o t h e n ews med i a , " on e p er s on s u gges t ed wh en
a s ked a b ou t
wh a t t h e d i s t r i ct cou l d d o t o i mp r ove commu n i ca t i on .
Mos t wou l d l i ke t o r ecei ve n ot i ces
i n p r i n t , n ot t h r ou gh p os t i n g on a b u l l et i n b oa r d . Sever a l
s a i d i t wou l d b e n i ce f or
a d mi n i s t r a t or s t o get i n t h e h a b i t of s a yi n g s omet h i n g
n i ce t o s t a f f , "p eop l e a r e f eel i n g
b ea t en d own , " on e p er s on f el t . Th i s gr ou p f el t t h a t f ew cen t r a l of f i ce a d mi n i s t r a t or s vi s i t
s ch ool s . Some h a d con cer n f or n ew t ea ch er s , wh omt h ey f eel n eed mor e p os i t i ve s u p p or t .
"Th e t ea ch i n g job h a s b ecome over wh el mi n g, a n d we'r e l os i n g good p eop l e
b eca u s e t h ey
f eel mi cr o-ma n a ged , " on e p er s on s t a t ed . On e p er s on s u gges t ed
a qu a r t er l y vi d eo r ep or t
f r om t h e s u p er i n t en d en t , b r oa d ca s t on Ch a n n el 73 .
Th e gr ea t es t ch a l l en ges f a ci n g t h e d i s t r i ct i n cl u d e i t s ch a n gi n g d emogr a p h i cs , i n cr ea s i n g
n u mb er s of ki d s wi t h s ever e n eed s , a n d i n s u f f i ci en t s t a f f i n g . "Ta xp a yer s n eed t o b e b et t er
i n f or med a b ou t i s s u es i f wewa n t t h ei r s u p p or t , " on e p er s on s a i d . Some f el t t h a t t h e
cou n t y n eed s t o r a i s e t a xes t o s u p p or t ed u ca t i on , a n d t h a t t h e cou n t y n eed s a b et t er l on g-
t er m gr owt h p l a n .
Gr ou p : Sch ool Cl er i ca l
Th i s gr ou p f el t t h a t t h e d i s t r i ct n eed s mor e t ext b ooks a n d ea r l i er
d eci s i on s a n d
a n n ou n cemen t s of s n ow cl os i n gs or d el a ys . Some s a i d t h e t el ep h on e
t r ee i s a good i d ea ,
b u t t h a t ca l l er s ca n 't get t h r ou gh i n emer gen cy s i t u a t i on s
.
Some f el t t h a t el emen t a r y
s ch ool s h a ve t oo ma n y p eop l e r oa mi n g
t h r ou gh t h e b u i l d i n gs a n d t h a t t h i s cou l d b ecome a
s ecu r i t y i s s u e. Some s a i d t h ey r ecei ve t h e d i s t r i ct d i r ect or y t oo l a t e, a n d s ome s a i d t h a t
u n t i l a ch a n ge wa s ma d e a f t er 9 / 1 1 , t h ey wer e u n a b l e t o a cces s t h ei r p r i n ci p a l 's e-ma i l .
Some s a i d i t wa s d i f f i cu l t t o f i n d s u b s t i t u t e t ea ch er s , t h a t t h e s u b l i s t "i s a joke, " a n d
s ever a l b l a med t h e p r ob l em on l ow p a y . Mos t f el t t h a t s ch ool s n eed mor e p h on e l i n es a n d
t ea ch er s s h ou l d h a ve voi ce ma i l .
Wh en a s ked a b ou t t h ei r s ou r ces of n ews a n d i n f or ma t i on , t h i s gr ou p men t i on ed
t h e n ews
on t h e web s i t e, Ch a n n el 73, St a f f Exch a n ge, Ou t l ook e-ma i l , a n d t h e Su p er i n t en d en t 's
Bu l l et i n . For t h os e wh oh a ve on l y
on e comp u t er i n t h e of f i ce, s ome s a i d i t i s d i f f i cu l t t o
NSPRACommu n i ca t i on Au d i t
1 5 Ba l t i mor eCou n t y Pu b l i c Sch ool s
One i n
t h i s group f el t t h a t t h e d i s t ri c t s h oul d publ i s h a c ommuni t y news l et t er . Some f el t
t h a t d i rec t i v es a re not
c l ea r, a nd t h a t bet t er c a l end a r a nd d ea d l i ne c oord i na t i on i s need ed .
Th ey f eel t h a t pers on-t o-pers on a nd e-ma i l
c ommuni c a t i ons a re bes t .
On c us t omer
s erv i c e, t h i s group f el t t h a t " i t i s rea l l y good , " a nd
one
pers on s a i d t h a t
t h e
c ent ra l of f i c e
f unc t i ons muc h bet t er und er t h e new
s uperi nt end ent . Mos t f el t t h a t t h e
s c h ool s projec t a
f ri end l y a t mos ph ere.
Th e d i s t ri c t c oul d i mprov e
c ommuni c a t i on, members of t h i s group s a i d , by s t a nd a rd i zi ng
t ec h nol ogy
f a s t er, a nd ma ki ng ea rl i er
i nc l ement wea t h er a nnounc ement s a nd not c h a ngi ng
t h em
.
Group: Ca bi net /Di rec t ors
Th ey f el t t h a t s ome
wea knes s es i nc l ud e: t h e s i ze of
t h e d i s t ri c t ; probl ems i n d el i v eri ng
t ea c h er a nd a d mi ni s t ra t or
t ra i ni ng ; s t a f f t urnov er ; a nd h a v i ng t o
ma na ge more wi t h f ewer
res ourc es
. Some f el t t h a t
c ommuni c a t i on need s i mprov i ng s o t h a t s t a f f t rus t
t h e
i nf orma t i on
t h ey rec ei v e a nd t h a t i t i s d el i v ered
i n a t i mel y f a s h i on. Some f el t t h a t
t h e
rec ent reorga ni za t i on
h a s h el ped i mprov e
c ommuni c a t i on.

Th e bes t s ourc es of news

a nd i nf orma t i on f or t h i s
group i nc l ud e: t h e PTAbul l et i n; St a f f
Exc h a nge; l oc a l news pa pers ;
a nd news on e-ma i l . None
i n
t h i s
group us e t h e d i s t ri c t web
s i t e. Some
f el t t h a t t h e t el eph one s ys t em
need s t o be i mprov ed ,
wi t h v oi c e ma i l t h a t
woul d
ena bl e peopl e t o l ea v e mes s a ges
i f t h e pers on c a l l ed i s not
a v a i l a bl e.
get f rom t h e a t t end a nc e
report i ng progra m t o t h e web s i t e. One pers on s a i d t h a t t h e
s uperi nt end ent i s d oi ng a grea t job of
c ommuni c a t i ng .
Th i s group s a i d t h a t
s ome of t h e d i s t ri c t ' s
c ommuni c a t i on i s not t i mel y, a nd t h ey were
c ri t i c a l of a t oo-s h ort t urna round
t i me f or meet i ng
d ea d l i nes . Some c a l l ed f or bet t er
i nt egra t i on
of t h e ma s t er c a l end a r,
perh a ps put t i ng i t
onl i ne
.
" Th e Out l ook c a l end a r h a s
worked t o s ome ext ent , " one pers on
f el t .
Wh en a s ked
a bout c us t omer s erv i c e,
t h i s group f el t t h a t
t h e el ement a ry s c h ool s a re grea t ;
s ec ond a ry s c h ool s
a re " not a s wa rm. "
Th e d i s t ri c t of f i c e ph one i s
a l wa ys a ns wered
pl ea s a nt l y, s ome
s a i d , but s ome i nt erna l
of f i c es " l ea v e
s omet h i ng t o be d es i red . " Some
f el t
t h a t f i ngerpri nt i ng of new
empl oyees need ed t o be
i mprov ed , c i t i ng l ong
wa i t s a nd t h e
need t o v i s i t mul t i pl e
s i t es t o get proc es s ed f or jobs
. Ov era l l , t h ey
f el t , t h e d i s t ri c t d oes a
good job, but i t c oul d d o
a bet t er job of
rec ogni zi ng out s t a nd i ng
progra ms , s t a f f a nd
s t ud ent s , one
pers on s a i d .
NSPRA
Communi c a t i on Aud i t

16

Ba l t i more Count y Publ i c Sc h ool s

This group f e l t t ha t t he d ist ric t c oul d improve c ommunic a t ion by ha ving a ne w t e l e phone
syst e m, a nd put t ing t he t e l e phone d ire c t ory on t he I nt ra ne t , simil a r
t o t he wa y t ha t e -ma il
a d d re sse s a re l ist e d .
Group : Boa rd Me mbe rs (Group 2)
This re port is a synt he sis of c omme nt s
f rom t wo me mbe rs who we re
int e rvie we d in pe rson a nd
one by t e l e phone .
The se Boa rd me mbe rs f e e l t ha t Ba l t imore Count y Publ ic Sc hool s ha ve l ot s of re sourc e s,
but t he y d on't use
t he m e f f e c t ive l y, a nd d on't c ommunic a t e a bout t he m t o pa re nt s, st a f f
a nd ot he rs in
t he c ommunit y . One me mbe r sa id t ha t t he re a re e x c e l l e nt priva t e sc hool s in
t he c ount y, but t ha t t he t op st ud e nt s
in a c a d e mic c ompe t it ions, SAT a nd ot he r t e st s a re
ne a rl y a l wa ys st ud e nt s f rom t he c ompre he nsive publ ic high sc hool s . One sa id he t hought
f e w pe opl e
we re a wa re of t he e x c e l l e nt c ul ina ry a rt s progra m a t Sol l a rs Point , f or
e x a mpl e .
The se Boa rd me mbe rs f e e l t ha t t he d ist ric t
ne e d s t o d o a be t t e r job of ma rke t ing it s
sc hool s a nd
progra ms . "The re is no re a son why Ba l t imore Count y Sc hool s shoul d n't be
re c ognize d
a mong t he be st in t he c ount ry," one sa id . "We 're re a c t ive , a nd usua l l y
ve ry
sl owl y," a not he r sa id .
"We ha ve t o a ggre ssive l y t e l l our st ory ; ma ke issue s known t o t he
c ommunit y . "
Some f e l t t ha t t he d ist ric t wa s not
using Cha nne l 73 a s a ne ws a nd inf orma t ion ve hic l e ,
a nd f e l t t ha t
int e rna l c ommunic a t ion a l so ne e d s improve me nt , wit h
more f e e d ba c k
opport unit ie s . Al l sa id t ha t t he we b sit e ha s
be e n va st l y improve d .
One me mbe r sa id t he d ist ric t
ne e d s t o d e ve l op a st ra t e gic c ommunic a t ions pl a n, whic h
shoul d inc l ud e ut il izing busine ss
pa rt ne rships t o pa y f or ma rke t ing a nd a d ve rt ising .

Whe n a ske d a bout ma jor issue s f a c ing t he d ist ric t ,

one me mbe r c it e d inc re a sing e migra t ion
f rom Ba l t imore Cit y, a nd e nsuring t ha t t he publ ic
sc hool s not be c ome a "whipping boy" in
t he 2002 c ount y e l e c t ions . "We ne e d t o e nsure t ha t we
ma int a in our ind e pe nd e nc e , not
be c ome a d e pa rt me nt of e d uc a t ion in t he c ount y
gove rnme nt ," one
sa id
.
Group :
Me d ia Re pre se nt a t ive s
The se re pre se nt a t ive s f rom ne wspa pe r,
t e l e vison a nd ra d io d e sc ribe d Ba l t imore Count y
Publ ic Sc hool s a s
be ing wid e l y d ive rse - e t hnic a l l y, e c onomic a l l y a nd
re l igiousl y

a nd
be l ie ve
it
is growing inc re a singl y so. The y f e e l t ha t ma ny pe opl e
d on't wa nt t he ir c hil d re n
NSPRACommunic a t ion
Aud it

17

Ba l t imore Count y
Publ ic Sc hool s
to go
to c i ty sc hools, so they are movi ng to the c ounty . I t was suggested that Balti more
County
has lost posi ti on when c ompared to Harford and Howard c ounti es wi th respec t to
good j ob s,
hi gher i nc ome, j ob b ase and c ounty fac i li ti es .
One parti c i pant sai d he had
vi si ted Eastern Tec hni c al Hi gh Sc hool and found i t to b e very
i mpressi ve,
b ut i t doesn't tell i ts story well
. He
sai d
he saw 15-20
stori es that c ould b e
told
on hi s vi si t, b ut the only noti c es the
medi a ever
gets are ab out a c ar that i s gi ven away
at the end of
the y ear .
"

These reporters sai d

they get a monthly pac ket of ti ps from the Offi c e of Communi c ati ons .
One parti c i pant j oked that i t i s so
thi c k, i nformati on must b e b ased on how muc h the
doc ument
wei ghs . The televi si on and radi o
representati ves
sai d
thi s ty pe of i nformati on
pac ket i s not
as helpful or user-fri endly to them b ec ause
thei r assi gnments are sc heduled
on a dai ly b asi s . The
newspaper representati ve, however, felt the pac ket was very useful
.
All sai d
they would li ke the di stri c t to send
more news i tems b y e-mai l . Thei r only
sti pulati on i s that
i nformati on should b e i nc luded i n the b ody of an
e-mai l message b ec ause
newsrooms are
not allowed to open any attac hments due to
vi ruses . Faxes are also good,
b ut they need to b e
ti mely .
Thi s group fi nds the
Offi c e of Communi c ati ons to b e responsi ve to thei r
needs .
They
desc ri b e
the staff as helpful,
ac c essi b le and respondi ng to them i n a ti mely
manner . They
feel the
c ommuni c ati on staff i s well-trai ned
and ab le to provi de answers . One felt that
the
responsi veness of
admi ni strators i n general has
i mproved over the past si x months say i ng,
"There are ac tually
admi ni strators who return c alls! " I t was
noted that they "don't alway s
have to go through Charli e
any more to get questi ons answered . "
One area all
agreed i s a prob lem i n all
Balti more area sc hool sy stems i s a lac k
of
c ommuni c ati on ab out c ontagi ous
di seases
.
They i ndi c ated they fi nd out ab out outb reaks
(suc h as
meni ngi ti s) vi a letters sent home
the end of the day to parents . Bec ause
they fi nd
out at the end of
the day , i nstead of b ei ng c ontac ted b y
the di stri c t di rec tly or rec ei vi ng
the
i nformati on at a
news c onferenc e, televi si on ends up
havi ng to do a li ve segment i n front
of a sc hool to make
the news . They b eli eve thi s makes the
story seem worse than i t i s,
and thi s
c ould b e avoi ded b y
more ti mely c ommuni c ati on.
I t was also
menti oned that b ec ause
BOPS does not have an
elec ted b oard, there i s no
"b uzz" ab out
i ssues .
"

These reporters felt

BCPS pri nc i pals need
trai ni ng i n how to deal wi th the
medi a i n

emergenc y
si tuati ons. One c i ted an i nc i dent
where a pri nc i pal verb ally
assaulted a reporter
who was
c overi ng a sc hool story
from a pub li c si dewalk . They i ndi c ated
there i s a lac k of
c onsi stenc y from sc hool to
sc hool i n handli ng c ri ses, b ut
noted that di saster plans
are
NSPRA
Communi c ati on Audi t

1 8

Balti more County Pub li c

sc hools
"supposedly" i n place t h i s year
.
Th ey sai d t h at t h ere i s n o commun i cat i on
plan i n place for
cri si s si t uat i on s, h owever.
An ot h er example gi ven was t h e di ffi cult y
t h ey h ad fi n di n g st ori es aft er Sept ember
1 1 .
Wh en t h ey could n ot get a t i mely respon se from an yon e i n t h e di st ri ct
or t h e sch ools, t h ey
en ded up goi n g t o a pri vat e sch ool t o fi n d out wh at st uden t s were doi n g
i n t h ei r soci al
st udi es classes relat ed t o t h e at t acks .
An on goi n g i ssue i s t i mely an n oun cemen t s about weat h er-relat ed
sch ool closures . Th ey
feel i t great ly i n con ven i en ces paren t s wh en , aft er an n oun ci n g
t h at sch ools wi ll open t wo
h ours lat e, t h e di st ri ct lat er an n oun ces t h ey wi ll be
closed . Th ey feel t h i s result s i n t h e
medi a bei n g
seen as
t h e bad
guys
by t h e publi c for h avi n g wron g i n format i on .
Th i s group commen t ed on several sch ool-relat ed observat i on s .
On e h ad t o do wi t h li gh t s
on t h e groun ds at West ch est er Elemen t ary n ot bei n g replaced wh en
burn ed out . Th e
part i ci pan t wh o
men t i on ed t h i s sai d, "Wh en
a n ew sch ool st art s sli di n g down h i ll li ke t h at ,
i t ' s a si gn of h ow much pri de i s t aken on t h e part of t h e pri n ci pal . " Th ey n ot ed t h at wh at
goes on i n a commun i t y i mpact s h ow t h ey cover i t an d t h e sch ool .
An ot h er sai d h e was "t roubled" t h at t h e marquee at Woodlawn Mi ddle
Sch ool
di splayed a
message about t h e dri ve for bui ldi n g a n ew st adi um i n st ead of a message
about educat i on .
Th i s group also
was
bot h ered by
t h e con st an t
fun drai si n g an d soli ci t at i on by st uden t s on
beh alf of t h e sch ools.
A percept i on exi st s wi t h t h i s group t h at t h e real busi n ess of t h e Board t akes place i n
closed meet i n gs . Th ey see t h e open meet i n gs as a "rubber st amp" for t h i n gs already
deci ded beh i n d closed doors . Th ey di d, h owever, feel t h at t h e Board was
accessi ble .
Th i s group get s i t s i n format i on
from
t h e Offi ce of Commun i cat i on s, t h e sch ools an d from
paren t s . Th ey also sai d t h ey h ave n ever been part of a face-t o-face meet i n g bet ween
pri n ci pals an d t h e medi a, an d felt t h i s would be a good i dea an d h elpful t o everyon e .

Th e group beli eves BCPS h as n ot made t h e In t ern et work for i t . Th ey would li ke

t o be
able
t o access i n format i on on t h e web si t e such
as
let t ers t o paren t s . Wh i le t h ey i n di cat ed
t h at n ews releases are post ed, t h ey are h ard t o fi n d . Th ey suggest ed t h at t h e di st ri ct
provi de
li n ks
t o
ot h er si t es t h at provi de addi t i on al i n format i on
about
a t opi c
( i
.
e
. ,
i f t h ere
i s a h ealt h
i ssue, li n k t o t h e Depart men t of Healt h
or ot h er medi cal si t es) .
Th ey t h i n k t h e di st ri ct
n eeds
t o
embrace
t ech n ology
more
as a commun i cat i on t ool ( i . e . ,
provi di n g di gi t al ph ot os) an d be proact i ve i n usi n g i t .
NSPRA Commun i cat i on Audi t

19

Balt i more Coun t y Publi c Sch ools

The group raised
an issue about MSPAPscores regarding the av ail abil ity of the scores in a
computer disc format. They woul d
l ik e
to
be abl e to get them on disc, but expressed
concern ov er what the district is
considering charging for the disc .
These media
representativ es fel t the district shoul d prov ide some media
training for top
administrators ev ery y ear
.
To improv e communication, they
suggested the district become more proactiv e, promote
more openness, and encourage
administrators to return cal l s in a timel y manner. They
pointed out that they wil l report the story
any way , and the more cl andestine the district is,
the more suspicious
they become.
Group:
Executiv e Directors
of School s
This group al so fel t the district needs
to do a better job communicating successes
. They
bel iev e the district doesn't do any thing
rel ativ e to PRthat is aggressiv e and it rel ies
too
much on
the media to tel l its story . They
indicated there are many things that mak e
BCPS
school s competitiv e
that aren't adv ertised ( i . e. ,
no one k nows the high school s hav e
higher
than av erage SAT
scores) . They think the district needs
a pol ished PRcampaign .
The group al so noted there is no
sy stemwide staff dev el opment in communication
for
principal s
and no media training has
been done in a l ong time.

This group's best

source of news and information
is district meetings, but they noted
they
sometimes find out
information through the newspapers
. The Superintendent's
Bul l etin,
Emergent Bul l etins and the
"grapev ine" were al so cited as
sources . Timel iness of
information is a concern
.
This group
fel t that customer serv ice v aries from
school to school in the
district . Some
are more masterful
at it than others and connect
better to the community . They noted
that
parents who don't hav e the
k nowl edge to nav igate the sy stem
are l ess successful in
getting
serv ice. They indicated that
inserv ice training in customer
serv ice has onl y been offered
for cl erical personnel .
When ask ed what BCPScoul d do to
improv e communication,
this group suggested :
"

Prov ide the resources

to do the job ( i . e. , add
peopl e in the school s to answer
phones) .
One participant said, "You
need peopl e to prov ide a
serv ice economy . "
"

Meet with adv isory council s

monthl y .
"

Respond to peopl e in a
timel y manner. The group noted
that this is the biggest
compl aint they hear .
The group fel t that
empl oy ees express the most
concern about communication
.
NSPRA
Communication Audit

20

Bal timore
County Publ ic School s
Group: Elementary School
Principals
This group's best sources of news and information about
the district are: TheBaltimore
Sun; and the Superintendent's Bulletin which,
they said, is helpful, but it often
gets
duplicated
with information from
the various departments. This
group said they applaud
the consolidation of information. Countywide principals'
meetings are helpful because
everyone hears the same thing at the same time. This group
thinks communication
between the county and the State Department of
Education could be improved
They feel
information is often piecemeal
and not timely, but that this is improving .
The groupindicated there was a lot of confusion on September I I
about whetherornot
schools were closing . They would have liked to have been
contacted and informed about
what
the media was being told that
day. They also expressed concern that if information
in such situations is sent only by
e- mail,
they aren't in their offices to receive it .
They
suggested that the same information also be sent tothe school secretary toinsure
that
principals get it.
This group would like to receive more advance
notice from central office about when
things are due. They are often given due dates ranging from three days to the day that
reports and paperwork are due. They also would like to be able to access
some of the
AMS screens online in orderto track their budgets, although they find
the system
cumbersome and hard to
use. Asimpler process
is needed .
They also believe communication about renovations needs tobe improved . They
are not
in the loopat the beginning of the process. I t was noted that communication about
renovations conducted in- house is excellent in comparison to outside
contractors .
These principals believe schools are "on the firing line" for
customer service and that it is
critical to have good
people in the front office
. They see the school secretaries as the first
ambassadors and feel they are very committed to their schools, students and their
principals. They also feel secretaries are asked to do too much.
The group indicated there are a lot of new secretaries, but not much inservice training has
been offered tothem of late. There have been customerservice inservice
options available
to
clerical staff in the past, but not all have taken advantage
of it.
This group said it
would be helpful if the district built a
customer
service
component into
the orientation
program for new employees. They indicated
that
the only
customer service
training offered
currently
is what they
provide
to their staff. All
agreed
that they must
make time to dothis because it is important. Some in the group said they also make time
to prepare staff members whohave to deal with complaints from parents orthe public.
One participant has mentors work with new teachers in this area.
NSPRACommunicationAudit

21

Baltimore County Public Schools

Additional suggestions the group
had for improving customer service included : meeting
with
staff to prepare them for back-to-school
nights
and parent conferences ; working
with
new teachers to
provide background on the students and parents assigned to their classes ;
and individualized
modeling for teachers
They
expressed some frustration over
how
well they are served by some central
office
departments . Examples
included not being able to get answers from the special education
office since it reorganized,
getting voice mail during the day instead of the person they
need to reach, and not always
knowing who to call for the answers they need . They did
feel that
service from the facilities
office has improved and e-mail has helped . They again
cited
confusion over what to do on September
1 1 , and said they would have rated the
district low
in customer service that day.
This group felt the district could
improve communication by improving the timing of
publications
. For example, the calendar
comes out at the beginning of each month, but
they need it
earlier because they send their schools'
monthly calendar to parents before the
month begins . They
suggested that a yearly calendar would reduce
program conflicts and
be easier
to use .
Group: Students
This group of
high school students was
very positive about their schools . They
felt that
the different programs
offered are great and that
the schools are open and welcoming
.
Several who attend the Arts
and Technology magnet
school said there is a lot of respect
at
their school and everyone wants
to be there . Another said he would
recommend his
school
over any private school in
the state . He feels he is
getting a better education
than
he could
anywhere else .
The best sources of
news and information for
these students are : parents
and neighbors
who work for BCPS; student
council general assemblies ;
word of mouth; and
school
newspapers
.
This group
would like the district to
provide better information on
snow delays and
school
cancellations
. They perceive the
district as constantly changing
its mind about what
it will
do
regarding weather . One
noted she has an early bus and
by the time she gets to
school,
classes have been
canceled .
These students
gave the district
high grades on customer service
because most
teachers
are so
willing to help students .
One participant said, "The
teachers want to teach
there
and
you want to go there
. " One noted that her parents
only hear negatives
from her so
NSPRA Communication
Audit

22

Baltimore
County Public Schools
she thought
they wouldn't
r a te i t a s
hi gh
a s she does . They noted tha t
pa r ents
a r e
welcomed i n the schools dur i ng Amer i ca n Educa ti on Week.
When a sked wha t BCPS could do to i mpr ove communi ca ti on, thi s gr oup
suggested the
followi ng : be tr uthful i n telli ng students when cha nges a r e
bei ng ma de -tell them why
a nd wha t i s
bei ng done ; mor e di r ect
conta ct
wi th
pa r ents a nd students (newsletter s
a r e not
enough) ; tea cher s should ta lk to students a bout i ssues a nd r ea d them letter s fr om the
pr i nci pa l; a nd r ea ch out to new pa r ents or those who a r e not nor ma lly
i nvolved i n the
school . They beli eve thi s would help thei r chi ldr en get mor e i nvolved .
Over a ll, the gr oup felt ther e i s " pr etty decent" communi ca ti on
between the home a nd
school .
Thi s gr oup of students sa i d tha t on September 1 I ever yone wa nted to ta lk a bout wha t ha d
ha ppened a nd to wa tch the news cover a ge . They i ndi ca ted tea cher s held
di scussi ons
a nd
some wer e a llowed to wa tch televi si on cover a ge . One pa r ti ci pa nt sa i d the
di str i ct should
ha ve closed the schools beca use
they
couldn't concentr a te on a nythi ng else . They a lso felt
i t wa s i r oni c tha t cell phones ha ve been ba nned i n the schools, beca use students ha ve them
a nywa y a nd tea cher s a llowed them to use them on September 1 1 . I t wa s a lso noted tha t
pa y phones a r e shut off a t the schools dur i ng school hour s now. One pa r ti ci pa nt sa i d one
school ha s only one pa y phone .
Gr oup :
Boa r d of Educa ti on Member s
(Gr oup 3)
These boa r d member s sa i d tha t the di str i ct holds a number of for ums a nd
a dvi sor y
counci l
meeti ngs i n or der to i mpr ove communi ca ti on wi th the publi c, but noted tha t the loca l
newspa per s ha ve li ttle enthusi a sm for cover i ng them. One suggested the pa per s mi ght be
mor e wi lli ng to help tell the stor y i f they wer e a sked .
They sa i d a dvi sor y counci ls wer e desi gned
to be
loca l communi ty for ums for di scussi ng
i ssues, but those who a pply to be on the counci ls a r e often " super compla i ner s . " They
i ndi ca ted the Boa r d sha r es gener a l i nfor ma ti on a nd boa r d goa ls wi th the gr oups, but the
counci ls a r e not gi ven speci fi c cha r ges
r ela ted to these goa ls .
One
i ndi ca ted tha t,
i n
the
pa st, for ums wer e used a s " wa r m-ups" for r edi str i cti ng a nd for ga ther i ng i nput . I t wa s
noted tha t ther e i s a need to r edi r ect the focus of the a dvi sor y counci ls .
These boa r d member s sa i d they get ma ny posi ti ve comments a bout the schools dur i ng
Amer i ca n Educa ti on Week. However , they feel communi ca ti on br ea ks down a t the
bui ldi ng level . They beli eve some people a r e good a t bei ng a mba ssa dor s a nd some a r e
not
.
The
di str i ct needs to help sta ff become better a mba ssa dor s a nd
fi nd someone to tr a i n
them,
not
necessa r i ly the pr i nci pa ls
.
One
member felt tha t the schools do
not vi ew
students a nd pa r ents a s customer s, but mor e often a s i nter r upti ons . Thi s member
NSPRA Communi ca ti on Audi t

23

Sa ftlmor e County Publi c Schools

suggested that what i s
mi ssi ng i s i nter ac ti o n between par ents and staf f i n
no n- c r i si s
mo ments
. Staf f need to be sympatheti c to
par ents wi th i ssues o r pr o blems, and par ents
need to under stand
the staf f per spec ti ve o f
deali ng wi th 2,000 students .
They also f elt ther e i s no t muc h
c o mmuni c ated f r o m seni o r
level admi ni str ato r s to juni o r
level admi ni str ato r s, so these
peo ple
do
no t have a sense that they ar e par ti c i pati ng
i n the
develo pment
pr o c ess . Thi s makes
them less li kely to bec o me ambassado r s
i nstead o f
"wo r ker bees . "
These bo ar d member s
f elt BCPS c o uld i mpr o ve
c o mmuni c ati o n by r eac hi ng o ut to the
c o mmuni ty and maki ng them
f eel par t o f the sc ho o ls .
Thi s needs to i nc lude tho se who
do n't
have c hi ldr en i n sc ho o l
. They want the publi c to be pr o ud
o f thei r sc ho o ls, embr ac e
them, and do
what they c an to make
them better . One suggested
yo unger teac her s
(Gener ati o n
Xer s) c o uld help the di str i c t lear n
to c o mmuni c ate wi th tec hno lo gy
and get
wher e i t needs to be
i n thi s ar ea .
One
bo ar d member sai d the Of f i c e o f
Co mmuni c ati o ns i s no t
gi ven the di r ec t i nf o r mati o n
o r autho r i ty
to pr o vi de i nf o r mati o n to
the news medi a qui c kly .
He beli eves the
c o mmuni c ati o ns
o f f i c er needs "eno ugh leash"
to r un wi th sto r i es .
Ano ther f elt that many
par ents do no t
kno w abo ut the di str i c t web si te .
Inf o r mati o n o n the web si te
sho uld be
tar geted to spec i f i c
audi enc es i nstead o f just po sti ng
a massi ve amo unt o f
i nf o r mati o n that
must be
si f ted thr o ugh . Pr o vi de
li nks to i nf o r mati o n
par ents want to kno w mo r e
abo ut .
One member
di d no t thi nk the di str i c t
do es eno ugh mar keti ng
o f the go o d thi ngs go i ng o n
i n the sc ho o ls
. Publi c engagement ef f o r ts
ar e also needed and
thi s r espo nsi bi li ty c an't r est
just
wi th the Bo ar d o r
super i ntendent . "We
keep expec ti ng Mo hammed to
c o me to the
mo untai n
and what we need to do
i s take the
mo untai n to Mo hammed,"
i s ho w o ne
member
desc r i bed i t . All admi ni str ato r s
need to r eac h o ut to
exter nal gr o ups -
c i vi c ,
ser vi c e and
f ai th c o mmuni ti es - bec ause
many par ents
f i nd o ut abo ut the sc ho o ls
vi a
these o r gani zati o ns
.
They wo uld also
li ke f o r the Bo ar d to be
pr o vi ded wi th key
messages abo ut the di str i c t
desi gned to develo p suppo r t
f o r "suc c essf ul"
sc ho o ls .
It was also
menti o ned by o ne bo ar d
member that the
PTA may f eel
that they haven't been
c o mmuni c ated
wi th eno ugh by the
Bo ar d and di str i c t .
NSPRA
Co mmuni c ati o n
Audi t

24

Balti mo r e Co unty Publi c

Sc ho o ls
Group
RTA R:r~:
T: roup
ot
RTA.~:i~r: i~:r~i BCRS :: : ooi :oo. ::~
. ott~r: ooi ::
::i~:,
u: :i p::. ~iu:o pror:: :i o~r:~: o
.: : ~ ~:
~r~:: ot .ir~ J~ p:rp: ::i
:~ :: ~~ v~r
:pp . ~ ~iu:o ~r
.ir~ :v~ r~~v~i :i ii :~ ou.i :v~ :i~ : ~~r o~ : BCRS
T~ ::i ~ ::~ :: : o~: o ott~r. :~: :i :r~~r o~o: ::
.~.. :: ooi, opr~~:v~ pror::
.o: : roup :r~~i : :: .o :: p:r~: :r~ :v~. vo.v~i, ~r .ir~ ...
~ : ooi ~iu:o
T~ t~. ~r~ :r~ .oi~rtu. ~:~r: ~
i:r ::
.~..
::
:o~ : ~~i ~.p
So~ ot ~ : ~:~ p:r~: ::i ~ .ou.i ~.. t:.~: ~. o ~ i:r .ui~
"

o .~ ~: :or~: too. ~ So~ :oo.: . ~ ~: ~vro~: io
:v~ ~ ~: :or~:
:i
"

. t ~ :v~ : :p~:. ~iu:o :ui~ o :
+
p.:, ~ ~~i o ~ v.:
:ou :~rv~:
T:
roup:
~: :our~: ot ~.: :i tor:o :ou ~ i:r :r~ ~: o~r :i
ov~r::o: . :~or
i:r ::tt ~~r: T~ i:~i ~ u:u:.. ~:r :ou
: ~tor~ r~:i :ou ~

~ ~.:p:p~r,
:i ot~ o. ~tor~ ~r prp:.:
~ , o~ ~. ~ :oo. .:: ~ : ~. i~r:r~ ~:~r ~tor~ ~ prp:.
ii
J~ p:rp: ::i ~ :oo.: : :r~: ou:~ .~.. :ou .: : o o
~ :oo.:, u ii o.
o. .~.. ~ :oo.: ou:~ :ou i:r ::u~:
T: roup t~. ~r~ : : i:o~ rouou ~ ::~ ~.~~ ~ :up~r~i~:
ott~ :i ~ :oo. u.i:, u : : : ~ ~~r T~ :.:o t~. : :
prp:.: io :v~ : :~:~ ot ~ :or ot ~r :oo.: ~:u:~ ot ~ urov~r ot
prp:.: ~ , : prp:. ii :v~ ~ r~por o : :r u:. ::u~ : o~ :oo.
Aori o
:
roup, prp:.:
:r~ ~o
.~::
otor:.~ . : r::, :o
p:r~: :i ~ RTA:~ pro.~: o o:~ : ~r .~v~.:
~:u:~ ~ :oo. ::tt :
:tr:i o W~ tor:o : .~.i tro p:r~:, o ~:
io~ T~ .: ~
prp:.: o ~ :u~::tu., u t~~. oo : prp:.: io .: o ::r~
:i ~i o
ov~r : up
T: roup :ro. ~.~v~: :
:oo.
::tt: io o .: p:r~: ~
:oo.: So~
~x:p.~: ~ ::r~i .ui~i
"

.~~: :r~ :~iu.~i .~ p:r~: : :~i : , L. L p T~
:o~~: t~~. r~i : : :oo. prov~~ ~: ~~ : ~.i : :
KSRDACou:o Aui.

.

B:.or~ Cou Ru. Soo.:
r
hourwhen parents can't be there, and when they ask about i t they are told i t was
j ust a staf f
development meeti ng .
Conf erence days
are scheduled to f i t teachers' days, not parents . They sai d they
have asked the di stri ct to encourage
schools to change how they schedule
conf erences, but so f ar they haven't seen any i mprovement . One parti ci pant sai d a
mi ddle
school di dn't want to make appoi ntments f or parents to meet teachers, so
parents
had
to
showup and then wai t . Another sai d one school di dn't schedule
conf erences unless a
student was f ai li ng .
Some schools asked
parents to RSVPto attend Ameri can Educati on Week
acti vi ti es i n order to be
allowed i nto the school .
Secondary teachers use e-mai l to
communi cate wi th parents, but elementary
teachers
don't want to share thei r e-mai l addresses . One parent sai d
she was
ecstati c to get a welcome
letter f rom her chi ld's mi ddle school that i ncluded
the
phone numbers and e-mai l
addresses f or team members . She couldn't get any
i nf ormati on f rom the elementary school
.
School envi ronments are not welcomi ng .
Parents have no ri ghts and teachers have
too
many f reedoms and ri ghts .
These parents rated the di stri ct poor
i n the area of customerservi ce, wi th the maj ori ty
gi vi ng i t a "D. " They f eel the di stri ct
needs to be more responsi ve and vi ew
parents as
customers,
not an i nconveni ence. They beli eve
the f ocus i s on staf f and that the di stri ct
acts li ke
the teachers are the customers .
They f eel that there needs to be accountabi li ty
f or customer servi ce.
Several parti ci pants
menti oned that they have stood
i n school of f i ces and been i gnored whi le the
secretari es
talked to
each other. They beli eve school
secretari es need staf f development
i n thi s area
and also i n
multi taski ng . One parti ci pant sai d she
lef t messages f or two weeks tryi ng
to
i nvi te the superi ntendent
to greet parti ci pants at the
PTA state conventi on. The group
di d
say the transportati on
department i s responsi ve when
contacted.
Thi s group
percei ves the Board as
conducti ng i ts busi ness
behi nd closed doors i nstead of
i n publi c . They
explai ned that they f ought to
have meani ngf ul publi c
comment at board
meeti ngs ( publi c
comment used to come af ter acti on
was taken) . Thi s group
sees the
Board as havi ng a
hi dden agenda that i s poli ti cally
moti vated. They f eel
thei r comments
go i nto a "black voi d"
and they never f eel the
Board i s goi ng to do anythi ng
about thei r
concerns . They
percei ve the Board as not learni ng
f rom i ts mi stakes and
hopi ng that
parents won't remember
and respond . They
f eel
i t
would be a good i dea
f or the di stri ct to
come to
the communi ty bef ore deci si ons
are made. The
PTA could provi de the best
f eedback on what's goi ng on
out i n the schools, i f asked .

,
NSPRA Communi cati on Audi t

26

Balti more County

Publi c Schools
Group: CommunityLeaders
This groupf el tthatwhenthe distric ttal k s about minorityissues
it is in terms of bl ac k or
white and does notinc l ude other
immigrant
groups. Theybel iev e minoritystudents
need
to be supported in order f or themto f eel partof the system. One partic ipant said he
woul d l ik e BCPS to be more l ik e MontgomeryCounty Publ ic Sc hool s and hav e
more staf f
to work with the v arious minoritygroups. Otherc onc erns inc l uded:
ESOL programs not
l oc ated in areas wheretheyare mostneeded; inadequate systemf or getting
minority
parents inv ol v ed; non-Engl ish speak ers, espec ial l y Chinese, I ranian,
and Vietnamese f ac e
prof ound l anguage dif f ic ul ties that prev entthemf romgetting inv ol v ed.
More staf f members are needed f or the ESOLprogram. There is a real need f or
an
additional Asianresourc e personwith educ ation c redential s. There is no
wel c ome c enter
f or ESOLf amil ies to hel p c onnec tthemto ex isting ethnic agenc ies.
Ev eryyearthere is a
new programthat tries to deal
with div ersity.
Without staf f buy-in, it' s meaningl ess.
They al so f el t students don' tunderstand the signif ic anc e of the v arious hol idays they hav e.
Otherc omments inc l uded that theynev er hear whenstudents dowel l . Theybel iev e
students need to be rewarded f or ac c ompl ishments and that the sc hool s are too stric t with
rul es, so students are af raid to mak e mistak es and theref ore don' tthink . They
f ear that
students think they are meeting the requirements f or graduation, whenin real ity their
k nowl edge is superf ic ial .
This group c ited l oc al newspapers and their ownc hil dren as their best sourc es of
inf ormation aboutthe distric t. Some watc h Channel 73 onc e in a whil e. The Minority
Ac hiev ementAdv isory Group is al so a sourc e. Sev eral c ommented theyused to rec eiv e
more
c ommunic ationf rom the prev ious superintendent
and there used to be more attempts
at outreac h
. Onepartic ipant said he think s the
superintendentis trying to reac h out
through a task f orc e and bymeeting with c ommunitygroups, and thatc hanges are being
made. Another f el t there hav en' tbeenmanyinnov ations in the pastyear and a hal f and he
is not seeing any risk tak ers.
This
group woul d
l ik e
to
rec eiv e regul ar
ex pl anations of whatis
going
onin the distric t
and whyc hanges arebeing made. One suggestionwas f or the superintendentto hol d
brief ings ev eryeight week s with a manageabl e group of c ommunity l eaders. Meetf irst in
Septemberand inf ormthem of goal s
f or
the year and thenprov ide regul ar updates. They
al l agreed that being ask ed to partic ipate in this f oc us group was positiv e.
I nthe area of c ustomer serv ic e, this group f el t the sc hool s shoul d hav e open houses and
inv ite c ommunitymembers in. Theyf el t manysc hool s, butnotal l , are trying to be
c ustomer-f riendl y and are wil l ing to hear c ompl aints.
NSPRA Communic ationAudit

27

Bal timore CountyPubl ic Sc hool s

One participant
s aid , "You are overqualified to work in BCPS if you can ans wer the
phone and trans fer a call
. " Callers s till get pas s ed around . Another s aid he tried to get a
lis t of minority s tud ents in ord er to
increas e parent involvement but was told it would cos t
$1 . 00 a page and that he s hould as k the PTA for a lis t .
There
was als o a
feeling in the
group that
principals are not taking the initiative to includ e minority parents .
This
group als o felt that parents are not
really wanted in the s chools . One s aid the s chools
make
parents feel good by inviting them to be
part of the s chool improvement team, but
all they really
d o is what they want to d o anyway
.
This group believes
the d is trict can improve
communication by us ing s imple language with
parents becaus e
parents are afraid to as k ques tions when they
d on't und ers tand s omething .
Group :
Second ary School
Principals
This group
of principals noted that s trategies
for communicating includ e:
vigorous
promotion of
American Ed ucation Week; s chools
make good us e of local community
news papers ; job and
magnet s chool fairs are offered ;
s chools hold open hous es to
s howcas e programs ;
monthly s chool news letters are
publis hed ; programing is provid ed on
Channel 73 ; and s chool web
s ites provid e information.
One area
they s ee as need ing improvement
was to make better us e
of Channel 73 . Some
programs
are repeated , yet there's s o much to
celebrate; s howcas e more s ucces s
s tories or
s how a game of
the week; anything bes id es "talking
head s . "
There
was a breakd own of
communication on September
11 about whether s chools were
clos ing
. The group felt cris is
communication need s to be
improved and that the
communication
s ys tem is more reactive than
proactive. The d is trict
need s to workwith the
med ia on s haping
s tories and us e technology to get
information out .
The
group noted that, years ago,
the d is trict provid ed med ia
training for principals
. They
would like this to be available
again. They would als o
like to have clear d irection and
key
mes s ages
about how the d is trict
is res pond ing to countywid e
is s ues . They feel they
need
more
guid ance on res pond ing to the
med ia, es pecially if they
are a high profile s chool
.
They
ind icated the d is trict encourages them
to res pond to med ia
but it d oes n't give
them
d irection
. They feel there is a need
for cons is tency in this
area .
Thos e in the group
who had received med ia
training in the pas t s aid
they feel comfortable
talking to
reporters . But they agreed
that Office of
Communications s taff members
d on't
often
s how up to help them when the
med ia is on campus
and they feel they
are left
"hanging out there. " They
felt that new principals really
need med ia
training and that no
one has d efined the importance
of communication in
the s chools .
NSPRA
Communication Aud it

28

Baltimore
County Public Schools
They f el t t ha t t he d i s t r i c t ' s r es pons e
i s not c ons i s t ent or pr oa c t i ve i n
c r i s i s s i t u a t i ons .
Ther e i s not a c l ea r pl a n on how t he c r i s i s
s hou l d be ha nd l ed . They a l s o
s a i d t ha t t he c ha i n
of c ommu ni c a t i on i n t he
d i s t r i c t need s t o be c l a r i f i ed . Wi t h t he
r eor ga ni za t i on, t hey a r en' t
s u r e wher e t o go f or a ns wer s a nd who d oes wha t a nymor e
(a nd t hey d on' t ha ve a
d i r ec t or y) .
Thi s
gr ou p' s bes t s ou r c es of news a nd i nf or ma t i on a r e e-ma i l a nd t he
Su per i nt end ent ' s
Bu l l et i n . They f i nd
t he
Bu l l et i n
hel pf u l , bu t f eel t her e i s a d i s c onnec t
bet ween wha t i s
wr i t t en
a nd t he a t t a c hment s t ha t c ome wi t h i t . Somet i mes
i t i s mor e c onf u s i ng t ha n when
i nf or ma t i on c omes d i r ec t f r om t he va r i ou s d epa r t ment s .
However , i f i t ' s i n t he Bu l l et i n,
t hey know i t i s a "mu s t c ompl y" i s s u e.
They t hi nk t he St a f f Exc ha nge c ou l d be mor e
c ompr ehens i ve a nd s er ve a s a voi c e f or t he
d i s t r i c t (bu t t her e need s
t o be a s t a f f i ng c ommi t ment f i r s t ) . They f eel t he r ec ogni t i on
s ec t i on
i s i mpor t a nt a nd t hey a l l l ook a t t he r et i r ement c ol u mn. Some
s a ve t he Cu r r i c u l u m
a nd Ins t r u c t i on c ol u mn . Bu t mos t s a i d t hey pu t t he r ec yc l e bi n next
t o
t he
s c hool ma i l
boxes a nd mos t of t he news l et t er s end u p i n t he bi n .
Thes e pr i nc i pa l s
i nd i c a t ed t hei r l oc a l c ommu ni t y news pa per s wi l l pr i nt wha t t hey wr i t e f or
t hem,
bu t t hey need mor e d i r ec t i on f r om t he Of f i c e of Commu ni c a t i ons t o
t a ke a d va nt a ge
of t hi s . They wou l d l i ke t o u s e t he news pa per s t o bu i l d s c hool s u ppor t
a t t he
nei ghbor hood l evel .
Anot her
s u gges t i on wa s f or t he d i s t r i c t t o i d ent i f y 25 key s t a f f member s a c r os s t he d i s t r i c t
who c a n s er ve
a s s pokes peopl e on d i f f er ent t opi c s .
Thi s gr ou p s a i d c u s t omer s er vi c e ha s not been
a d d r es s ed a s a s ys t em a nd t hey bel i eve
t ea c her s need t r a i ni ng i n or d er t o c ou nt er a t t a c ks on
ed u c a t i on. They not ed t ha t t hey
never s ee t op l evel
a d mi ni s t r a t or s ou t pr omot i ng t he s c hool s ys t em u nl es s pol i t i c i a ns a r e
t her e
. They t hi nk t her e i s a need t o "br a nd " t he s c hool s ys t em .
Bec a u s e t hey a r e a l l wor r i ed a bou t a c c ou nt a bi l i t y, t hey f eel
i t
i s ea s y t o
f or get t he
i mpor t a nc e of pr omot i ng t hei r s c hool s . They s ee
a need f or ongoi ng t r a i ni ng s o t hey c a n
c r ea t e a nd wor k ef f ec t i vel y wi t h
bu i l d i ng l evel c ommu ni c a t i on c ommi t t ees . A s u gges t i on
wa s ma d e
t ha t t he Of f i c e of Commu ni c a t i on s end ou t pa c ket s wi t h t i ps a nd s t r a t egi es l i ke
a s s oc i a t i ons
d o . They wou l d a l s o l i ke t o know wha t t he pu bl i c wa nt s t o hea r a bou t t he
s c hool s s o t hey c a n f i ne t u ne t hei r s c hool news l et t er s .
NSPRA Commu ni c a t i on Au d i t

29

Ba l t i mor e Cou nt yPu bl i c Sc hool s

Group:
Support Services
Staff
This group's
best sources of news
and information are : word of mouth/rumor mil l ;
and
Staff
Exchange. They fel t the
Staff Exchange is hel pful but usual l y l ate. Some indicated
they don't receive it in
their mail boxes. There
seems to be a breakdown in distribution
once it reaches the school s.
Most in the group fel t
Staff Exchange is written mostl y for
teachers
and think it shoul d have
something for everyone.
This group said they woul d l ike
to know more
about pol icy changes
and reorganizations.
P articipants from the
transportation department
indicated that bus drivers receive very
l ittl e
communication of
any kind because they don't
have mail boxes. Both transportation
and
food service said that
l ack of communication
about
snow
del ays causes probl ems for
them because
they are al ready on
the road . They often hear about
del ays or cl osings on
the radio. Some said
they hear about
pol icy changes and other news on Channel
73 ( if
they
get it) or on the l ocal
news station .
Some departments
l eave the
Superintendent's Bul l etin out
for
peopl e
to read, but one
participant said,
" I t's l ike reading a
dictionary. " Transportation
has a newsl etter that
shares
" good news" items
but nothing about what
is happening around the
district .
This group
fel t the district
sometimes goes overboard
with customer service.
More
consideration is
given to parents
than to staff. They never
get recognized or receive
any
pats on the back
.
Operations
and custodial
empl oyees say they are never
incl uded in staff
meetings. I t was
noted that,
in one region, the custodians
are now
attending P TAmeetings. Food
service
empl oyees reported
that they meet
with area reps and then
the managers report back
to
their empl oyees.
Some of the
support services
offices have staff
bul l etins on e- mail , but
not everyone has
access to a
computer so they
can't al l receive the
information.
When asked how
the district coul d
improve communications,
this group said
that
principal s are the
key. P rincipal s need to
real ize how important
it is to get information
to
support
services staff too
. They suggested
sending out " quickie"
updates to keep
everyone
informed
.
They agreed that
support services
staff do not
receive much training or
orientation as new
hires,
which woul d be hel pful
. Bus drivers need
to get information
about school cl osings
earl ier
( they are al ready
on the road at
5 : 30 a . m . ) , and they al so
woul d l ike to
know when
students have been
expel l ed so they
aren't al l owed on
the buses .
NSP RA
Communication Audit

30

Bal timore CountyP ubl ic

School s
Another area of concern was the fact that d ri v ers can only call 911 or the
transportati on
offi ce
on
thei r cell phones, so they cannot get weather reports or call for
assi stance after
the transportati on offi ce closes
for the d ay
(and
some buses are
sti ll on the road ) . The
group also noted that they d on't recei v e li sti ngs of job openi ngs around the d i stri ct, or get
them after the d ead li ne d ates for appli cati on .
Group : Central Offi ce Staff
Thi s group's best sources of
news and i nformati on about the d i stri ct
i nclud e : the
Superi ntend ent's Bulleti n ; the web si te
; newspapers
;
d i stri ct mai l
truck d ri v ers; i nformal
meeti ngs, word of mouth; superi ors; and
cabi net .
They d escri bed
the Staff Exchange has contai ni ng " hi stori cal elements that prov i d e
comfort"
and they li ke to get the li ghter si d e of news about the d i stri ct . The ti meli ness of
the publi cati on i s an i ssue, howev er
. They feel i t i s d i rected pri mari ly at the schools and
teachers. The curri culum and i nstructi on column i s good .
The Superi ntend ent's Bulleti n has helped to organi ze i nformati on but i t i s not always
d i ssemi nated to staff who
need to see i tems i n i t .
Thi s group d i d not thi nk the d i stri ct makes effecti v e use of
Channel 73,
and thi nks
school-
based broad casts from i n-house low wattage rad i o stati ons need to coord i nate
thei r
messages and i nformati on .
They beli ev e
trai ni ng i n communi cati on technology i s need ed and should be ad d ressed
from an organi zati onal stand poi nt . They
feel there i s a real need for cell communi cati on .
The group i nd i cated teachers hav e e-mai l ad d resses but not all use them
.
They
d i d feel e-
mai l can
be ov erwhelmi ng and teachers need to be protected from ov eruse .
Thi s
group
felt that employees want to be posi ti v e and customer serv i ce ori ented but the
publi c d oesn't und erstand the v olume of
thei r work
and how
ti red people are. There i s no
recogni ti on of what's reali sti c .
There
should
be stand ard s for communi cati on and what
consti tutes reali sti c expectati ons. The percepti on across the d i stri ct i s that stud ents
are
number one, parents are number two, and others come after them. The feeli ng among
the
group was that ev eryone i s a customer of each other, and they are
expected to prov i d e
some lev el of serv i ce to ev eryone all d ay long . The v olume i s tremend ous.
They
beli ev e
that
people need to be able to arti culate what BOPS stand s for and d on't
thi nk all staff can d o so . One parti ci pant noted that the superi ntend ent
has been tryi ng to
gi v e the
bi g pi cture
to staff
They feel there i s a need for ev eryone to und erstand the
functi ons of the v ari ous d epartments.
NSPRA Communi cati on Aud i t

3 1

Balti more County

Publi c Schools
There i s no s t ra t eg i c pla n for c ommuni c a t i on a nd t he di s t ri c t does n't look a s profes s i ona l
a s
s ome of t he s ma ller c ount i es s urroundi ng i t . P ub li c i t y i s a ls o a n i s s ue a nd t hey feel help
i s needed
i n pub li c i zi ng t he ma g net prog ra ms a nd "b ra ndi ng " t he di s t ri c t .
They would li ke t o s ee t he di s t ri c t b ec ome more proa c t i ve i n i t s c ommuni c a t i on a nd
develop
a pos i t i ve
P Rc a mpa i g n t o s ell i t s elf b et t er . Thi s s hould i nc lude s elli ng educ a t i on
t o t he s t udent s ( i
. e . , how fa c i li t i es look a nd how exc i t i ng t hey a re c a n a ffec t lea rni ng ) .
Group :
Exec ut i ve Di rec t ors
Thi s g roup of exec ut i ve di rec t ors des c ri b ed BCP S a s
c ompri s ed of people wi t h a n
unwa veri ng
c ommi t ment t o t he di s t ri c t , who ha ve b ui lt t hei r c a reers here a nd a re wi lli ng t o
work for t he s y s t em
a nd t he ki ds . They t hi nk i t i s unfort una t e t ha t t he s c hool s y s t em g et s
lumped i n wi t h ot her
g overnment ent i t i es ( who a re perc ei ved a s la zy , do-not hi ng s ) .
They feel t he org a ni za t i ona l c ha ng es b ei ng ma de b y
t he c urrent di s t ri c t lea ders hi p a re
pos i t i ve.
The s uperi nt endent ha s t i g ht ened up b us i nes s opera t i ons a nd ma de
g ood
a ppoi nt ment s . One
pa rt i c i pa nt s a i d t ha t a s long a s t he di s t ri c t c a n pa s s t he g roc ery s t ore
li t mus t es t ( "I c a n g o
i n t he s t ore a nd not b e a t t a c ked") t hen i t i s s uc c es s ful
They des c ri b e t he s c hools a s t rue c ommuni t y s c hools ,
whi c h
i s
i mport a nt t o rela t i ons hi ps .
I ndi vi dua ls
i n t he s y s t em a re res pons i ve a nd t ry t o
g et b a c k t o people i n a t i mely fa s hi on .
They di d feel t here
i s s ome la c k of c ons i s t enc y from a rea t o a rea i n t he di s t ri c t ,
a nd a ll
c ommuni t i es don't feel
t he s a me c onfi denc e i n t he s c hools . I t wa s not ed t ha t t here a re
only
15 hi g h s c hools t ha t t he Boa rd a nd
a dmi ni s t ra t i on would s end t hei r c hi ldren t o . The
a c hi evement
g a p ha s not b een c los ed
b et ween mi nori t i es a nd low s oc i oec onomi c g roups
a nd ot hers i n t he s y s t em
.
Severa l pa rt i c i pa nt s i n t he
g roup were c onc erned a b out s pec i a l
educ a t i on pla c ement .
They a re
s eei ng i nc rea s es i n t he numb er of
s t udent s from ot her s t a t es b ei ng pla c ed
i n
g roup homes wi t hi n t he di s t ri c t . Anot her
c onc ern wa s for t he a vera g e s t udent
. The
di s t ri c t does
a lot t o meet t he needs of
s t udent s on b ot h ends of t he educ a t i on
s pec t rum,
b ut t hey a re
c onc erned a b out t he res ourc es a nd
expec t a t i ons for a vera g e s t udent s .
There wa s s ome
feeli ng a mong t he g roup t ha t t he
di s t ri c t i s oft en run b y i t s
s t a keholders
a nd t he t ea c her uni on . They
t hi nk t he a dmi ni s t ra t i on c a res more a b out
t he opi ni ons of
pa rent s t ha n of s t a ff
memb ers .

Thi s g roup
s a i d t hei r b es t s ourc e of news a nd
i nforma t i on i s t he "g ra pevi ne
. " They s a i d
t hey
a re s urpri s ed a t how oft en t hey
rea d t hi ng s a b out s c hools i n t he
news pa per b efore
hea ri ng di rec t ly from t he di s t ri c t
.
NSP RA
Communi c a t i on Audi t

32

Ba lt i more
Count y P ub li c Sc hools
For formal
communication, the Superintendent's Bulletin helps them get their
information
and it deliv ers the same message to ev eryone .
They indicated that there is an electronic b ulletin b oard that was supposed to deliv er
priority news b ut the Emergent Bulletins hav e supplanted this . They said the system of
information has turned into the Superintendent's Bulletin and Emergent Bulletins .
The Staff Exchange is not particularly helpful to this group. They wonder
how many
employees read it . They feel it does prov ide staff with a link to the system and
a
sense
of
b elonging, b ut it is clearly focused on teachers .
This group suggested that it might b e helpful if they met as a group after b oard meetings
to identify issues and determine who should address them.
"

The group felt the district has good intentions

for mak ing itself
more customer-friendly,
b ut it is frustrating b ecause it still seems b ig and cumb ersome . They would giv e low
mark s on how well the district has done in the customer serv ice arena .
There is a sense that b y the time people reach the right person, they are exasperated . They
attrib ute this, in part, to the district b eing b ig and people not think ing outside their local
community . They also feel that, as an institution, education doesn't focus on listening to
customers b ecause those it tends to hear from represent extremes . Educators hav en't
b een ab le to tap into the satisfied audience of customers ab out how to improv e .
They
feel another challenge
is that
customer satisfaction is not shown in dollars and cents
.
The district needs
to
get to the pub lic to find out what they want . The group said they do
not k now how the district impacts customers b eyond outspok en groups .
This group is not conv inced that the v arious adv isory groups represent BCPS at large and
expressed concern that it is driv en b y small activ ist groups . They felt the district would
b enefit from conducting a large scale poll to find out .
They also felt the district hasn't done a good job training staff to deal with customer
prob lems . They suggested this could b e solv ed b y giv ing a definitiv e statement on what
customer serv ice is and holding people accountab le for it . When principals see parents as
partners and see themselv es as part of the community, they do get answers and feel good
ab out it .
"

This group said the web

site
has a wealth of information and is
a
wonderful tool . They
feel it has b een improv ed significantly and should b e promoted through the schools .
NSPRACommunication Audit

33

Baltimore County Pub lic Schools

This group thinks
most ofthe d istric t' s c ommunic ation problems are external and
that
internally it is improving .
I nternally they see servic e as the issue -und erstand ing how
eac h d epartment func tions and what the
expec tations and resourc es are .
They believe the future
resid es in the d istric t' s ability to build
public c onfid enc e . Word of
mouth is what inspires people
to send their c hild ren to BCPS. Muc h
d epend s on
the
princ ipals .
They also
feel that, too freq uently , the
sc hools see the c entral offic e as the enemy and
bad mouth it . They
also felt the d istric t is not good
at maintaining the infrastruc ture of its
build ings .
Group:
Elementary Sc hool
Teac hers
This group
of elementary sc hool
teac hers d esc ribed BCPS as on the "c utting
ed ge" in
ed uc ation .
One partic ipant noted that when
she presents around the state,
other d istric ts
are often surprised at
BCPS' progress . They attribute
this to the d istric t' s siz e and ability
to
implement things faster
than smaller c ounties .
They believe that
sinc e Dr. Hairston' s arrival the
goals being implemented
are more
foc used on stud ents
. The c hanges he has
mad e were need ed , timely
and d one q uic kly .
Researc h is d one first so
c hange d oesn' t happen
haphaz ard ly . Dates are put on
proj ec ts
public ly , whic h makes them
more c onc rete .
While they
think the c hanges
being mad e in the c urric ulum
are good , the message about
what is
being d one isn' t c onsistent .
People d on' t hear the same
thing and need to be
c lear
about where they
stand .
This group' s
best sourc es of news
and information about
the d istric t are : newspapers
;
TABCO meetings
; princ ipals ; and support
staff
One
said
she used to
watc h the c able
c hannel but now that it' s been
moved to a higher
number,
she c an' t get it .
Another said she
liked the "What' s Up?"
program and misses
it .
They
felt the web site is
improving .
The group likes
the retirement c olumn
in the StaffExc hange
. They suggested
having
d ifferent
ad ministrators c ontribute
artic les . They feel
it helps to read positive
news about
the sy stem
and they like to read
news that sparks new
id eas . They also
felt it c ould be
used
to c larify issues for staff.
NSPRACommunic ation Aud it

34

Baltimore
County Public
Sc hools
This group would lik e the distric t to publish information
afte r board me e tings
on what
ac tion was tak e n. The y also
would
lik e
the distric t to de ve lop a c onsiste nt
way of
notifying sc hools of c losure s
and de lays .
Se ve ral in this group fe lt the distric t was some time s
c ustome r-frie ndly to a
fault . One
partic ipant said, "The re 's a point
whe re
you have
to say, `We 're the
profe ssionals' . "
The y indic ate d the re are proble ms
with pare nts be ing allowe d to pop
into c lassrooms . I t is
disrupting to
te ac he rs whe n pare nts inte rrupt c lasse s . The y se e this
as a safe ty issue as
we ll,
and fe e l
the re
is
a
fine line be twe e n be ing frie ndly and maintaining
se c urity. The
administration ne e ds to de ve lop guide line s and support the sc hools
in this are a .
The group said the y would lik e to se e a proac tive polic y
on pare nt visits se t at the
be ginning of the sc hool ye ar . Te ac he rs
are the frontline as ambassadors
and are how
pare nts
judge the distric t .
The y did not fe e l the are a e xe c utive dire c tors are
c ommunic ating e ffe c tive ly . The y
had
assume d that with the c hange in struc ture ,
c ommunic ation would be more c onsiste nt but
have n't found this to be the c ase .
The y que stione d whe the r all five are a
e xe c utive s we re
saying
the same things . The y thought the old are a supe rinte nde nt
mode l wasn't brok e n,
so why fix
it? The y
are
unc le ar about what the are a e xe c utive s' jobs
are now. The y
thought the inte nt was to mak e the line of c ommunic ation
to the top dire c t, but fe e l it is
le ss so now than be fore .
This group fe lt princ ipals should be le ade rs more
than bosse s . The y se e c ommunic ation
bre ak ing
down be c ause princ ipals are too busy be ing bosse s inste ad
of
le ade rs
.
The y indic ate d that te ac he rs have no forum to talk to administration
and fe lt the y
shouldn't have to wait to be invite d ( to foc us groups lik e
this) to be he ard. While fac ulty
c ounc ils provide an opportunity to disc uss
issue s, no one re ally voic e s the ir opinion
be c ause the y are e valuate d subje c tive ly.
The group also fe lt the re
is an ine quity in re sourc e s and fac ilitie s . The y
do not fe e l the
distric t has
be e n proac tive in addre ssing this, e spe c ially in sc hools
whe re familie s don't
value
e duc ation as muc h as the y do at othe r sc hools .
The y would also lik e to re c e ive ac k nowle dgme nts whe n
the y mak e c omplaints . The re
ne e ds to be c ommunic ation and e xplanation of what is
work able .
This group be lie ve s c ommunic ation c ould be improve d
by having c onsiste nc y in me ssage s
and mak ing e ve ryone ac c ountable to uphold the
me ssage . The y fe e l some te ac he rs le ave
the
syste m be c ause of a lac k of opportunity for
c re ativity ( i . e . , if the are a e xe c utive wants
to se e a word wall in the
c lassroom, te ac he rs have a right to
k now that be fore the y are
e valuate d)
NSPRACommunic ation Audit

35

Baltimore County Public Sc hools

NSPRACommunication
Audit

36

Baltimore
County Public
Schools
Observations and
Recommendations
The following observations and recommendations are offered to help
the Baltimore
County Public Schools develop and implement
a strategic communications and public relations
program. Our observations
and recommendations are based on what NSPRAknows is working
in
other districts across the United States and Canada that are facing situations similar to those in
the Baltimore
County Public Schools .
Observations
Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) is perceived by the community and the staff as
having talented and dedicated employees, high standards and clear expectations for students, an
excellent curriculum and goodinstructional leadership .
Nearly all focus group participants commented
that BCPS has implemented and upgraded
technology and has
created outstanding magnet, extracurricular, and special needs programs.
Many people commented onthe system's openness and its good communication with parents, as
well as the good community support it receives. Most felt that the schools are safe, discipline is
good, and students are well-prepared for higher education.
Several groups commented that school buildings are clean
and well-maintained, and
commended the high quality staff development
program and the School Improvement Plan
process.

TheBlueprintfor Progress was commended,

but some felt that the
district
has not done
a goodjob of disseminating it.
Parents and other community members noted the county's growing diversity, indicating
that this is both a positive and a possibly negative attribute.
NSPRA CommunicationAudit

37

Baltimore County PublicSchools

Perhaps the most
negative comment that came from focus
group participants was the
perception that the school d istrict d oesn't
d istrib ute resources equitab ly
across the county .
Focus group
participants said they would
lik e to see the levels of financial resources
improved , more ind ivid ualiz ation
of programming for stud ents,
and ad d itional teachers hired .
Some
felt that there should b e
more consistency in program
offerings among county schools .
Others
suggested more consistency
is need ed in d istrict communications
along with b etter
coord ination and sched uling of meetings
and other activities .
I nternal
communication is an ongoing
challenge that most large school
systems struggle to
ad d ress, and BCPS is
no exception. Employee
focus group participants expressed a d esire to b e
k ept
informed in a timely
manner on the work ings of
the school system, b ut felt information
is not
always
well d isseminated throughout
the d istrict .
External
communication appears to
b e d isseminated primarily
through the schools, the
d istrict's cab le
television station (Channel
7 3 ) ,
the
d istrict web site, and local
news med ia . While
the use of a site-b ased
mod el to d istrib ute information
can red uce costs, effectiveness can
also b e
d iluted
if k ey messages are not
coord inated across the
d istrict so that everyone speak s
with the
same voice
. Given the d iversity of
the d istrict, a variety of
communication vehicles is need ed to
reach all target
aud iences .
Baltimore
County Pub lic Schools has many
assets . There is an
overlying expectation for
achievement
and accountab ility
that was communicated
in all focus groups and
the d istrict's
efforts
in this area are seen as
a strength. I t is clear that
employees and community
memb ers tak e
great prid e
in the schools and support
high expectations
for stud ents .
Acommon
theme throughout the focus
groups was the need for
a strategic
communication plan
d esigned to meet the
information need s of the
d istrict's various
aud iences in
a timely
manner . D istrict staff
also need to b e
trained for, and b ecome
more aware of, their roles
as
communicators and
amb assad ors for ed ucation in
the community .
The
recommend ations in this aud it
are not intend ed
to point out d eficiencies
in the
communications effort,
b ut rather to
highlight the areas we
b elieve the d istrict should
focus on in
ord er to
elevate
communications to a higher level
d esigned to
fully support its mission
and goals .
Given the current staffing
levels however, in
ord er to implement some
of these
recommend ations
it will b e
necessary to
reprioritiz e communication
task s and programs
and eliminate those
that d o
not d irectly support
d istrict goals .
NSPRA
Communication Aud it

38

Baltimore County
Pub lic Schools
Guiding
Principles
Successful school
dist rict s in t oday's rapidly changing world use effect iv e
communicat ion
as a
management t ool t o
help
t hem achiev e t heir goals and lay a foundat ion t hat
support s success
for all st udent s
.
St rat egic, planned communicat ion is achiev ed t hrough t he commit ment
of dist rict
leaders, adequat e resources and personnel, careful research and planning,
creat iv e implement at ion,
and ev aluat ion of result s . This is especially import ant wit h t he
dist rict 's int ernal audiences .
Ev eryone in a school syst em is a communicat or and must accept a
port ion of responsib ilit y for
t hat role .
St aff memb ers
who are informed and inv olv ed
t ake great er pride in t heir performance
and perform
more effect iv ely
.
I t is import ant t o recognize t hat qualit y educat ion and effect iv e communicat ion
go hand in
hand. Posit iv e reput at ions are not dev eloped solely t hrough effect iv e
communicat ion. Similarly,
a dist rict wit h
a qualit y
educat ional program will not garner t he
support it deserv es wit hout an
effect iv e communicat ion program t hat keeps it s st aff and communit y informed and allows for
t wo-way dialogue and int eract ion.
Guiding Principles for t he Balt imore Count y Pub lic Schools
Communicat ion Effort
1 .

All communicat ion effort s must b e t ied t o t he dist rict 's Blueprint for Progress.
To b e effect iv e, communicat ion effort s must b e driv en b y
t he dist rict 's mission and goals,
and b e designed t o support
t eaching
and
learning.
Communicat ions should focus on
where t eaching and learning t ake place -at t he b uilding lev el -and inform t he pub lic of
progress t oward t he mission and goals.
2.

St rat egic communicat ion requires research andev aluat ion

t o b e wov en t hroughout t he
communicat ions effort .
No plan will
b e successful wit hout research and ev aluat ion component s. While t his audit
prov ides a st art ing point , addit ional research, such as readership surv eys on pub licat ions
and assessment s of special programs and ev ent s, needs t o b e complet ed on current
communicat ion effort s . I n addit ion, major areas of t he st rat egic communicat ion plan, such
as int ernal communicat ions, must b e ev aluat ed each year . The research component of t he
plan
should capt ure b aseline dat a t hat can b e used t o det ermine progress in select ed areas
of t he communicat ion effort . Communicat ion should b e a component of t he annual
ev aluat ions of dist rict administ rat ors each year as well .
NSPRA
Communicat ionAudit

39

Balt imore Count y Pub lic Schools

3.

A
major core message shouldposition
Baltimore County Public Schools as "the district
ofchoice"far
quality teaching, learning and
student achievement.
Service industry leaders,
such as Nordstrom and Disney, are known for one or two core
values.
Every school district and school
should also be known for its core values. BCPS
has already
developed goals which support
the district' s focus on achievement . Core
values should be
emphasized to market the schools
and support the district' s image .
4.

Internal communication
must be apriority.
No
communication effort will be
successful if employees do not become ambassadors for
teaching,
learning, student achievement,
their schools, departments, and the Baltimore
County Public
Schools. Staffmembers have the
ability
to
make or break the image of
their schools and
the district . Staffwho are negative, non-responsive
or unable to provide
timely and appropriate
answers to parent and community requests
will quickly undermine
any communication effort . Staff
should be provided with the information, tools
and
training
needed to support them
in their roles as "Ambassadors for Achievement . "
S.

The
communication effort
shouldfocus on engaging stakeholders
to take action on
behalfofstudents.
Astrategic
communication plan should be
designed to seek action by parents,
community
members,
business leaders, staff, and
others to find ways to improve teaching and
learning
and support student
achievement in BCPS . To be
most effective, this should be a
collaborative effort
that seeks out the resources and
expertise
of
citizens and community
organizations . It should
involve a structured, ongoing process
to engage the public and
promote
an open dialogue on
educational issues and goals.
6.

People programs
beat paper and
mass media when it comes to engaging
audiences to
action.
People
are persuaded to action
by others whom they respect
or perceive as
knowledgeable. When
interpersonal connections are made by
credible opinion leaders
and
spokespersons,
people are more
likely to be persuaded to
action . Influential peers,
such as
respected staff
members or parent
leaders, are often the most effective
advocates for
education
. The communication effort
should also demonstrate that
BCPS is customer-
friendly and
committed to responding
to citizen concerns in a timely
manner.
7.

School building-level
communication should
be the major thrust ofthe
communication
effort
Research
in school communication
shows that the local school
is usually seen as
the public
opinion barometer of
how well schools or school
districts are doing. It' s a
natural hub for
NSPRACommunication
Audit

40

Baltimore County
Public Schools
communication with parents and others and should
become the central focus of the
communication plan.
8.

Technology
should
continue
to be used and enhanced to support an
efficient, timely
and effectiv e system of communication.
The district should continue to mov e toward a paperless information
distribution system
whenev er possible . E-mail, v oice mail, web
sites, electronic surv eys, an employee
I ntranet, and cable
telev ision can all be used adv antageously to improv e and expand the
district' s communication
infrastructure .
9.

Triggering ev ents should keep the focus on teaching, learning and

student
achiev ement
Communication efforts
are enhanced by
triggering ev ents,
such as the district' s American
Education Week
activ ities, that remind the public of the district' s mission and the progress
being
made by students .
10.

Strategic communication andpublic relations is a management

function.
An effectiv e communication and public relations
program must be a planned, systematic
effort
based on two-way communication with stakeholders . The district cannot depend on
the news media to deliv er key messages to its constituents . A v ariety of communication
v ehicles should be used to connect with key audiences . At all lev els, it is imperativ e that
communication occur consistently and information be presented with clarity .
NSPRA Communication Audit

41

Baltimore
County Public Schools
Recommendations
The recommendations
below are not intended to be
p rescrip tiv e, but rather, are
a
road
map
f or imp rov ing communication,
dev elop ing a comp rehensiv e two-way communication
p rogram, and building staf f and community
sup p ort. Weadv isethe Board
and administration to
caref ully consider
and p rioritiz e which recommendations
can be imp lemented immediately, and
which should
beincluded in long-range p lans.
Create an annual,
strategic communication p lan.
Simp ly generating more
inf ormation does not constitute an
ef f ectiv e communication
ef f ort. I t
is help f ul to remember
PRguru John Budd's communication
maxim: "Waxing acar
doesn't make
the engine run better. " Ef f ectiv e
communication should be p lanned to sup p ort
the
district's strategic
directions. I t also should f ocus on
inv olv ing p eop le as well as inf orming them.
Regular f ormal and
inf ormal research, knowing the system,
understanding the p roblems,
seeking
stakeholders'
op inions, ev aluating
what works and what
doesn't, and determining how the system
can
imp rov e are all imp ortant
comp onents of the communication ef f ort.
Theconsultants'
rev iew of the Of f ice of
Communications showedthat it is
resp onsible f or
a wide v ariety of tasks
and p rojects. Nev ertheless,
communication ef f orts
can
be
ref ined and
targeted
to better meet the
inf ormation needs of the district's
v arious audiences.
The
greatest need identif ied by
the consultants is f or an
annual, strategic communication
p lan. For communication
to be ef f ectiv e inthe
21 6 ` century, it must be a
p lanned, systematic,
comp rehensiv e, two-way
p rocess designed to create better
understanding of the
role, objectiv es,
accomp lishments and needs of the
organiz ation.
Exp erience demonstrates that
ef f ectiv e
communication
p rograms are based on
research.
The
communication p lan should be
tied directly to the district's
Bluep rintf or
Progress
and take into
account all of its major audiences
( i. e. , certif icated
and classif ied staf f , p arents,
business leaders,
community members, news
media), the inf ormation they need
and wantto know,
and
the channels of communication
thatwill be used to
reach them.
Without ap lan, it is dif f icult
to create
an op en dialogue, deliv er
the messages that are
imp ortant to these
audiences, and build
sup p ort
f or the schools.
An
ef f ectiv e strategic communication
p lan includes the
f our-step p ublic relations
p rocess
of
research, p lanning,
communicationand ev aluation,
and addresses the
f ollowing questions f or
ev ery action or activ ity
the district undertakes
:
Whoneeds to know?
Why do they need to
know?
Whendo they need to
know?
NSPRA
CommunicationAudit

42

Baltimore
County Public
Schools
Howare we going totel l them?

What dowe want them

todowith the information they receive?
Without
a written communication p l an, adop ted and
ap p roved at the beginning
of each
school year
by the sup erintendent, strategic communication
that refl ects the
Board's p riorities and
del ivers key messages totarget
audiences
may
be l ost in the day-to-day
communications that can
overwhel m l arge school districts
.
A
strategic communication p l an can
dramatical l y increase the
efficiency and
effectiveness of the district's communication efforts
because al l p rojects are
considered in terms
of whether or not they sup p ort the district's
strategic directions. I t al so
p rovides
a vehicl e for rep orting on p rogress and demonstrating
accountabil ity through
eval uation
criteria
buil t into the p l an .
Awel l -defined
communication p l an buil ds understanding and staff
invol vement in district
communication
efforts, and encourages tel l ing the district's story in
"one cl ear voice . " However,
it must be remembered
that a p l an is just that - it shoul d be dynamic
and not viewed as set in
concrete . I t wil l need to be revised and adap ted as
objectives are accomp l ished and new
communication chal l enges arise
.
I t is imp ortant
that consideration be given to the budgetary
and p ersonnel resources that
wil l
be needed to successful l y imp l ement the strategic communication
p l an . The
recommendations p rovided in this rep ort are extensive
and comp rehensive and the district must
p rioritiz e by need and imp ortance how
communication resources are exp ended. Staffing
and
budget al l ocations for the Office
of Communications shoul d be eval uated annual l y to
ensure
p rogram effectiveness .
Create individual communication
p l ans for imp l ementing any major
initiatives or changes in district p ractices
and p rograms .
I n addition to
the annual , strategic communication p l an, sp ecific
communication p l ans
shoul d be
devel op ed in detail for any major changes, initiatives or p rojects
that the district is
p l anning .
These woul d incl ude finance el ections, the op ening
or cl osing of school s, redistricting,
grade l evel reorganiz ations, new
curricul um efforts, and p ol icy or p rogram changes that
imp act
staff. The Office of Communications
shoul d work with those dep artments resp onsibl e
for
p rojects and changes
to devel op communication p l ans, and assist them with
the imp l ementation of
communication
strategies .
Whenever p ossibl e, the district shoul d try to seek inp ut
before making changes, and
communication fol l owing
any changes shoul d be del ivered in a timel y
manner . When inp ut is
sought
from
task forces or committees, communication fol l ow-through in
rep orting back to those
group s is imp erative to buil ding trust and credibil ity
.
NSPRA
Communication Audit

43

Bal timore County Publ ic School s

Although i t may
seem ti me-consumi ng to develop i ndi vi dual plans, good communi cati on
planni ng usually takes much less ti me
than deali ng wi th controversi es that ari se due to poor
communi cati on .
Develop clear,
consi stent messages that are deli vered
i n "One
Clear
Voi ce. "
There i s a great deal of pri de
i n and loyalty to BCPS that was evi dent i n the focus groups.
The di stri ct
can capi tali z e on thi s by developi ng core
messages that reflect the di stri ct' s mi ssi on to
deli ver the hi ghest
q uali ty educati on to all students
and that can be deli vered consi stently i n "one
clear voi ce" by all staff.
In order to help develop a "brand"
i mage for the di stri ct, the posi ti oni ng
statement
"Focused on Quali ty,
Commi tted to Excellence"
should be woven throughout all communi cati ons
and acti vi ti es. Thi s
can serve as a rallyi ng poi nt for staff,
students and communi ty members
.
We
also recommend that staff,
under the di recti on of the
superi ntendent, be i nvolved i n developi ng
ways
to i ncorporate thi s
theme across the di stri ct i n order to create a sense
of ownershi p and
i nsure thei r support
. Focusi ng communi cati ons
around a central theme that
reflects the di stri ct' s
mi ssi on and strategi c
di recti ons wi ll help develop a message
about educati on i n BCPS
that can be
deli vered consi stently
i n "one clear voi ce" by all staff.
Whenever the di stri ct needs to
communi cate speci fi c i nformati on ( i
. e. , speci al i ni ti ati ves,
cri si s responses,
program and poli cy
changes), key messages should be developed
to share wi th all
staff and key
communi cators i n the communi ty.
By bei ng proacti ve and getti ng
complete and
accurate i nformati on i nto
the hands of those who are on
the front li nes of communi cati on,
the
di stri ct can i nsure clari ty
and consi stency i n i ts messages.
Whenever Board members or
admi ni strators are asked to respond to
the medi a or speak i n
the communi ty they
should have a li st of
talki ng poi nts related to thei r topi c,
or, i f they are gi vi ng
a
general overvi ew of the
system, a li st of programs
and i ni ti ati ves that di rectly
support the
di stri ct' s
strategi c di recti ons
as well as i nformati on on
progress toward those goals. Some
di stri cts
pri nt pocket cards wi th
key messages or pri nt them on
the back of staff ID
badges.
Conduct
regular research and
evaluati on on
communi cati on
efforts.
The fi rst and last steps
i n the communi cati on process -
research and
evaluati on - are
freq uently the most neglected .
Effecti ve communi cati ons and
marketi ng programs
are based on a
soli d foundati on of
research. Research should be
conducted before i ni ti ati ng any
new
communi cati on or
marketi ng effort . Effecti ve
research i denti fi es what people
know and don' t
know, the most
i mportant audi ences for
speci fi c messages, and how those
audi ences are
most
NSPRA Communi cati on
Audi t

44

Balti more County Publi c

Schools
l i k e l y to re ce i ve i nformati on. Wi thout fi rs t conducti ng re s e arch on the be s t
way to communi cate
ne w programs and i ni ti ati ve s , the di s tri ct runs the ri s k
of was ti ng val uabl e re s ource s .
Re s e arch-bas e d communi cati on
i s ne e de d to s upport di s tri ct e fforts to provi de
e ducati onal
s e rvi ce s to a changi ng popul ati on and de al wi th i ncre as i ng communi cati on chal l e nge s
and
compe ti ti on from al te rnati ve e ducati on provi de rs . Fol l owi ng the compl e ti on of any
major proje ct
or i ni ti ati ve , the di s tri ct s houl d e val uate i ts s ucce s s and de te rmi ne whi ch
communi cati on s trate gi e s
work e d we l l and whi ch coul d be i mprove d i n the future . Thi s communi cati on
audi t i s a major fi rs t
s te p, but BCPS ne e ds to conti nue to bui l d a s trong re s e arch and
e val uati on compone nt i nto i ts
communi cati on e fforts .
Re s e arch e fforts to cons i de r i ncl ude the fol l owi ng :
>Conduct re ade rs hi p s urve y s of s taff
and pare nt publ i cati ons . I t i s ve ry he l pful to
as k re ade rs
of di s tri ct
publ i cati ons what i nformati on i s mos t val uabl e to the m, what
format
the y fi nd mos t re adabl e , and how publ i cati ons can be i mprove d to be more us e ful
to the m.
As urve y form s houl d be i ncl ude d i n publ i cati ons on an annual bas i s or re ade rs can
be
i nvi te d to re s pond vi a the we b s i te . Publ i cati ons s houl d be e val uate d
re gul arl y i n orde r to
s tay i n touch wi th the ne e ds and i nte re s ts of the re ade rs hi p.
Surve y s can be s i mpl e and s hort, wi th a goal of de te rmi ni ng whe the r pe opl e are re adi ng
a
publ i cati on and fi nd i t val uabl e . I f not, the publ i cati on s houl d be e l i mi nate d and the mone y
i nve s te d i n othe r communi cati on acti vi ti e s . Are ade rs hi p s urve y can al s o provi de
gui dance
on the ty pe of i nformati on to e xpand i n the publ i cati on . I n
today 's me di a-ori e nte d s oci e ty ,
i nformati on ove rl oad i s a probl e m i n the home as we l l as the work pl ace
. I nformati on mus t
be of i nte re s t and val ue to
the targe t audi e nce
i n
orde r to catch the i r atte nti on .
One cave at on admi ni s te ri ng s urve y s i s to mak e e ve ry atte mpt to conduct the m at ti me s
conve ni e nt to parti ci pants . For e xampl e , avoi d as k i ng te ache rs to re s pond to
a
s urve y
at
the s ame ti me re port cards are due .
Conti nue to conduct the pare nt i nvol ve me nt s urve y s and s y s te mwi de goal s
s urve y s .
The
di s tri ct has conducte d s e ve ral di ffe re nt s urve y s of pare nts and s taff. The s e
s urve y s s houl d conti nue to be admi ni s te re d on an annual bas i s i n orde r to track change s i n
pe rce pti ons . We al s o re comme nd adapti ng the s e s urve y s to the bui l di ng l e ve l
i n orde r to
gai n more i nformati on on i ndi vi dual s chool s .
) ! -
An
e xi t
s urve y and
proce dure s houl d be de ve l ope d to admi ni s te r to al l pare nts
who tak e the i r chi l dre n out of BCPSs chool s . Thi s
s houl d be a s hort s urve y , de s i gne d to
de te rmi ne
why
the y are l e avi ng, whe re the y are goi ng, and what the y e xpe ct from the i r
ne w s chool . Pare nts coul d be as k e d to fi l l i t out
at the ti me the y wi thdraw the i r chi l d, or i t
may be s e nt to e xi ti ng pare nts by the i r s chool pri nci pal . The Offi ce of Communi cati ons
s houl d de ve l op a cove r l e tte r pri nci pal s can s e nd wi th the s urve y .
NSPRACommuni cati on Audi t

45

Bal ti more County Publ i c School s

Asecond survey
should be developed to administer to parents who re- enroll their children
in a BCPS school af ter ex iting to attend a private,
parochial or charter school, or
an
alternative prog ram such as home schooling
.
These surveys
will provide inf ormation on the perceptions that lead parents to leave BCPS
schools and what realities they
ex perience in other prog rams that bring them back into the
system
. With this inf ormation, BCPS can
build messag es into its ong oing communication
prog ram that will combat misperceptions
and create positive comparisons f or BCPS
schools .
This survey data will be essential f or creating a
marketing prog ram f or the
district . The data
could also provide inf ormation on prog rams BCPS mig ht consider that
would keep students
in the district .
) ! -
Conduct f ormal opinion polls . Formal opinion
polling that is conducted every f ew
years in
conjunction with strateg ic planning , can
provide a more scientif ic measure of
community opinion, and by
using some "benchmark" questions in each
poll,
it is possible
to measure chang es
in public attitudes .
Consider the
use of voice poll technolog y to assess
staf f and community attitudes .
Another ef f ective way
to survey parents and community members is
voice poll telephone
technolog y . Used reg ularly, this is an
ex cellent way to g ather f eedback
f rom staf f , parents,
students and the public . The system
can
be used
in a variety of ways - f or satisf action
surveys,
determining ex pectations the
community has f or the schools, discovering
the level
of support
f or a bond or new reading prog ram, or to
identif y emerg ing issues and concerns
( i . e . , school closures,
boundary chang es, saf ety) . I t can also
be used to evaluate the
ef f ectiveness of a specif ic
marketing campaig n, initiative, or prog ram
and to determine
whether
key messag es are reaching
identif ied audiences . NSPRAcan provide
additional
inf ormation on this survey tool on
request .
Evaluate marketing needs
and identif y targ et
audiences .
The district has
created a variety of inf ormational
and marketing materials that
are
available across the district .
However, there is no def ined
marketing prog ram or g oals at
this
time
. I n order to use limited marketing
dollars wisely, the district
needs to determine :
"

What it is marketing
( what messag e it wants to send)
"

Who the targ et audiences

are
"

Howit can most

ef f ectively deliver the messag e ( what
communication vehicles
will
be used)
"

When is the
best time to deliver the messag e
.
Once needs, g oals and audiences
have been determined,
marketing materials should be
evaluated . Many of the ex isting
inf ormation and marketing
materials developed
by the Of f ice of
NSPRA
Communication Audit

46

Baltimore County Public

Schools
c...rc-:rc. c- c- ..-c :cr - -rr-: c: .rc.-. -c
:-r-: -.cr-c-. W- r-cc..-c
:. -:
.-:-rr-.. c-
-..-..-c ..r :. - :c..c.r .:-.
~..-.c.- ccr-. c: -.. r:cr.-:rc-. -c .-r-:r .-:-rr-.. rcc.c-c
:cr
cr.:rrc:.rc- ..-
-..-:- -.-r--.. .- -.. -c -:. -r :--cc-c c :. - -::-c:r --.. c: .-:-rr-.. r-
..r - . -ccr :cc.. rc..
-.-c c :--cc-c, r- r.- cc:-: -. --c-c -c r-c-.rr--c-- .-:-rr-..
r-. rc-.. .c
:. -
-r- .cr-
---.r -c c::-r - cc.r.:-: -c --.r. r-ccrz-c.-
r.-- cr "cr-c .cc " .r.r-:- .-:-rr-.. :. -: . - - c.:.r -c :. -rr -::-c:r --.. cr
.rc.- c.rc-r c::-rr .c.- .-:-rr-.. r -. :cr.-:., ..c. -. c cc.-c:
cr.
:c.- -ccr:rc-. .-r-:r rc--.
:c cc.rc-r
rc..c-
r--:- :-r-:-c -.cr-c- r:cr.-:rc -c-:. 1. - cr.:rrc: . -. - r:cr.-:rc
-c-: :. -: r: ..-. -.r--c 1. r. c- --.r. c- -c-:-c :c .-r - - -rr-:
c: -.cr-c-. ..c.
-.
r--.
-.:-:- --:., :-.r.r-. cc.rc-rr - .c - :c :. - -r--, c..r-.. .--c-r., -.-c:-c
c::rcr-.., -c c:-:r-. :--c. -r r-cr.r:. W. -: .r.. .-- :. -.-
.c.: -::-c:r - r. r: :. -
rc rc- r:cr.-:rc .-cr:rc :c :. - :-r-: rc. .c :. - cc c: --c :c .r:: :. rc..
.-:-rr-..
:. -: -r-: -r:r-: :c :. -.
- -.c .-r-:r rc-c. rc-c. cc..c c- rcc.c-c :cr r-cr.r:r
:--c. -r.,
crr-:r .:.c-:. -c -r-:. :c
-
.c. cc. r - , :r-.r:rc :rc.
-.-.-:-r :c .rcc.-
.c. cc. :c . r. .c. cc. -c c
.-cr-. rcr-.. - -r.-c.-
.r:. r
:. - cr.:rrc:
L:cr.-:rc c ~. cc.:. cc:r.- :c crc, .- r-cc..-c :. - cr.:rrc: cc.rc-r
c::-rr .c.- r:cr.-:rc r
- :cr.-:
~ -x-..-
.c..c c- rcc.cr - r-cr.r:.-:
:. -:
.c..c ---. :c
-.
:--c. -r
r-c.-:-. -c rc rc-
r:cr.-:rc r - :cr.-: :. -
r-:-r ~c:. -r .r. : rc rc- --r-. r:cr.-:rc -cc.: :. - cr.:rrc: -.c .r:. rcr-.
c-.crr:rc. -c r:cr.-:rc c: r:-r-.: :c -r-:. cc.rc-rr - .c - :c -.:r.cr-
c.:
- -.c
- ":r-.-r-:" .--c-r.. r .: .-
1. -r- .-. -r--.-: -.c :. - :cc.. rc.. :. -: r .-rr.:c . -. .-c- - ..c-r c:
c.r:r - c. --. -crc.. :. - cr.:rrc: .r.cr :r..: r cr.:rrc: .--c-r.. r .. c..c cc:r.- :c c- -
rrcrr: , cc:. r:-r-.. -c -x:-r-..
c-r . cc...rc-:rc -cc.: :. - c-cr.rc .-r rcc-..

c c.rcr-.,
c-..
-c cc -c:r -., c.c-:,
-c c.rrrc....

:. - c-rc -c -c.rr.:r-:rc c- cc:r.- :c c- -.c

-
":r-.-r-:" .: .- c: .--c-r.. r :. -: -..c.. .:--. c.c-r.
:c .cr:cr -c -r:rcr-:- r :. -
i:PP~ c...rc-:rc ~.cr:

~

-.:r.cr-
c.:
P.c.rc :c. cc..
educational process . This w ill not only f oster trust and credib ility
in the district, b ut also
encourage all stakeholders to assume responsib ility f or the success of their schools .
Some strategies to do this include :
) ! ! - Close
the inf ormation loop on all projects.
Acommunication gap w e identif ied in
BCPS is the
need
to "close
the inf ormation loop" b y explaining to
staf f and the pub lic the
genesis and rationale
f or specif ic actions and projects and then
reporting b ack to them
w ith the results of these ef f orts .
While the Board and administration alw ays
striv e to make
good decisions on b ehalf of students, they
may sometimes b e perceiv ed negativ ely b ecause
the staf f or pub lic are not giv en the same inf ormation
or b ackground on an issue that
w as
used to make
the decision . Ensuring that the rationale
f or decisions is presented along w ith
the outcome is a
critical role f or the Of f ice of Communications .
As surv eys and other processes are used to
gather f eedb ack, it is also important
to report
b ack
on how the data collected impacts
decision- making .
) ! - Ask
f or input b ef ore making important decisions .
Arelated issue is making sure to
ask f or input b ef ore
important decisions are made, particularly
those that af f ect staf f. This
is particularly true f or central
of f ice administrators w ho must make
decisions that af f ect
the job s of hundreds of people in school f acilities
throughout the district . Staf f
f ocus group
participants
expressed f rustration that decisions
are of ten made on procedural
issues
w ithout consulting
the employees responsib le f or carrying them
out .
Explain b udgeting and
f unding. Helping staf f and patrons understand
the education
f unding
and b udgeting process can b uild credib ility
and trust in the decisions made
and
actions taken b y
the Board and administration . I t
is essential f or interested memb ers of
the
pub lic to understand
important issues in the school
f unding process, including
the role of
the county v s . that of the
district . I n order to ef f ectiv ely address
inadequate f unding,
the
Board and administration
w ill need parent and other citiz en
allies to join them in any
political ef f orts to improv e education
f unding. Furthermore, those
w ho care ab out the
school b udget process must hav e more than
f aith that the Board and
superintendent are
spending
their tax dollars in the b est w ay; they
need to b e ab le to see this
in practice.
One suggestion is f or
the Of f ice of Communications to
w ork w ith Business and
Finance
of f icials to produce a v ideo
that w ill explain how BOPS
schools are f unded and
w hat is
needed in order to prov ide
more adequate f unding. The v ideo
also should explain
how to
read the district' s b udget document
so v iew ers can locate the f inancial
inf ormation they
need . The process should b e
explained in plain language that
ev ery citiz en can
understand,
eliminating f inancial jargon
. This v ideo could b e used as an
inserv ice training tool
f or staf f ,
and as a presentation
tool
to
share w ith parent, civ ic and
b usiness groups.
NSPRACommunication Audit

48

Baltimore County
Pub lic Schools
Make a commitment to v is ib l e l eaders hip . Focus group
participants agreed they
woul d l ike to s ee dis trict adminis trators and
Board memb ers in the s chool s more
often.
Whil ethis is time-cons uming,
empl oyees appreciate efforts b y dis trict l eaders
to s how an
interes t in them and their work, and it can al s o b ring l ong-term b enefits
to the dis trict.
Thes ev is its s houl d b e s chedul ed in addition to thos e inv ol v ing
b us ines s or prob l em-
s ol v ing . An effort s houl d al s o b e madeto v is it s upport s taff s uch
as trans portation, food
s erv ice and maintenance.
Recognizing that it may b e difficul t for Board
memb ers to v is it s chool s depending on their
work s chedul es , ones ugges tion is for them to s chedul e attendance at v arious ev ening
activ ities and ev ents .
School v is its s houl d continue to b e a regul ar
part of the s uperintendent's s chedul e. This
wil l hel p to es tab l is h him
as a credib l e, approachab l e l eader. Whil eDr . Hairs ton
maintains
a v ery
ful l
s chedul e of meetings with community l eaders and v arious groups ,
mos t
empl oyees are unaware of this . Wes ugges t creating a s hort update b ox in
the
Staff
Exchange titl ed "On the Road with the Superintendent"
or "Trav el s with Dr . Hairs ton"
that l is ts where he has b een that month or week.
We
find
that many empl oyees hav e a
l imited unders tanding of the
s copeof the s uperintendency, s o we b el iev e it is important to
keep them informed ab out
his
activ ities onb ehal f of the dis trict.
Weal s o recommend that al l v is its b e reported on in s omefas hion as a fol l ow-up
.
For
exampl e, the s uperintendent, adminis trators
and Board memb ers coul d report on v is its or
attendance at s pecial ev ents as a regul ar part of the Board
meeting agenda. Not onl y does
this rais e the v is ib il ity of dis trict l eaders , it al s o giv es
them "b ragging rights " ab out the
dis trict, which b uil ds pride and s taff moral e
.
Prov ide communication ins erv ice training for s taff.
Principal s s aid they woul d l ike an ins erv ice program in communications or pub l ic rel ations
for their s taff (s ee Appendix for Communication Checkl is t for School Principal s ) . Wewoul d urge
the Office of Communications to prov ide a v ariety
of communication ins erv ice training
opportunities for s taff on a v ol untary b as is . I f thes e s es s ions fil l a need,
offering them periodical l y
on a
v ol untary
b as is wil l
b e
preferab l e
to making them "command performances . " I ns erv ice
training s houl d b e cons idered in
the
fol l owing
areas :
Media
training -
s ince the majority of external communication is executed at the
b uil ding l ev el , offering b as ic mediatraining for adminis trators and teachers onwhat
cons titutes a news s tory and how to write a news rel eas e or mediaal ert for a s pecial ev ent
wil l hel p the
dis trict
tel l its
s tory to the pub l ic. Weal s o recommend that adminis trators
and Board memb ers receiv e media
rel ations
training
that incl udes s kil l s for del iv ering an
NSPRA
CommunicationAudit

49

Bal timore County Pub l ic School s

e f f e c t i v e me ssage i n
an
i n t e rv i e w or
duri n g
a
c ri si s. Thi s wi l l he l p b ui l d a c adre of e xpe rt s
who c an se rv e as spoke spe rson s
i n t he i r v ari ous are as of e xpe rt i se .
Byt rai n i n g an d
e n c ouragi n g sc hool pe rson n e l t o se n d n e ws re l e ase s or me di a t i ps ab out
programs an d e v e n t s i n t he i r sc hool s,
t he n e ws me di a woul d b e prov i de d wi t h a gre at e r
v ari e t y
an d b al an c e of "good n e ws" st ori e s an d
sc hool s t o c ov e r. The Of f i c e of
Commun i c at i on s shoul d b e se n t a c opy of
al l n e ws re l e ase s i ssue d b y t he sc hool s .
Gui de l i n e s shoul d
b e de v e l ope d t hat de si gn at e a di st ri c t spoke spe rson
an d spe c i f i c
proc e dure s
re gardi n g c ri si s c ommun i c at i on s, l e gal si t uat i on s, e t c . t hat
re qui re a ski l l e d
me di a l i ai son .
) ! - Ne wsl e t t e r de si gn an d c on t e n t -
sc hool n e wsl e t t e rs are a pri mary sourc e of
i n f ormat i on
f or BCPS pare n t s, an d shoul d b e de si gn e d
wi t h t hi s i n mi n d . Trai n i n g i n b asi c
l ayout t e c hn i que s, e f f e c t i v e
use of t ype st yl e s, graphi c s an d c ol or f or st af f or
pare n t s who
produc e n e wsl e t t e rs woul d
i n sure gre at e r re adab i l i t y an d c on si st e n c y of
ke y me ssage s
ac ross t he di st ri c t .
Cust ome r
se rv i c e - b y e st ab l i shi n g st an dards of se rv i c e an d
prov i di n g st af f wi t h
t rai n i n g i n phon e e t i que t t e ,
de al i n g wi t h di f f i c ul t pe opl e , an d good
c ommun i c at i on ski l l s,
t he di st ri c t wi l l gi v e t he m t ool s t o f ul f i l l t he i r rol e s
as amb assadors i n t he sc hool s .
In v ol v e
st af f i n
de si gn i n g "st an dards of se rv i c e "
t hat al l sc hool s an d de part me n t s wi l l
f ol l ow .
De v e l opi n g sc hool
c ommun i c at i on /pub l i c re l at i on s
pl an s - Man ypri n c i pal s (se e
Appe n di x) i n di c at e d t he y
woul d l i ke he l p t o de v e l op c ommun i c at i on /PR
pl an s f or t he i r
sc hool s . In di v i dual c l assroom
pl an s al so c an b e de v e l ope d t hat support
t he sc hool an d
di st ri c t
goal s an d ob je c t i v e s . We
re c omme n d t hat a c ompon e n t of t he di st ri c t ' s
c ompre he n si v e
c ommun i c at i on pl an i n c l ude t he
de v e l opme n t of sc hool pl an s t hat
t i e
di re c t l y t o i t .
Improv e
c ommun i c at i on wi t h e mpl oye e s.
The i n t e rn al f rame work of
c ommun i c at i on i s t he i n f rast ruc t ure
t hat support s al l e xt e rn al
c ommun i c at i on
e f f ort s . We b e l i e v e a st ron g
e mphasi s shoul d b e pl ac e d on
i mprov i n g i n t e rn al
c ommun i c at i on s
t hroughout t he di st ri c t . As
f ron t l i n e c ommun i c at ors,
e mpl oye e s
shoul d
re c e i v e
i mport an t
i n f ormat i on b e f ore t he me di a an d pub l i c .
The di st ri c t shoul d st re ss
t he rol e of
e mpl oye e s as
c ommun i c at ors an d amb assadors
f or e duc at i on , an d support t he m i n
t hi s e f f ort b y
prov i di n g t i me l y i n f ormat i on , a
c l e ar, c on si st e n t me ssage , an d
t rai n i n g whe n appropri at e . We
re c omme n d t he di st ri c t
c on si de r i mpl e me n t i n g se v e ral
st rat e gi e s f or i mprov i n g
c ommun i c at i on
wi t h st af f. The se
i n c l ude :
NSPRA Commun i c at i on Audi t

so

Bal t i more Coun t y

Pub l i c Sc hool s
Consider publishing the sta f f newsletter more f requently,
Sta f f Excha nge
is
billed
a s "Apublica tion
f or the employees of the Ba ltimore
County
Public Schools," but it is not viewed tha t wa y by ma ny sta f f. Support sta f f f eel tha t it is
designed prima rily f or tea chers. Some f eel tha t the ma teria l in it is "f eel good f luf f ,"
a lthough it does ha ve some popula r items, such a s the retirement list .
We believe
BCPS
is big enough, a nd its employees a re interested enough in wha t the
district
is
doing, tha t
it
should ha ve a weekly or bi-monthly sta f f newsletter tha t conta ins
the inf orma tion tha t
a ll
employees need a nd wa nt to
know. An
employee newsletter
should be a "must rea d" document . I t
should be published of ten enough to conta in current
inf orma tion . Topics tha t we ha ve f ound to be of interest to employees include :
"

Hea lth, insura nce a nd other benef its

"

Policies, procedures a nd rules tha t govern their jobs a nd their rela tions with
students a nd other employees
"

Opportunities or suggestions f or
improving
job
perf orma nce
"

Best pra ctices

"

Promotiona l a nd job opportunities in the district

"

Messa ges f rom the superintendent

"

Stra tegic pla n a nd f ina ncia l upda tes

"

Expla na tion
of
district philosophy a nd direction
"

Upda tes on projects or progra ms

"

Legisla tive upda tes

"

Ba ckground a nd resolution of ca mpus incidents ( i . e . , bomb threa ts)

"

Communica tion tips on sha ring inf orma tion with pa rents a nd
the
public
"

Specia l events, a ctivities, a nd a wa rds a t school sites

"

Recognition/a pprecia tion of

sta f f a chievements
Employee viewpoints
should be surveyed to determine the type of inf orma tion they would
f ind most usef ul .
The district ma y wa nt to consider developing a n electronic
newsletter f or employees tha t
could be posted on the I ntra net. This would elimina te la g time due to
printing production
a nd distribution,
insuring tha t inf orma tion is f resh a nd timely. An electronic newsletter
would a lso a llow the district to
include live links to newly-relea sed na tiona l reports a nd
other sites f or those interested in more
in-depth inf orma tion on specif ic topics . I n order f or
a n electronic newsletter to provide
timely inf orma tion to sta f f , others in the district need to
a ssist in this ef f ort by submitting inf orma tion
f rom their schools a nd buildings to the public
a f f a irs of f ice .
I t will a lso be necessa ry to ma ke sure a ll employees ha ve a ccess
to a computer termina l in
order to receive electronic newsletters a nd a ccess importa nt inf orma tion on the I ntra net
.
NSPRACommunica tion Audit

51

Ba ltimore
County Public Schools
One way t o address t h i s i s t o set
up co mput er ki o sks i n st af f lo unges ( part i cularly at o f f
sch o o l si t es such as mai nt enance and
t ranspo rt at i o n) f o r emplo yee use.
Aweekly o r
bi -mo nt h ly newslet t er, av ai lable i n PDF f o rmat o n t h e I nt ranet , as
well as i n
pri nt f o r t h o se wh o do
no t h av e access t o co mput ers co uld i nclude much o f t h e
i nf o rmat i o n t h at
i s no w co nt ai ned i n t h e
Superi nt endent 's Bullet i n and t h at publi cat i o n
co uld
beco me mo re o f a management
memo , pri mari ly addressi ng mat t ers t h at are
i mpo rt ant t o
pri nci pals and o t h er admi ni st rat o rs .
Emph asi ze t h e ro le o f
emplo yees as Ambassado rs
f o r Educat i o n. One ex cellent
way t o
creat e emplo yee "ambassado rs"
i s t o i nclude a co mmuni cat i o n co mpo nent
as part
o f
new emplo yee o ri ent at i o n ( cert i f i cat ed
and classi f i ed) . Th i s pro v i des an o ppo rt uni t y t o
st ress t h e i mpo rt ance
o f relat i ng accurat e i nf o rmat i o n
and f act s t o t h e publi c and a ch ance
t o do so me "myt h bust i ng" o f
emplo yee and co mmuni t y percept i o ns o f
t h e di st ri ct .
Ori ent at i o n sh o uld acquai nt
new emplo yees wi t h t h e di st ri ct cult ure
and pro cedures and
h elp t h em f eel part o f t h e t eam . Emplo yees
new t o t h e area and di st ri ct may
be unf ami li ar
wi t h lo cal
cust o ms and co mmuni cat i o n st yles
and t h i s can h elp t h em f eel mo re
co mf o rt able
i n t h e
co mmuni t y.
Pro v i de new
emplo yees wi t h an o ri ent at i o n packet t h at
i ncludes general i nf o rmat i o n
abo ut
t h e di st ri ct , t h e mi ssi o n,
beli ef s and st rat egi c di rect i o ns, an
emplo yee h andbo o k, t i ps o n
bei ng an "ambassado r f o r educat i o n, " and
any requi red f o rms . I t i s i mpo rt ant
t o i nclude
suppo rt
st af f because t h ey are also key
co mmuni cat o rs wh o are v i ewed as credi ble
so urces
o f i nf o rmat i o n by
t h e co mmuni t y. We suggest t h e di st ri ct 's
ex i st i ng o ri ent at i o n pro gram
be rev i ewed t o i nsure i t
suppo rt s t h e di st ri ct 's
co mmuni cat i o n ef f o rt s . Emplo yees sh o uld
recei v e a clear message
f ro m t h e di st ri ct t h at co mmuni cat i o n
i s
an
i mpo rt ant part o f t h ei r
jo bs
and no t just a f unct i o n o f
t h e pri nci pal o r cent ral o f f i ce.
Rei nf o rce emplo yees' ef f o rt s by
h i gh li gh t i ng go o d ambassado rsh i p i n t h e
emplo yee
newslet t er
and o t h er publi cat i o ns, o r by
reco gni zi ng an "Ambassado r o f
t h e Mo nt h " at
Bo ard meet i ngs .
I ncrease
o ppo rt uni t i es f o r f ace-t o -f ace
co mmuni cat i o ns . Th e
pri nt ed wo rd i s an
ef f i ci ent way t o
pro v i de i nf o rmat i o n, but
ch angi ng percept i o ns and beh av i o rs -
and
bui ldi ng t rust
and emplo yee mo rale - requi res
t wo -way co mmuni cat i o n
. Research sh o ws
t h at emplo yees
pref er f ace-t o -f ace co mmuni cat i o n
f ro m di rect superv i so rs
o v er memo s
and newslet t ers . We
suggest t h at t h o se wh o plan
and run meet i ngs creat e
o ppo rt uni t i es f o r
di scussi o n and i nt eract i o n. An
o ppo rt uni t y t o di alo gue and ask
quest i o ns pro mo t es bet t er
underst andi ng o f i ssues
and pro blems and, i n t urn, creat es
bet t er ambassado rs
f o r t h e

sch o o ls .
Wh enev er
po ssi ble, cent ral o f f i ce
admi ni st rat o rs sh o uld f i nd ways t o get
o ut i nt o t h e
sch o o ls and suppo rt bui ldi ngs, sh are i nf o rmat i o n
di rect ly wi t h emplo yees
and creat e t wo -
NSPRA
Co mmuni cat i o n Audi t

62

Balt i mo re Co unt yPubli c

Sch o o ls
way communication opportunities
with staf f. Not only is this an excellent
opportunity to
get better acquainted with district employees, it provides
f irst- hand inf ormation about their
interests and concerns . Consider scheduling regular cof f ees or "brown
bag f orums" where
the executive directors of schools and central of f ice
administrators can meet with staf f in
an inf ormal setting to listen to
ideas and
concerns,
share progress reports and discuss
issues and initiatives
. V isits should be planned in advance so that staf f who wish to talk
with these administrators will k now when and where to f ind them.
Develop a standard procedure f or reporting the outcome of
meetings involving
staf f. Focus group participants indicated they do not always hear about the outcomes of
various meetings
that tak e place around the district . Some school representatives are more
conscientious about reporting back than others, so there is a lack of consistency in the
amount and quality of inf ormation distributed . One way to address this
problem is to
designate one person who regularly attends a specif ic meeting,
to k eep a grid of the
discussion that includes the topic,
decisions made, responsible parties, timelines, etc . This
grid can be shared with meeting participants, placed on the I ntranet, and used to report
actions and outcomes f rom the meeting . Agrid mak es it easier to track the discussion as it
tak es place and eliminates the need f or lengthy minutes . I n addition, principals
should be
encouraged to share minutes or inf ormation on k ey issues f rom principals' meetings with
their secretaries and other k ey staf f so they are k ept up to date on district decisions,
changes and activities .
v
Evaluate the use of e- mail . We recommend that the district research current use
patterns in the
schools
and central of f ice and involve
staf f in
developing guidelines
to
k eep
e- mail communications manageable . These should include setting reasonable timelines f or
responding to requests f rom central of f ice departments, and restricting the distribution of
"all user" messages and non- essential inf ormation ( i . e. , jok es, chain e- mails) . E- mail is an
essential communication tool in today' s world, but it is incumbent upon the district to
insure that it remains a usef ul tool and not atime wasting burden .
)! - - Celebrate staf f contributions and ef f orts. I n today' s busy world, it is easy to
overlook the daily ef f orts of staf f and f orget to tak e the extra time to say "thank you. "
Most educators shy away f rom f ormal recognitions, but the small day- to- day
ack nowledgments of their ef f orts can mak e the dif f erence between a motivated or
disgruntled staf f.
While the district should continue any f ormal recognition programs, administrators and
supervisors
should
also
be
encouraged
to
recognize
staf f
members
in
amore inf ormal way
on a regular basis . Some suggestions include :

"

Commending them
f or their initiative in
a public setting
"

Sending cards f or
birthdays and work anniversaries
"

Sending notes of congratulations f or work well done and copying those notes to
their personnel f iles
NSPRA Communication Audit

53

Baltimore County Public

Schools
Taking time to say a perso nal thank yo u .
We
reco mmend that the district, indiv idual scho o ls, and departments seek o ut ways to
celebrate successes and express appreciatio n to staf f f o r
their
ef f o rts o n behalf
o f
students
.
This can also be a great o ppo rtunity to engage a div erse gro up o f emplo yees, certif ied and
classif ied,
to
brainsto rm po ssible reco gnitio n and celebratio n activ ities .
Establish a f o rmal Key Co mmunicato r Netwo rk.
AKey Co mmunicato r Netwo rk can be a real asset
f o r a scho o l district in terms o f
pro v iding strategic inf o rmatio n to inf luential co mmunity members and in pro mptly
dealing with
damaging
rumo rs .
Begin by asking each scho o l to
identif y sev eral parents o r o ther co mmunity members who
are well-kno wn, respected and interested in the scho o ls,
and who
will
v o lunteer f o r this task.
Bo ard members
and administrato rs sho uld also identif y business/co mmunity leaders
and o f f icials
to be included. Send
each a letter o f inv itatio n to meet with the superintendent to discuss
their
respo nsibilities .
The superintendent sho uld meet in small gro ups ( i
. e . , 15-20) two o r three times each year
with the key co mmunicato rs, talk abo ut his v isio n and
majo r educatio nal issues, and enco urage
their questio ns
and co mments . Between meetings, each key
co mmunicato r sho uld receiv e a brief
newsletter,
as well as co pies o f o ther district publicatio ns that will keep them
well-inf o rmed o f
district activ ities, ev ents
and issues . The newsletter sho uld pro v ide sho rt, timely
updates o n bo ard
actio ns and the ratio nale behind
decisio ns, inf o rmatio n o n scho o l and district activ ities and
educatio n-related legislativ e issues, and key messages to
share with the co mmunity .
Many districts
are no w co nv erting to electro nic co mmunicatio ns
with their key
co mmunicato rs as it
f acilitates swif t and timely distributio n o f inf o rmatio n,
particularly in the
ev ent o f a crisis . The Key
Co mmunicato r newsletter co uld be sent as an
e-mail, in PDFf o rmat, o r
as a bro adcast f ax, depending o n
which is the best way f o r co mmunicato rs to receiv e
inf o rmatio n .
Akey co mmunicato r's ro le is to pro v ide up-to -date
inf o rmatio n abo ut scho o l issues
to
tho se he o r she
co mes in co ntact with o n a regular basis .
When so meo ne in the co mmunity
needs
mo re
inf o rmatio n, o r an erro neo us rumo r needs
co rrecting, the key co mmunicato r sho uld be
able
to call the Of f ice o f
Co mmunicatio ns to secure the needed
inf o rmatio n. The key co mmunicato r
can get the co rrect inf o rmatio n back to the
co mmunity, and ho pef ully head o f f a
po tential
pro blem . In cases
where there is widespread misinf o rmatio n, the o f f ice
can deal with it thro ugh
meetings, news
releases, etc.
NSPRACo mmunicatio n
Audit

54

Baltimo re Co unty Public

Scho o ls
AKey Communicator Network is an ex cel l ent feedback device to hel p keep
the
dis trict
aware
of community is s ues . I t s erves much the s ame rol e on a dis trictwide bas is
as a PTA
ex ecutive board does in hel ping to keep the principal aware of parent and
community concerns .
Ex pand communication with the non-parent publ ic.
I n BCPS, as in mos t s chool dis tricts today, the non-parent popul ation cons titutes a
s ignificant
portion of the community, s o it is vital that the dis trict devel op communication
s trategies for reaching this group . Some s ugges tions incl ude:
Provide news
ins erts for bus ines s /community publ ications . Mos t organizations that
publ is h regul ar
news l etters are al ways s eeking interes ting information as fil l er . The Office
of Communications coul d prepare s hort news updates about the s chool s and dis trict that
bus ines s es and civic groups can us e in their empl oyee and member news l etters .
) ! - I mpl ement a "s peakers bureau" that community organizations and bus ines s es
can tap for meetings and conferences . As peakers bureau woul d provide the dis trict
with an opportunity to directl y communicate programs and initiatives to key civic and
community
groups
and patrons in
the
community
.
I dentify various adminis trators
and
empl oyees (s uch as Teachers of the Year) who are avail abl e for s peaking engagements on
a variety of
topics . PowerPoint pres entations and videos coul d be prepared that wil l make
this effort profes s ional . This s ervice coul d al s o be offered onl ine for eas y acces s and
booking . As peakers bureau woul d al l ow the dis trict to take its mes s age to the publ ic
rather than al ways bringing the publ ic to the dis trict .
) ! - I mprove communication with s enior citizens . Senior citizens are a growing and
important res ource for today's s chool s . Not onl y can they provide a variety of s ervices as
vol unteers , tutors and mentors , as voters they al s o have a great impact on the s chool
s ys tem. School dis tricts can benefit by finding ways to s erve the growing popul ation of
s eniors whil e al s o providing them with opportunities to work directl y with s tudents . Some
other ideas to cons ider incl ude
:
"

Encourage s tudent groups , s uch as computer cl ubs and National Honor Society
chapters , to teach s eniors computing s kil l s at s enior or recreation centers .
"

Make annual pres entations at s enior centers on what s chool s are teaching and
incl ude s tudents from different grade l evel s in the pres entation .
"

I ncl ude repres entatives from the s enior community in the Key Communicators
Network.
"

I ncl ude s eniors on future finance el ection committees .

"

Al l ow s enior vol unteers to join s tudents for breakfas t and l unch in the cafeteria.
"

Urge s chool s to s end performing groups to s enior centers .

"

Send ex tra yearbooks

and s chool publ ications
to s enior centers .
NSPRACommunication Audit

55

Bal timore CountyPubl ic School s

e.c.- .ceeL e.ie
e .-e. .-.i-c- ii ce. c--.
-..L--..
.evi-
e.ieiL i-.iL. e. iece..
ec-. i.-i. e - i..c . i
.c-.
e .-e. .-.i-.
.-
i-L e i-Lv-. e.ie
e i .-.Li. ci.. 1- i..c i. i
, e-iLL
, e.-..L .-.e..c- e. .-ic - , .cLc

. cicL-
-L-v.e ci-L L
iiie e c...-
, .e.i, - i..c .e.Li ce.i-.
c.-i i L .- "BS
:-.. .ii.-" , .e.i i
.e.Li i. i - .i- -. -ic
.--. 1. , .e.i
ce.Li , .evi- ..i-c
-..i-., .e.ci.- -x-, Li. ..i-., .i
ii , .e.i., ii
L icce, L.-. ic.e.. -
i..c L - i..c i.-. i v-.-
.
, - e
, .e.i, .e.Li .i-L iiv-..-
- i. -. e. - -.. ii.-
i..c , .cLcie.,
i. i c.i.L e i-L
,
e .ceeL
i..--., ii, , e..cL-,
ce. , .cLcie.
..c i. c..c c.LL-.

Li-
.-.Li. ce.cie .
LeciL cL-. i ce. L-ii-..
i.- i
.i, , -i .-.e..c-
i .ceeL i..c. L-.
-c-.. iv- icc-.. .e. -.
ce.-ie. e i
e , i.- .i.-eLi-.. ii
e. iL-. .evi cL-.
. -i.L ciL-ii.. e
.ceeL eLii. ii , .e.i. ci i...
- cee.ii
.-Le.. icv-. e ivei ceLc.
- ce. L-.
-c-.. ci iL.e c- i..-i
e .i.-
e.ie . , i..e-..
ice. ci.ic-. -i.cie ii iv-..
, .e.i.
ii ice. e.
ii.L. ci c- .eL- ei-L.
e. cLi.- .-c-.. e -
cL-. i iL.e c-
-.-.-i .e..
. - i..c e i-.
iv-.. ii eL-.ic- , .e.i.

1- .- e veLv ce.
-c-.. - .ceeL. .
e.. , .e-i e-.
-i.L
e, , e..-. e. veLv-- ec- i
vie . -x-i-i,
eLLe. .e. . iLL
.e .-., ei-i i.-
...- .i -c-.. i.-
, .-, i.-i e .e.. , .ei.cv-L .
veL.--.. ii
.-ce.- veL.--.. e.
-. ce.c.e.
L, L--
, .cLc -i--e..-ic
..i--.
W-
.-ce-i - i..c
ce.i-. , L-- .e-
, .cLc -i-- icv-.
i.
, i. e . ev-.iLL
ce.cie , Li
e.i-. e ...i ii ..--
. ce-ce e -
ce. i
.i.-eLi-.. -i.L
.i. e.-.. cvc v-.-
.ceeL. Se-
..i--. e ce.i-.
cL.i-
-eLi "e. iLL." e. e...
i-.- .-e. e -
i..c 1- e, c ce.Li
c-
e- i-c .ceeL. i..c .i-,
e. e- , -.-
e - ivi.iL --i-.
.ceeL i.-i
1e. iLL. ii e...
i.- e , .cLc -i.., c.
.i-., .e.Li c- ci.-.LL
...c..-i
e , .evi- i
e, , e.. e. ce.
-c-.. e , i.c, i- i iiLe.-
. i..c
L-ii-..
e L.-, ., -i., ii e.-
, e.iL, e c- L.--i
e

1- i.- e i-.-i
:SRA
e.cie A.i

BiLe.- e. .cLc
SceeL.
t o be co nfro nt at io nal but t o creat e an enviro nment t hat allo ws fo r civil disco urse . Similar
fo rums can also be held o n a smaller scale at individual scho o ls . The dist rict
co uld also
invest igat e using Channel 73 t o ho ld a video t o wn hall fro m
mult iple lo cat io ns acro ss t he
dist rict .
Ho ld st udy circles o n "ho t t o pics" t hat emerge fro m fo rums. To wn halls and
fo rums do n't o ft en lend t hemselves t o in-dept h discussio n o f specific t o pics
o f
co ncern
due t o
t he fo rmat and large numbers o f peo ple invo lved
. St udy circles are facilit at ed
gro ups t hat invo lve
15-30
peo ple . Discussio ns o n a part icular t o pic may t ake place o ver a
perio d o f several weeks . They pro vide an o ppo rt unit y t o surface all sides o f an issue as
well as so me underlying co ncerns t hat may have an impact o n t he o ut co me . NSPRAcan
pro vide mo re info rmat io n o n co o rdinat ing st udy circles .
) ! -
Pro vide o ppo rt unit ies fo r
t he
public
t o
have input
t hat
do n't require at t endance
at a meet ing . Offer a sit e o n t he dist rict web page t hat allo ws co nst it uent s t o reco rd t heir
co mment s o r react io ns t o a specific quest io n, issue o r pro po sal befo re t he Bo ard . Pro vide
cc
co mmunicards" at Bo ard meet ings and in scho o ls t hat ask a specific quest io n abo ut an
issue t he
dist rict is dealing wit h t hat pat ro ns can writ e a respo nse o n and ret urn t o t he
dist rict .
) ! - Co nt inue t o develo p co llabo rat ive
part nerships wit h co unt y agencies .
Co llabo rat io n is
key t o creat ing a dist rict co mmunit y t hat act ively suppo rt s families and
o ffers a lifest yle peo ple will seek o ut . Part nerships wit h agencies and fo undat io ns t hat can
pro vide services such as medical/dent al care, behavio ral healt h, and o t her special areas can
help meet t he needs o f children and families who fall t hro ugh t he gaps o f insurance and
o t her st at e and federal means o f suppo rt . Ano t her kind o f co llabo rat io n t hat can be very
beneficial is
building wo rking relat io nships wit h law enfo rcement , fire and o t her
emergency
services t o
develo p co mprehensive crisis plans .
Enco urage principals, execut ive direct o rs o f scho o ls and cent ral o ffice
administ rat o rs t o beco me act ive in lo cal civic and service o rganizat io ns . Co mmunit y
and business leaders are regularly asked t o beco me invo lved in educat io n and t he scho o ls .
I t is
equally impo rt ant fo r scho o l leaders t o play an act ive ro le in t he co mmunit y and
demo nst rat e t heir co mmit ment t o t ho se who suppo rt t he
scho o ls o n a regular basis . This
also pro vides o ngo ing
o ppo rt unit ies
t o
share info rmat io n abo ut t he dist rict wit h influent ial
leaders .
Develo p o ut reach pro grams t o neighbo rho o ds, churches, and co mmunit y
o rganizat io ns t o dist ribut e info rmat io n and gain feedback abo ut issues
affect ing
families . Many et hnic and cult ural gro ups are
mo re
o pen and
respo nsive when appro ached
NSPRACo mmunicat io n Audit

57

Balt imo re Co unt y Public

Scho o ls
What i s c r i ti c al to the
s uc c es s o f any publ i c engagement s tr ategy i s the Bo ar d and
admi ni s tr ati o n's c o mmi tment to l i s teni ng to i nput and r ec o mmendati o ns , and taki ng ac ti o n bas ed
o n
al l the i nfo r mati o n at thei r di s po s al . Whi l e thi s do es no t mean ever y r ec o mmendati o n made by
a c i ti z en o r s taff
c o mmi ttee w i l l be i mpl emented, i t do es mean that i nput w i l l be c o ns i der ed i n the
c o ntext o f ho w i t fur ther s
the di s tr i c t's mi s s i o n, go al s and o bjec ti ves . Spec i al pr o gr ams and events
s ho ul d be eval uated
r egul ar l y to i ns ur e they ar e havi ng the des i r ed i mpac t.
i n envi r o nments w her e they ar e mo s t c o mfo r tabl e, s uc h as c hur c h o r ho me . The di s tr i c t
s ho ul d c o nti nue to s eek w ays to r eac h o ut to fami l i es and bui l d s tr o ng c o nnec ti o ns to the
s c ho o l s . One s tr ategy that has been effec ti ve i n o ther di s tr i c ts i s us i ng c o mmuni ty l i ai s o ns
w ho w o r k
di r ec tl y w i th fami l i es .
Impr o ve
c o mmuni c ati o n w i th the mi no r i ty c o mmuni ty .
The i nc r eas i ngl y di ver s e make-up o f the BCPS c o mmuni ty
w i l l r equi r e the di s tr i c t to s eek
di ffer ent w ays to
devel o p tw o -w ay c o mmuni c ati o n w i th i ts fami l i es and patr o ns . The c o unty and
i ts muni c i pal i ti es need to w o r k
to gether to i nves t i n and c o o r di nate a var i ety o f pr o gr ams and
s er vi c es
that di ver s e c o mmuni ty gr o ups need to addr es s
i s s ues s uc h as dr o p-o uts , under -
empl o yment, Engl i s h l i ter ac y, teen pr egnanc y,
heal th and s o c i al s er vi c es , and the gap i n s tudent
ac hi evement.
The c o unty w i l l get the mo s t fo r i ts effo r ts i f al l l evel s and agenc i es o f
go ver nment
c an w o r k to gether fo r
the benefi t o f i ts mi no r i ty c i ti z ens .
So me s tr ategi es fo r
c o nnec ti ng to mi no r i ty s takeho l der s i nc l ude :
Inc r eas e
effo r ts to tr ans l ate i nfo r mati o nal mater i al s
fo r no n-Engl i s h s peaki ng
par ents . As the di s tr i c t's
demo gr aphi c s c hange, i t w i l l need to addr es s thi s gr o w i ng need.
Al tho ugh Afr i c an Amer i c ans ar e the
pr edo mi nant mi no r i ty gr o up, the di s tr i c t al s o needs to
addr es s the c o mmuni c ati o n needs o f
the many o ther ethni c gr o ups i t s er ves . Whi l e i t i s
unr eal i s ti c to
thi nk the di s tr i c t c an tr ans l ate mater i al s i nto
mul ti pl e l anguages , i t c an
tr ans l ate the
phr as e "Thi s do c ument i s i mpo r tant. Pl eas e have
s o meo ne tr ans l ate i t fo r
yo u . " i nto s ever al
l anguages . Thi s r efer enc e s heet c an be attac hed to s c ho o l
do c uments
and s er ve to s i gnal
no n-Engl i s h s peaki ng par ents that they need to fi nd s o meo ne to
hel p
them w i th the i nfo r mati o n
.
Cr eate a Wel c o me Center o r
tel epho ne hel p l i ne fo r no n-Engl i s h s peaki ng
fami l i es new to
the di s tr i c t. If s pac e i s avai l abl e,
the di s tr i c t mi ght c o ns i der c r eati ng a
Wel c o me Center w her e new
fami l i es c an r ec ei ve an o r i entati o n to hel p them
navi gate the
di s tr i c t. Thi s w o ul d
i nc l ude as s i s tanc e i n getti ng c hi l dr en i mmuni z ed and
r egi s ter ed fo r .
s c ho o l , i nfo r mati o n
o n c o mmuni ty and di s tr i c t r es o ur c es
avai l abl e to them, bac kgr o und o n
the di s tr i c t's
ESOLpr o gr am, i nc l udi ng i nfo r mati o n
o n tes ti ng, Engl i s h c l as s es fo r
adul ts ,
and o ther educ ati o nal o ppo r tuni ti es .
An al ter nati ve w o ul d be to o ffer and publ i c i z e
a
NSPRA
Co mmuni c ati o n Audi t

68

Bal ti mo r e Co unty Publ i c Sc ho o l s

telephone help li ne (manned by a bi - or mu lti - li ng u al s taf f member, not a recordi ng ) that
new f ami li es can call f or i nf ormati on and ans wers to qu es ti ons .
Partners hi ps
wi th
Parents . Getti ng
mi nori ty parents i nvolved i n the edu cati on
of
thei r chi ldren i s a challeng e f or mos t s chool di s tri cts .
Thei r i nvolvement
can be
compli cated by a vari ety of f actors , s u ch as long work hou rs , lack of f aci li ty wi th Eng li s h,
i nadequ ate edu cati on, previ ou s neg ati ve contacts wi th s chools , lack of knowledg e abou t
parenti ng s ki lls , and a li mi ted f ami ly s u pport network i f they have i mmi g rated f rom ou ts i de
the U. S . S ome s teps to take to encou rag e
i nvolvement i nclu de :
)! -
Improvi ng Achi evement . In thi s era of s tate achi evement s tandards and
accou ntabi li ty, ci ti z ens are g oi ng to i ns i s t on i mproved tes t s cores or other meas u res of
achi evement . As the nu mber of mi nori ty
s tu dents i n the di s tri ct g rows , thi s i s li kely to
become harder to achi eve
.
S ome
g ood i nves tments may
be :
s
Have the i ndi vi du al s chools , whi ch
know who thes e parents are and have s ome
contact wi th them, reach ou t to help them become partners
i n
edu cati ng
thei r
chi ldren . Cons i der of f eri ng parenti ng clas s es or a handou t wi th bri ef des cri pti ons
of g ood practi ces , adu lt edu cati on/ li teracy clas s es , f ami ly
ni g ht
prog rams at the
s chools ,
etc .
Develop a "BCPS Newborns " prog ram and
di s tri bu te a packet of materi als to new
parents vi a cou nty materni ty u ni ts .
Thes e
cou ld
contai n i nf ormati on s u ch
as
parenti ng i deas , brai ns res earch on learni ng , readi ng readi nes s ti ps , commu ni ty
res ou rces , help li nes , etc . The di s tri ct s hou ld then s end reg u lar u pdates u nti l
chi ldren are ready to attend s chool .
Develop ef f orts wi th vari ou s
f ai th- bas ed org ani z ati ons to help i mprove parenti ng
s ki lls
.
Pu bli c edu cati on prog rams f or three- and f ou r- year old you ng s ters , bas ed on
res earch whi ch s hows that very you ng chi ldren do mu ch of thei r bas i c learni ng
bef ore beg i nni ng f ormal edu cati on i n ki nderg arten .
Cooperati ve ef f orts wi th cou nty health and s oci al s ervi ce ag enci es that f ocu s on
worki ng wi th s chool chi ldren and thei r f ami li es to obtai n needed s ervi ces i n a one-
s top s hoppi ng approach.
A mu lti - year campai g n
u s i ng ethni c radi o, TVpu bli c s ervi ce annou ncements , and
bi li ng u al pri nt ads on pu bli c trans portati on
vehi cles ,
to
equ ate a g ood edu cati on
wi th s u cces s i n reachi ng li f e g oals .
NS PRA Commu ni cati on Au di t

59

Balti more Cou nty Pu bli c S chools

) ! -
Build partnerships with ethnic agencies . Astrong relationship between the district
and agencies that serve
various ethnic groups will allow BCPSto benef it f rom their advice
and expertise and help provide
the district with an entree to specif ic minority communities .
We suggest
the district bring these agencies
in several times a year to consult on new
initiatives and projects
that have an impact on their communities . Ask minority civic and
religious organizations how
the district can work with them f or the benef it of their
members . One suggestion is
f or organizations to communicate on a one- to- one basis with
those who need to know about
magnet programs, etc . , when written materials are not the
best communication channel
.
Provide visual
signs of welcome and an appreciation of diversity at
schools
.
Something as simple as a
poster that says "welcome" in many dif f erent
languages can
make a positive f irst impression .
Displays that highlight an appreciation of dif f erent
cultures also add to creating an inclusive
climate .
Include minority
opinion leaders in the Key Communicators Network
. Talk to
f aith and business leaders,
community groups and organizations, local
colleges,
government agencies and staf f
members who work with various minority groups to
identif y people who are recognized as
active, involved members of minority communities .
The superintendent should continue to meet
with his minority achievement advisory group
and use
them
to
advise the district about ef f ective
ways to reach constituents and respond
to
projects and programs under development .
) ! - Use ethnic media outlets to provide
inf ormation about the district. Any
available
f oreign language cable television
and/or radio stations, and newspapers should be
included
in all
media and marketing plans f or the district .
Provide diversity
training f or staf f . Good two- way communication
between teachers
and
their students and parents requires
some understanding of cultural dif f erences,
so we
recommend training be developed that builds
understanding and sensitivity to cultural
concerns,
particularly as the county's
demographics change. Resources and
inf ormation on
this topic could be
provided on the web site as well
. Franklin High School, f or example,
has a helpf ul section on
the school web site entitled "Education
That Is Multicultural. "
Expand
and improve school
newsletters .
School newsletters are consistently f ound to
have the most value and the greatest
readership of all district publications .
Research in school communication shows
the local school
is
usually seen as the public opinion
barometer of how schools or
school districts are doing . It's a
natural center f or
communication with parents
and neighborhoods and can become a
major
component of the
communication ef f ort .
NSPRA
Communication Audit

60

Baltimore County Public Schools

Werecommend thedi s tri ct us e s chool news letters to reach parents
wi th key mes s ages and
operati onal i nformati on about the di s tri ct . Thi s could i ncludei nformati on
about how BCPSi s
managi ng i ts budget to obtai n the maxi mum benefi t for
s tudents , i ts progres s toward goals , and
updates on poli cy and curri culum deci s i ons and other Board acti ons . TheOffi ce of
Communi cati ons could prepare and s end s hort wri tten paragraphs to the s chools by e-mai l
that
can be copi ed and i ncluded i n thenews letters under a " D i s tri ct News " headi ng, maki ng
i t eas y
for
thes chools and i ns uri ng mes s agecons i s tency acros s thedi s tri ct .
Thedi s tri ct mi ght als o want to i nv es ti gate the feas i bi li ty of mai li ng
or di s tri buti ng s chool
news letters
to
res i dents wi thi n
nei ghborhood
attendanceboundari es
who do not hav echi ldren i n
s chool . Another opti on i s to hav epri nci pals di s tri bute copi es of s chool news letters to local doctor
and denti s t offi ces , beauty s alons , and bus i nes s es s uch as J i ffy Lube, wherepeoples i t and wai t for
s erv i ces . Thi s would prov i detaxpayers wi th a clos er connecti on to thes chools and bui ld
s takeholder s upport at a gras s roots lev el.
D ev elop graphi cs s tandards . From a graphi cs pers pecti v e, s chool news letters i n
BCPS cov er the s pectrum from poor to good. Werecommend s etti ng graphi c des i gn
s tandards to dev elop morecons i s tency i n the look of publi cati ons , both at the di s tri ct lev el
and for the s chools . School news letter banners s hould i nclude thename
of
the
di s tri ct as
well as the s chool,
and other s tandard i nformati on
( i . e. ,
the
pri nci pal' s name, addres s and
phone, s chool motto, etc. ) . Becaus e s chool news letters are a pri mary s ourceof
i nformati on for parents , they s hould be des i gned wi th thi s i n mi nd. Thi s could be
approached i n two ways : s ev eral di fferent templates could beprofes s i onally des i gned for
pri nci pals to us e, or i ns erv i ce trai ni ng could be prov i ded for s taff members res pons i ble for
produci ng
news letters . Thi s would help to i ns ure greater readabi li ty and cons i s tency
acros s thedi s tri ct .
Somedi s tri cts createa s tylebook that
prov i des
s chools and departments wi th i nformati on
and gui deli nes on wri ti ng s tyle and punctuati on, graphi c des i gn ti ps and gui deli nes , and
us e of thedi s tri ct logo and pos i ti oni ng s tatement . Thi s can bea parti cularly helpful tool i n
large di s tri cts s uch as BCPS.
) ! - Conduct readers hi p s urv eys of s chool news letters . Schools s hould conduct
readers hi p s urv eys of thei r bui ldi ng-lev el news letters . Many s chools us egeneri c educati on
arti cles and materi als from v ari ous s ources to fi ll s paceand reducetheti me and effort
s pent
by s taff on prepari ng news letters . Whi letherei s a great deal of i nteres ti ng and
v aluable
i nformati on
that
can be s hared thi s way, thepri mary focus
of
publi cati ons s hould
be to deli v er news and i nformati on about thelocal s chool and the di s tri ct bas ed on what
parents s ay they want to know .
NSPRA Communi cati on Audi t

61

Balti moreCounty Publi c Schools

Develop communication
protocols.
Werecommend the
appointment of a parent/ staff task force to develop communication
protocols for e-mail and telephone communication
between the schools and the public. These
protocols should
address reasonable response times for returning
messages and e-mails;
expectations for the use
of communication tools, such as
what constitutes unreasonable demands
on a teacher's time ( i
. e. , daily e-mails from a single individual, or an
expectation of an immediate
response), and any other issues
that are important to staff and parents, such as the
use of
automated phone sy stems.
We
also recommend that the district be
wary
of
using any automated answering sy stems
during business hours
; if callers are never able to reach a live person,
this tends to alienate rather
than serve customers .
In departments with several staff members, lunch and
break times should
be staggered so that phones are
covered at all times.
Consider
a new role for the District
Advisory Councils.
It
is our understanding that
the district advisory councils were originally
designed to be a
sounding board for the
Board of Education and to provide the
parents' view of the district.
As
they have evolved, the role of
these advisory councils has become
somewhat unclear.
We
believe the district advisory
councils should be issues oriented and
charged with
specific
tasks, rather than allowing themto
select areas of focus at random.
Committee charges
and guidelines
for recommendations should be
clearly defined along with a specific
timeline for
the work . Committees should
receive assistance with
research and the preparation of
reports, they
should be thanked when
their work is done, and they
should receive feedback from the Board
as
to
how the information and/ or
recommendations will be used or
implemented. If
recommendations are changed or not
adopted, they should be informed of
the rationale behind
that decision.
Expand
district cable
television programming .
BCPS is
fortunate to have a cable
television channel. This offers tremendous
potential as
a
communication and
marketing vehicle for the district.
Many focus group
participants indicated
they would like to
see expanded programming
on Channel 73 .
In order to take advantage of
this tremendous resource,
broadcast schedules
must be
widely distributed and programs
promoted. One suggestion is
to put the monthly
broadcast
schedule on the back of
school menus, since these are still
among the best read of
school
NSPRA CommunicationAudit

62

BaltimoreCounty
Public Schools
publications . This
may also be an area where a business sponsor could support monthly mailings
of broadcast schedules
to residents or cable customers .
The district may want to consider forming a stafflparent/ student/ citiz en
task force to
explore the communication role of Channel 73, and what kind
of programming people are
interested
in
watching .
We
believe
that a major role should be one of informing viewers about
important issues in BCPS. The superintendent uses Channel 73 to communicate with all district
employees, and we encourage the district to continue this practice . Because the operation of
Channel 73 does not fall under the auspices of the Office of Communications, it is important that
these departments collaborate on content so that the communication value of cable television is
not overlooked .
As time and resources allow, we
would encourage the district to expand its cable TV
productions to reach a wider audience, particularly those citiz ens and taxpayers who don't have
any direct contact with the schools . I n addition to televised board meetings, programming that
focuses on student and staff excellence, issues that will be coming up for discussion and decision,
information about the budget and how it impacts tax dollars and property values,
and
the value
of
dollars
from
a
taxpayer perspective,
would help build
regular viewers .
Other
future
cable
projects
to consider include :
"

A video annual report on the Blueprint for Progress

"

A weekly news magaz ine

"

Parenting skills and child development training

"

Providing staff development and inservice training

"

An interactive BCPS Town Hall

"

Showcase individual special programs

"

Review and explanation of the MSPAPand how it affects students .

At the end of programs, viewers could be asked
to
respond
to
a programming survey on
the web site . This would help the
district plan programs that will
increase viewership .
Continue to expand and improve the district web site.
The district's web site is a communication device . Although it currently contains a
substantial amount of information, it was not seen by many focus group participants as a primary
source of information at this time .
As more and more people within the district purchase personal computers and gain access
to the I nternet, the district web site should become more of a communication and marketing tool,
particularly for parents of school
children
.
The district
must stay current
in this
area in order
to
remain
competitive
in
the education marketplace .
NSPRA Communication Audit

63

Baltimore County Public Schools

The
web
s i t e
current ly provi des general i nformat i on about
t he di s t ri ct and li nk s t o each of
t he s chools . I t s hould als o be
vi ewed as anot her "publi cat i on" t hat
can provi de i nformat i on on
major
di s t ri ct news s uch as progres s on t he
MSPAP and t he Bluepri nt for Progres s ; new
programs
and i ni t i at i ves ; s t andard parent i nformat i on s uch as
t he calendar of event s for s chools ;
s chool lunch menus ;
bus s chedules ; and di s t ri ct poli ci es . The
web s i t e s hould als o be evaluat ed i n
t he
cont ext of how i t deli vers t he di s t ri ct ' s
k ey mes s ages . Us ers s hould
be as k ed
t o
s ugges t t he
t ypes
of i nformat i on t hey fi nd mos t
us eful by res pondi ng t o an onli ne s urvey or
e-mai li ng
res pons es
.
I t s hould
not be di ffi cult t o i nclude mos t
di s t ri ct publi cat i ons i n PDF format on t he s i t e. I t
i s i mport ant t hat
i nformat i on on t he s i t e be cons t ant ly updat ed
. Whi le i t i s fai rly eas y t o get people
t o vi s i t a web s i t e once, t he
challenge i s get t i ng t hem t o ret urn
regularly for new i nformat i on . Thi s
may
requi re more s t aff at s ome
poi nt , but i t s hould be s een as an
i nves t ment i n deli veri ng t he
BCPS mes s age
. The web s i t e wi ll never
eli mi nat e ot her communi cat i on
channels becaus e t here
wi ll always be s ome
i n t he communi t y who wi ll not have acces s
t o i t . However, i t s pot ent i al as
a
s upplement ary communi cat i on
channel wi ll cont i nue t o grow
each year .
Web s i t es are als o becomi ng
i mport ant mark et i ng t ools for
s chool di s t ri ct s i n order t o
at t ract s t udent s
and recrui t t eachers ,
admi ni s t rat ors and s upport s t aff.
Sect i ons of t he s i t e s hould
be des i gned wi t h
t hi s i n mi nd and i nclude li nk s
t o communi t y s i t es of
i nt eres t .
School web s i t es s hould
als o be look ed at wi t h an
eye t o mark et i ng .
Gui deli nes s hould be
s et
requi ri ng s t andard i nformat i on,
but each s chool s hould
hi ghli ght t he programs and
part ners hi ps t hat mak e i t uni que.
The s chools s hould be
provi ded wi t h t rai ni ng and t echni cal
s upport t o
enable t hem t o k eep t hei r
home pages up t o dat e. As parent s
come t o rely more and
more on t he
conveni ence of I nt ernet acces s for
i nformat i on about t hei r
chi ldren' s s chools , i t i s
als o i mport ant t hat
t he s chool web s i t es
provi de current i nformat i on and
opport uni t i es for parent s
t o s upplement t he s chool
program at home.
The web s i t e s hould
als o be us ed for "myt h
bus t i ng" and t o count er
t he rumor mi ll .
Whenever an
i mport ant i s s ue i s up
for di s cus s i on, or t he
di s t ri ct learns of mi s i nformat i on
t hat i s
bei ng
propagat ed i n t he communi t y,
accurat e, fact ual i nformat i on
s hould be pos t ed i n a
promi nent
s pot on t he
web page for eas y acces s .
School news let t ers and
ot her publi cat i ons s hould
promot e
t he web s i t e
as a
s ource
of i nformat i on when
people have ques t i ons .
I t was ment i oned
i n s everal focus groups
t hat not all
communi t y members have acces s t o
comput ers or cable t elevi s i on
. Regardles s , t he
publi c' s lack of acces s s hould
not i nhi bi t BCPS'
us e of t echnology
t o communi cat e
i f i t want s t o remai n progres s i ve
and an educat i onal
leader .
The
di s t ri ct may want t o cons i der
collaborat i ng wi t h
i t s bus i nes s part ners
and communi t y

organi zat i ons s uch as li brari es ,

churches and Uni t ed
Way agenci es t o provi de
publi c comput er
s i t es for communi t y
members t o acces s t he web
s i t e . Hold an ori ent at i on
eveni ng t o i nt roduce
communi t y
members t o t he web s i t e and
i ns t ruct t hem on t he us e of
t he comput ers .
NSPRA
Communi cat i on Audi t

64

Balt i more Count y

Publi c Schools
As the web si te i s
expanded and becomes an i mportant
part of the BCPS communi cati on
program, use other i nformati on
channels to alert people
of i ts av ai labi li ty . Include short arti cles i n
di stri ct publi cati ons, i nclude the web address as part of the di stri ct' s address on all documents,
and prov i de drop-i n arti cles to pri nci pals for i nclusi on i n school newsletters.
For addi ti onal
i deas, examples of award-wi nni ng school di stri ct web
si tes are av ai lable at
www. nspra . org .
Rev i ew and update the Emergency Procedures and Safety Manual and
i nclude communi cati on responsi bi li ti es.
Whi le
the di stri ct
has a emergency response plan for deali ng wi th cri si s si tuati ons, our
rev i ew i ndi cates i t i s ti me to rev i se and update the plan to reflect the lev el of cri si s management
needed i n today ' s world.
Communi cati on should be a major component of the ov erall plan . Poor communi cati on
wi th staff, parents,
news
medi a and
the communi ty i n a cri si s si tuati on can do more damage to the
di stri ct' s reputati on than
the cri si s i tself. The cri si s manual should clearly deli neate
communi cati on responsi bi li ti es at the di stri ct and bui ldi ng lev el . The organi zati onal structure may
v ary dependi ng on the ty pe of cri si s, but staff members should be desi gnated to be i n charge of
v ari ous communi cati on
responsi bi li ti es . These should i nclude :
"

Leadershi p adv i sement

"

Internal communi cati on

"

External communi cati on

"

News medi a
"

Communi cati on command center

"

Telephone bank
"

Research and medi a

moni tori ng
" Counseli ng
"

Donati ons and v olunteers

"

Speci al ev ents ( i . e . , memori al serv i ces) .

NSPRA' s Complete Cri si s Communi cati on Management Manual, recently rev i sed i n li ght
of what was learned at Columbi ne Hi gh School and other hi gh profi le i nci dents, could be a model
for the di stri ct to ei ther
adopt
( i t i s av ai lable on di sk so that i t can be tai lored to i ndi v i dual di stri ct
needs) ,
or from whi ch
to
extract i mportant communi cati on pri nci ples i n cri si s si tuati ons.
Agood cri si s communi cati on and management plan wi ll ensure that communi cati on
responsi bi li ti es are clearly spelled out should a traumati c ev ent occur . We recommend that
the
di stri ct appoi nt a task force of v ari ous staff and communi ty members, together wi th staff from the
NSPRA Communi cati on Audi t

65

Balti more County Publi c Schools

Realign the
Office of Communications to
provide the support necessary
for successful
change.
Assessment of
Current Office
For a school
system as large as Baltimore County,
we believe the number of people and
amount ofresources devoted to
communication are too limited .
While we recommend devoting
more resources to
communication, this does not mean you need
to dramatically expand the
number of staff in the department
. We are, however, recommending
some additional staffing
allocations and more importantly,
that job descriptions and responsibilities be
reviewed to
determine
whether or not they directly
align with the communications
goals identified by BCPS.
Our assessment
indicates that there is a lack of strategic
communications planning and
direction
. Although a lot of work
is done by the staff in a
variety of areas, it is not focused on
accomplishing the specific key
strategies outlined in the
Blueprint for Progress or in the stated
Communications
Office goals for
2001-2002. As a result, lots of general
and " feel good"
communication
is produced instead of focusing
efforts on delivering the
district' s key messages
and engaging
stakeholders in meaningful
relationships with the schools and
district
.
The existing staff is
overwhelmed by the day-to-day
communications needed
in
a
large
school
system, but the Office of
Communications has also become
the " catch all" site for
projects
and
responsibilities that are not
priority communication activities
( i. e. , staff directories, United
Way, retiree
newsletters) . This has resulted
in the Office of
Communications staff spending a
great deal of time on
some of these functions to
the detriment of strategic
communication. While
we understand that some
responsibilities have
been eliminated ( such as
interscholastic athletics
and student
council) we
believe that assignments and
responsibilities must be evaluated
based on
their
relevance to achieving
the strategic communication goals
and objectives in the
Blueprintfor
Progress
. With the new direction
and changes being made
by Dr. Hairston and
the Board, the
need for effective,
strategic communication
will only grow. This
will require a reordering
of
priorities and
responsibilities for the
Office of Communications
so
that
it can provide the timely,
proactive and targeted
communication needed
to meet BCPS' needs as
one of our nation' s major
school systems.
Suggested
Realignment Based
on Communications
Needs ofLarge School
Districts
The
following reflects our
assessment and
recommendations for howthe
Office of
Communications
could be realigned
based on what we know is
effective in
similar large school
districts around the
country. The position
descriptions include what
we feel should be the
major
responsibilities
for each position.
These are not complete job
descriptions, and additional
duties
would need to
be assigned as appropriate
.
NSPRA
CommunicationAudit

67

Baltimore
County Public Schools
Chief Communications Officer -I n many l arg e
school d istricts comparabl e to BCPS,
there is a senior communications/publ ic rel ations professional
who serves as the strateg ic
communications/publ ic rel ations counsel to the
superintend ent, board and top l evel
ad ministration, and
who attend s
al l
cabinet and executive l evel meeting s in ord er
to
provid e ad vice and input
on the communication aspects of emerg ing issues
.
This
position
is responsibl e
for overseeing al l functions ofthe communications office,
incl ud ing med ia
rel ations and marketing .
Many d istricts across the country the siz e ofBCPS,
as wel l as a number that are smal l er,
have a senior l evel communications
ad ministrator in ad d ition to a d irector or coord inator
of communications. This al l ows the
chief communications officer to function more
effectivel y as
a
senior
ad visor, manag e crisis communications and critical issues,
oversee
publ ic
eng ag ement processes and buil d strong community rel ationships whil e
important
ong oing
activities and internal communications are hand l ed by the
d irector or coord inator .
Recog niz ing that the ad d ition of such a
position is a bud g et issue, the d istrict wil l need to
consid er it in terms ofits
priorities and overal l need s . We d o not consid er this position
to
be critical
at this time, but we bel ieve it d eserves consid eration in l ig ht of the
communication
g oal s set in the Bl ueprintfor Prog ress.
Director of Communications -
I n offices with a chief communications officer, this
position woul d report to the chief
and assist in carrying out the d istrict' s communication
g oal s. I n many
d istricts this position is the l ead position in the communications
office and
oversees
communications and the office staff, as is currentl y the case in BCPS.
Keyjob responsibil ities for both the chief
communication officer and the d irector of
communications shoul d incl ud e :
"

Devel oping an annual

strateg ic communications and marketing pl an and d irecting
the
communications office staff in its impl ementation.
"

Devel oping
specific communication pl ans for any major chang es, initiatives or
projects that the d istrict is pl anning .
"

Devel oping a crisis communication manag ement pl an.

"

Serving as l ead spokesperson for

strateg ic critical communications ( i . e . , crisis,
l eg al , neg otiations) .
"

Serving as l iaison
to
key
community l ead ers and org aniz ations .
"

Devel oping and impl ementing

publ ic eng ag ement strateg ies to increase stakehol d er
invol vement.
"

I mpl ementing research

and eval uation techniques to assess and improve the
effectiveness of the
communication prog ram.
"

Provid ing
communications training workshops for d istrict staff.
"

Assisting the
superintend ent by provid ing backg round information and support for
buil d ing strateg ic al l iances with l ocal communities, the
county and the state .
"

Provid ing communications ad vice and counsel for principal s.

NSPRA CommunicationAud it

68

Bal timore County Publ ic School s

Writing speeches and presentations
for the superintendent and board
as needed .
Developing
and administering the
office budget .
Planning professional
development activities
for the communications staff.
Public Information
Officer -This position
is needed in a large system to
maintain
positive media relations and
disseminate information
through a variety of
external and
internal vehicles . Job
responsibilities should
include :
"

Serving as primary media

liaison and general
spokesperson for the district on
routine
issues .
"

Gathering
information and soliciting
media coverage on
news stories that focus
on
progress
toward the district' s goals .
"

F acilitating
media access to administrators
and staff as appropriate
.
"

Preparing news
releases, alerts, tip
sheets and weekly event
calendars .
"

Preparing "talking
points" for staff and board
members on specific
issues of
importance
to the district .
"

Preparing
and producing reports
on board meetings
( for cable and for electronic
and print distribution)
.
"

Disseminating
emergency or breaking
news through appropriate
channels .
"

Coordinating new
conferences as needed
.
"

Tracking and evaluating

the effectiveness of
media coverage across
the district .
"

Expanding,
preparing and
updating news for
the district web site and cable
television
channel scroll .
"

Writing for
district publications .
"

Producing video
news stories for
the cable television
channel .
"

Developing communication
outreach to
external audiences .
"

Providing media
relations training for
administrators .
"

Coordinating
media coverage
of special events
( i . e . , groundbreakings,
ribbon
cuttings etc . ) .
Publications
Specialist -
Given the large
volume and number of
publications produced
in large
districts, a full-time
publications position
is needed to handle
the following job
responsibilities :
"

Write,
design and produce an
employee
newsletter .
"

Write
content for the district
web site.
"

Write, design
and produce
electronic publications
for staff and
targeted audiences
( i . e . , key
communicators, business
leaders, parent
leaders) .
"

Write, design
and prepare calendars
and annual
reports .
"

Write, design and

produce printed
information publications
for the district ( i . e
. ,
brochures, fact
sheets, welcome
packets, etc . ) .
"

Write, design
and produce
marketing materials for
the district .
"

Advise
schools on improving
building-level
newsletters and
information materials .
"

Advise
other central
office departments on
publication
design and preparation
.
"

Revise and update

all publications as
needed .
NSPRA
Communication Audit

69

Baltimore County
Public Schools
Coordinate
p rint orders
.
Provide newsletter workshop
training for staff.
Evaluate effec tiveness of p ublic ations on a reg ular basis .
Communic ations Sp ec ialist
-
I n
addition to the direc tor,
many larg e sc hool distric ts
also have
a
full-time
sp ec ialist p osition that assists the direc tor and handles
resp onsibilities
suc h as the following :
"

Provide c ommunic ations sup p ort at the building -level and sp end time in the field
working direc tly with the sc hools and g athering news and information.
"

Coordinate sc hool-business p artnership p rog rams .

"

Coordinate various distric twide rec og nition and award c eremonies.

"

Assist Public I nformation Offic er in resp onding to media inq uiries and arrang ing
interviews with staff and
on-c amp us media visits .
"

Assist in p rep aring news releases, alerts, tip sheets and weekly
event c alendars .
"

Resp ond to internal and external req uests for information about the distric t
and
sc hools that c annot be handled by c leric al staff.
"

Rep resent the distric t on c ommittees and in external org anizations .

"

Create and maintain a database of key c ommunic ation targ et audienc es .

"

Maintain the distric t

master c alendar
.
"

Assist
Public I nformation
Offic er
in
up dating news
for the distric t web site and
c able television c hannel sc roll
.
d

Volunteer Sp ec ialist ( . 5 p osition) -Given the size of the BOPS volunteer p rog ram, we
believe a p osition is needed if this func tion is to remain in the Offic e of Communic ations .
The log istic s of running a p rog ramwith 12, 000 volunteers is time-c onsuming , but we
believe that a . 5 p osition devoted exc lusively to develop ing and
op erating the p rog ram
would be
effic ient
and c ost-effec tive
for
the distric t . One
op tion
to
c onsider is hiring a
retired administrator or teac her to manag e the volunteer p rog ram.
Review the resp onsibilities and work loads of the Administrative Sec retary and
Rec ep tionist
p ositions and
their
roles as members of the Offic e of
Communic ation
staff
.
These p ositions should be looked at with an
eye
toward how work is
p rioritized as it
relates to c ommunic ation g oals . How muc h time is being sp ent on eac h task? I s the
time
sp ent alig ned with c ommunic ation p riorities?
Rec ommendation for additional staffing
We
rec ommend the distric t
hire a . 5 volunteer c oordinator at this time . I n addition, we
sug g est the distric t c onsider the c reation of a
full-time Chief Communic ations Offic er p osition
when the budg et allows . Our overall rec ommendation is to
add
an additional
1 . 5 FTE to the
Offic e of Communic ations .
NSPRA
Communic ationAudit

70

Baltimore County Public Sc hools

Appendix
What is NSPRA?
Cons ultants ' Res umes
Principals '
Communication
Checklis t
NSPRA
CommunicationAudit

71

BaltimoreCounty
PublicSchools
n?~A_L
. . . THE LEADER IN SCHOOL
COMMUNICATIONS
Since 1935, the National School Public Rela-
tions As s ociation has been providing
s chool commu-
nication
training
and
s ervices to s chool leaders
throughout the United States , Canada, and the U. S.
Dependent Schools worldwide .
NSPRA's
mis s ion is to advance education
through
res pons ible communication. We accomplis h
that mis s ion through a
variety of
divers e s ervices
that
we provide
to our members and to other s chool
leaders who contract with or
purchas e products from
us .
With over 65 y ears of experience, we
have a
reputation
in the field for practical approaches to
s olving
s chool dis trict and agency communication
problems . We have us eful communicationproducts ,
offer works hops and s eminars ,
maintain res ource and
res earch files ,
have contacts and res ources within the
corporate communication
indus try , and
have
35
chapters throughout
the country that provide local
networking opportunities for members .
Inkeeping with our mis s ion, NSPRA
provides
works hop as s is tance
to s chool dis tricts , s tate depart-
ments of education, regional s ervice
agencies , and
s tate and national as s ociations . For
many of thes e
groups ,
we have completed res earch-bas ed commu-
nication audits to analy ze the communication flow,
targeting, content, and effectivenes s
of their com-
munication
mes s ages .
The NSPRA
National Seminar, the mos t
comprehens ive s chool communication works hop
any -
where, is held each July .
This four-day s es s ion
offers more than
70 topics on a wide array of s chool
communication is s ues . The July
2002 s eminar will be
held in San Diego, California
.
What is NSPRA?
NSPRA's monthly
members hip news letter
Network is s een as a communication
res ource
for
s chool leaders , not jus t our members
.
Each
edition
tackles a
major problem and explains how commu-
nicationcan play a vital role in s olving it .
PRincipal Communicator
is our building-
level PRnews letter which
provides practical help to
s chool principals and other building-level leaders .
The calendar and variety
of communication topics
are helping many to effectively improve communica-
tionat the community level .
Our three electronic news letters , The NSPRA
Couns elor, NSPRA Alert, and Opportunities , provide
s ummaries of breaking national education
news , in
depth s tudies of is s ues and
trends , and updates on
s eminars , products and s ervices available to educa-
tors .
The Flag of Learning and Liberty is a national
education s y mbol, developed by NSPRAin its 50th
Annivers ary Year. On July 4 , 1985, the Flag of
Learning and Liberty flew over the s tate hous es of all
50 s tates to launch the rededication of America's
commitment to education and a democratic, free
s ociety .
NSPRAis a member of the Educational Lead-
ers Cons ortium and works with all major national
organizations to help improve educational opportu
nities for the nation's y oung people . In addition,
NSPRA is a s pons oring agency of the Educational
Res earch
Service (ERS).
The as s ociation als o s pons ors four
national
awards programs to bring recognition for excellence
in communication to individuals , dis tricts
and agen-
cies .
National School Public Relations As s ociation.
1594 8
Derwood Road - Rockville MD20855 - (301)
519-04 96
" FAX (901) 51-04 4 4 . www. ns prs
. org
. . . THE LEADER IN SCHOOL
COMMUNICATIONS
Karen H. Kleinz, APR
KarenH.
Kleinz, APR, as s o c iat e ex ec u t iv e d irec t o r o f
t h e Nat io nal Sc h o o l Pu blic Relat io ns As s o c iat io n
(NSPRA)
h as o v er 20 y ears ex perienc e
in pu blic relat io ns , wo rking in t h e priv at e s ec t o r as well as pu blic
ed u c at io n.
Sh e h as wo n nu mero u s s t at e and nat io nal
award s fo r h er wo rk . Sh e is als o ac c red it ed
in
pu blic
relat io ns (APR)
.
Sinc ej o ining
NSPRA, Karenh as repres ent ed t h e as s o c iat io n ina
part ners h ip wit h t h e Annenberg Ins t it u t e
fo r Sc h o o l Refo rm t o
pro mo t e pu blic engagement s t rat egies d es igned t o
h elp ed u c at o rs d ev elo p effec t iv e
relat io ns h ips
wit h parent s and
c o mmu nit y . Sh e h as als o beenv ery inv o lv ed
in t h e is s u e o s c h o o l v io lenc e
and inh elping s c h o o ls
and ed u c at o rs c o mmu nic at e wit h
t h eir pu blic s in a c ris is s it u at io n,
inc lu d ing
pro v id ing o n- s it e as s is t anc e
t o t h e J effers o n Co u nt y (Co lo . )
Pu blic Sc h o o ls c o mmu nic at io n d epart ment in
t h e aft ermat h o f t h e
Co lu mbineHigh Sc h o o l t raged y .
Karen h as d ev elo ped
and managed s c h o o l pu blic relat io ns
pro grams fo r d iv ers e s c h o o l d is t ric t s , fro m
s mall, s emi- ru ral d is t ric t s
wit h large no n- Englis h s peaking
mino rit y po pu lat io ns t o t h e larges t element ary
d is t ric t in Arizo na, s erv ing
s u bu rban Ph o enix . As d irec t o r o f d is t ric t
pu blic relat io ns s h ewas res po ns ible
fo r
int ernal and ex t ernal
c o mmu nic at io ns , inc lu d ing s erv ing as s po kes pers o n
inc ris is s it u at io ns . Sh eals o
was
res po ns ible fo rmed iarelat io ns ,
o v ers eeing d is t ric t pu blic at io ns ,
t raining ad minis t rat o rs and t eac h ers in
effec t iv e
c o mmu nic at io ns , pro mo t ing
c o mmu nit y inv o lv ement and v o lu nt eeris m
in t h e s c h o o ls , c o o rd inat ing
bo nd elec t io n
c ampaigns and
engaging t h epu blic in d eliberat iv e d is c u s s io ns
abo u t ed u c at io n t h ro u gh s t u d y
c irc les and
c o mmu nit y fo ru ms .
Her d is t ric t ex perienc e
inc lu d es o perat ing as a o nepers o n
o ffic e t o s u perv is ing a
c o mmu nic at io ns s t aff t h at
inc lu d ed afu ll
s erv ic e print s h o p . Sh e h as c reat ed award
winning pu blic relat io ns o ffic es
in d is t ric t s t h at
h ad no ne, and ex pand ed
pro grams ind is t ric t s wit h es t ablis h ed
d epart ment s .
Kleinz als o
o perat ed a pu blic
relat io ns c o ns u lt ing bu s ines s in Arizo na
s pec ializing in s c h o o l
c o mmu nic at io ns .
As a c o ns u lt ant s h e as s is t ed
s c h o o ls and d is t ric t s in d ev elo ping
a po s it iv e image and
wo rk
env iro nment t h ro u gh
impro v ed c o mmu nic at io ns . Sh e
c o llabo rat ed wit h Caro ly n
Warnero nPro mo t ing
Yo u rSc h o o l -
Go ing Bey o nd PRpu blis h ed by Co rwin
Pres s Inc .
Befo rej o ining t h eNSPRA
s t aff Kleinz s erv ed o nt h e
NSPRAEx ec u t iv e Bo ard as Vic e
Pres id ent o f t h e
So u t h wes t
Regio n and t wic e s erv ed as
Pres id ent o f t h e Arizo na
Sc h o o l Pu blic Relat io ns
As s o c iat io n. Sh e
was als o amembero f
t h eTeac h er Vent u re Arizo na
ex ec u t iv e bo ard , ano n- pro fit
gro u p o f bu s ines s and
s c h o o l lead ers wh o d is t ribu t e c las s ro o m
minigrant s t o t eac h ers
annu ally , and was afo u nd ing
bo ard
member o f t h e Yu ma
Co u nt y (Arizo na) Ed u c at io nal
Fo u nd at io n.
NSPRA's mis s io n is
t o ad v anc eed u c at io n t h ro u gh
res po ns ible c o mmu nic at io n,
and it h as been pro v id ing
s c h o o l
c o mmu nic at io n t raining and s erv ic es t o
s c h o o l lead ers t h ro u gh o u t
t h e Unit ed St at es and Canad a
s inc e 1935
.
Nat io nal Sc h o o l
Pu blic Relat io ns
As s o c iat io n" 15948
Derwo o d Ro ad " Ro c kv ille
MD
2085 6
" (301) 518- 0496 "
FAX(301)
519- 0494 "
www. ns pra. o rg
T n q p ~ l _ k

M
. . . T HE
LEADER IN SCHOOL COMMUNICAT IONS
Ken n eth K. Muir,
Ed. D
. ,
APR
Ken Muir is an education writin g, p l an n in g
an d p ubl ic rel ation s con s ul tan t s in ce his retiremen t
from the Mon tgomery Coun ty (Maryl an d) Publ ic
School s
in
Jun e 1990, after a 33-year career in
p ubl ic education .
He has work ed as afin an cial
an dp ubl ic rel ation s con s ul tan t for the Nation al School
Publ ic
Rel ation s
As s ociation s in ce Jan uary 1992. He was p res iden t ofNSPRAin 1974-75.
Ken
began
his
education career in the Bal timore (Maryl an d) City Publ ic School s in
1957 as a
bus in es s
education teacher. After s ecurin g more graduate train in g,
he became a high s chool
coun s el or.
In
1966,
he became director of in formation for
theMon tgomery Coun ty Publ ic School s an d
con tin ued in that p os t un til 1985 . Atthat p oin t he headed
a
n ew
Dep artmen t of
Lon g-ran ge
Pl an n in g
.
In 1988, that was con s ol idated
in to the
n ew
Dep artmen t ofMan agemen t, Budget an d
Pl an n in g, where Ken became s up ervis or
of man agemen t an d
p l an n in g
s ervices .
Ken 's bachel or's degree, in
accoun tin g an deducation , was earn ed at An tioch Col l ege. His M. Ed.
Degree is from the Un ivers ity
ofMaryl an d, an dEd. D. from George Was hin gton Un ivers ity. He is
accredited in p ubl ic
rel ation s (APR), earn in g that dis tin ction in 1978 .
Nation al School
Publ ic Rel ation s As s ociation " 15948
Darwood Road " Rock vil l e MO
20855 " (301)519-0496 " FAX(301) 519-0494 "
www. n op ra. org
Communication
Checklist for
_L

School
Principals
Baltimore County Public Schools
Please note:

This quick-to-complete checklist is a tool being used to help complete a communication audit for
your school system. Once you complete it, please forward it to
by

. Thank you for your cooperation.

office/person
to
Please check one response for each question.
1 .

Aschool
newspaper is sent to parents on aregular basis.
2.

Efforts are made to acquaint new families with curricu-

lum/services :
Before school begins
During the school year
3 .

The principal and office staff respond quickly to ques-

tions and
concerns .
4.

'Parents have opportunities to voice ideas and concerns

about the school through :
Parent/teacher organization
Advisorycommittees
Schoolbased management
Other
5.

Volunteer programs in the school include :

Senior citizens
Business/civic partnerships
Parents
Other
6.

Prior
to parent/teacher conferences,
inservice training
programs are conducted for.
All teachers
New teachers
7.

Before openhouse and/or curriculum nights, teachers

receive inservice training in making presentations,
working with diverse cultures, etc.
8 .

Teachers are encouraged to arrange special events to

encourage parents to come to school .
9.

Special programs are offered to

help parents help their
children learn.
10.

The school has established business

partnerships or other
business support
programs .
Always Frequently Occasionally
Never
82
27
Mal
16
82
39
20
30
56
L'ix 3
26
10
56
64
0
0
0
EID
0
68
49
Please checkas appropriate.
11 .

Two-way communication with teachers

is achieved through:
Meetings
Memos
Newsletters
School-based
management
Other
18 .
19 .
20.
21 .
10
56
58
50
75
Does your school use any of the following
to communicate with parents
:
E-mail
Voice-mail
Website
Cable T. V.
Have you taken any survey
to determine how parents feel about the
information/communication
they
receive from your
school?

YES 93

NO 62
ambassadors .

. .

- . .

m
Do you have programs
to involve non-parents in
school activities? YES
Would you like assistance in
developing a PRplan for your
school?
Two-way
communication with support
staff
is achieved through:
Meetings 44
Memos 150
Newsletters
School-based
management
Other
14.

Does your school use any of

the following
to communicate with
staff-
E-mail 02
26 Voice-mail
Website
Cable T
. V .

14
Have you
held
a
staff meeting or workshop on home/school
communications this year?
YES

NO
10
96
YES
NO
`83
Would you like to offer an
inservice training program in communication
or public relations for
your
staff? YES
E]

NO
NO
What could
your district administration do
that would be most helpful
to you
in
planning and carry
ing out your
communication
efforts?
National School
Public Relations
Association, 15948 Derwood
Rd
. , Rockville, MD20855 301/5I9-0496,
FAX301/519-0494
4. Other:
Conferences/conference
with teacher and/or administration
( 7 )
Direct
communications with administration/principal
( 6)
Phone calls to staff ( 7 )
Teachers
Newsletter
Letters
( 2)
Athletic
events
AFG
process
Workshops/workshop nights
( 2)
Community meetings in
their community-
quarterly
Surveys/evaluations
( 7 )
Action
teams
Team meetings
SIT
Principal/AP
Sports
boosters/alumni association
Voice mail
Board of Directors
Team levels
IEP teams
meetings ( 3 )
Informal
visits/channels ( 3 )
Open
door
E-mail ( 2)
5. Other:
College/university students ( 8 )
Student graduates
High school students
( 12)
Middle
school students
Students
from other
schools ( 2)
Mentors
Sports/band
boosters
Advisory boards
Other family
members
Grandparents
Staff
Service learning
Parents of
ESOL children
Baltimore
County Public Schools
Communication Checklist
for School Principals
Comments
11 . Other:
Informal conversations
(5)
Open-door policy (2 )
E-mail (18)
Individual/one-to-one conferences (15)
Face-to-face
Phone system
Leadership council
Chairmen (2 )
Grade
level chairperson
(2 )
School messenger service
Grade level meetings (9 )
Department
meetings
Teams/team meetings
(2 )
Meetings with administration
Faculty meetings
Faculty council (4 )
Workgroups/grade level teams
Orally
Dialogue
Announcements (3 )
Voice mail (2 )
Individual/person
contacts (2 )
Stafflprofessional development (2 )
Staff/faculty bulletin (4 )
Classroom newsletters
Department
memos
Mail
MBWA
SIT
12 . Other:
Informal conversations (5)
Open-door
policy (2 )
E-mail (15)
Department meetings
Team leaders
School messenger
service
Face-to-face
Individual/one-to-one conferences (12 )
Voice
mail
Bulletin (3 )
Department memos
Grade level meetings
Special education meetings
Cafeteria
meetings
Special area meetings
Tutor
monthly meetings
12 . Other: (continued)
Support
s ta f f meetings
Announcements
Prof es s iona l development
Dia logue
School publica tions
Ma il
Gra de cha irpers on
Individua l da ily conta ct
Through other s ta f f
School vis its
Fa culty
council
21 .
Comments :
"

Sha ring ef f ective

s tra tegies a nd a ctivities tha t others ha ve
s ucces s f ully
implemented.
Upda ted
equipment.
Communica te
with us in a more timely f a s hion,
s o tha t we ca n s ha re the
inf orma tion
with s ta keholders a t s ome
time prior to the la s t minute
.
See #19 a nd #20. (2)
"

Upda te our
technology (we're outda ted) ; conduct
initia l dia logue with
potentia l
bus ines s pa rtners hips .
Provide ba ckground
inf orma tion a nd res ources f or the
a bove.
Compile wa y s s chools
communica te tha t pa rents
f ind mos t helpf ul .
Include in
genera l s urvey s o
we ca n res pond to pa rents '
needs .
My executive
director receives our
news letters a nd a lwa y s
ca lls f or
cla rif ica tion a nd to of f er
s upport/res ources . Continuing
thes e ef f orts certa inly
s upports my
ef f orts .
Continue
s upporting/promoting
the "Pa rent Mobile" a nd the
"Pa rent
Res ources
Of f ice. " They
ha ve been helpf ul in
genera ting idea s f or opening
lines of communica tion .
Provide inf orma tion
pa cket tha t
includes templa tes f or
overhea ds a nd
works heets
.
As s is t a s a lia is on between
bus ines s es a nd the s chool
. As s is t in s etting up
pa rtners hips by
providing s chools with
inf orma tion a bout
bus ines s es willing
to
ta ke on
pa rtners hips .
They
ha ve been very
helpf ul . (2)
"

Give inf orma tion

directly to tea chers
via e-ma il. Hold open
meetings f or
pa rents s o they know
tha t thes e a re
s y s tem-wide initia tives .
Provide
ins ervice tra ining
s es s ions a nd/or tips to
enha nce PR.
Be certa in
we receive a ccura te
communica tion a bout
decis ions in
timely
f a s hion.
Get
our s chool networked
s oon .
1 would love
the e-ma il a ddres s es
of loca l pa pers to
e-ma il s tory
events /pictures ,
etc. to .
Sa ves time.
21 . Comments: (continued)
Provide a rticl es for newsl etters from curricul um
offices to inform pa rents
of
curricul um
issues.
Resource personnel .
"

Sha re other school s' initia tives a nd

successes.
Reduce the
a mount of communica tion/pa perwork coming via
e-ma il /interoffice.
"

Hel p us set up a nd ma inta in a

web site.
"

Provide
curricul um/system-wide "drop-in" a rticl es for
newsl etters; more
visits from the "Pa rent Mobil e. "
Asa n a spiring principa l ca ndida te, this is how I
woul d respond if I ha d a
school .
We do grea t things a t Mil brook. However,
wedon't ma rket it very wel l . Hel p
me l ea rn how to promote the positive!
" N/A
"

Riderwood pa rents a re a ctive

a nd supportive in their rol es in the school . They
a re a ctivel y enga ged in student l ea rning a nd privy
to wha t is going on in
curricul um a nd instructiona l l y . So fa r so good .
"

El ementa ry
office providing informa tion on new curricul um, i . e. ,
Houghton
Mittl in a nd Open CourtRea ding Series
. Communica tion with pa rents is
a ccompl ished through school newsl etter, individua l tea cher
newsl etters, PTA
newsl etter a nd SI T newsl etter.
"

Occa siona l l y a ttend PTA Executive

Meeting on first Tuesda y of the month.
We need I nternet ca pa bil ities.
"

Continue
to provide support for school -ba sed decisions whenpa rents ca l l
the
a rea office.
"

Working with sta ff devel opment with tea chers

. They need more refl ection on
the "big
picture" a nd
the messa ges tha t we in educa tion send .
"

Hel p us to a scerta in tha tinforma tion

sent through newsl etters is being
a ctua l l y rea d a nd used by the intended
a udiences.
"

Offer some of the a bove.

"

Del l Computer La b technol ogy tra ining.

Continue September bul l etins.
"

Continue to send us e-ma il

on a rea news.
"

Continue to communica te via Superintendent's Bul l etin.

Support
technol ogy .
"

Before a ny news goes to media , inform

us of wha t wil l ha ppen, cl osed/open.
"

Effective inservice tra ining

on communica tion.
"

We need a n emergency pl a n for quick

communica tion with school s before
pa rents hea r it.
I nvol ve Ca bl e 73 more definitivel y . I t needs
grea t improvement to showca se
system.
"

Attend certa in
in-school meetings.
"

I think we ha ve a strong communica tion system in pl a ce. Tha nks!

0

Devel op a generic system-wide survey

to a ddress #17 a bove.
21 . Comments:
(continued)
I would lik e to work with school system
personnel in order to develop a
better PRplan for our school
and
to
plan training programs for staff
members
.
Train one or two'staff members to serve as
liaisons/ writers of articles to be
submitted to local press (i. e. , NE
Booster, Dundalk Eagle, etc . ) .
"

Alert school personnel

about information before The Sunprints it.
Weneed
staff/ personnel to help with this. We
are already swamped!
Provide us with moretraining on
strategies to faster, better communication.
"

I nservice training
for staff and administration.
Mak e available mobile communication units
lik e the "Parent Mobile. "
Keep us better informed on
issues so wedon't have to get our
information
from The Sunpaper.
Teachers
need computers to have e-mail
access to parents and businesses.
"

Connecting businesses
directly to us to eliminate the need to
campaign
ourselves.
Upgrading
technology so that each teacher
can access I nternet from their own
computer
; helping to evaluate and plan
for alternative methods
(other than
newsletter) for communicating
with parents.
"

Help more directly with

web site development.
Complete network ing of
schools
and provide all teachers and staff
members with upgraded or
new
computers to use technology for
communicating with community.
Not sure if resources
are available.
Provide staff
development on effective
conferences/ communication
. Provide
technical assistance in setting
up a school web site.
Communicate directly
with schools in a timely
and effective manner during
a
crisis or
emergencies.
Provide
each school with a technical
person not assigned
a class who can
k eep the web site current
.
Our bulletin
has become enormous with
a great deal of week ly
information
for
principals to read, sort through,
and dissemination of
information is very
time
consuming and can be
overwhelming .
Provide a
meeting that would offer ideas,
strategies and assessment
tools to
target
and enhance communication,
parent involvement
and school
perceptions.
1 have an idea
for the system, which I 'd
love to share with Dr.
Hairston.
Share
best practices and strategies
.
V isit with
PTSA Executive Board
.
"

Provide an
inservice pre-pack aged
presentation for
faculty/ staff .
Answer the phone when
wecall. I hate
that voice mail!
Open
up discussion at an
area meeting to discover
what other schools
in the
area are
doing to promote PR.
Purchase the hardware
for voice mail,
homework hotline and
calling system.
Web site
development. Alert
parents to events. Call for
absentees.
I ncrease
communication
between parents and
teachers.
21 . Comments: (continued)
"

See th a t wereceive
recognition/press covera ge for student a nd sta ff
a ccomplish ments.
"

Assistin developing web site.

"

Upgra de voice ma il .
"

Network in sch ool .

"

Provide sta ff development model .

" Tra ining .
"

Sta ff development.
"

Resource
a ssista nce.
"

Provide tech nica l support for setting up a

web site.
"

Continue current level of support.

"

Rema in supportive
a nd responsive.
"

Develop more "h owto" ma teria ls.

Misc. Remarks
Question #1 :
"

Always
-Parents like it to be meaningful .
"

Always -on a regular basis

"

Always -
bi-weekly
Question #3 :
"

Always -ASAP
"

Frequently -principal
"

Occasionally -other staff

Question
#4 :
"

Advisory committees -as needed

"

Parent/teacher organization
-n/a (2)
Question #5 :
"

Business/civic partnerships -Occasionally -past

"

Senior citizens -Never -not interested, although they have been

approached
Question #6.:
"

Inservice training programs -Do this in newsletter format

more frequently .
"

Inservice training programs -in school

through guidance and chairmen
"

New teachers - (e. g . ,

mentor program)
"

All teachers - Occasionally -as needed

Question
#7 :
"

Occasionally -as needed

"

Occasionally -
veteran staff as needed/requested
"

Always -new teachers

" N/A
Question #9 :
"

Occasionally -
through PTA and administration
Question #10:
"

Occasionally -ongoing
"

Occasionally -in past

"

We don't have
a business partner.
Question 411 :
"

Newsletters -staff bulletins

Weekly
grade level meetings; notes to
administration ; monthly team
meetings
with administration
team
Question #12:
"

Weekly grade lev el meetings ; notes to administration ; monthly

team meetings
with administration
Question # 13 :
"

E-mail - some teachers ( 3)

"

E-mail - limited
"

E-mail - beginning
"

E-mail -just getting started

"

E-mail - since Nov ember 2001

"

E-mail - not all

"

E-mail - with indiv idual teachers

at
home
"

E-mail - some staf f hav e e-mail addresses

"

Voice-mail -
limited
"

Voice-mail - working on
"

Voice-mail - one way v oice mail

"

Voice-mail - call out system

"

Cable T.V. - no, except BCPSstation

"

Cable
T. V.
- I t is being completed
.
"

Website - 1 teacher
"

Website - coming
"

Website - beginning
"

Website - being dev eloped

"

Website - ( PTA)
"

Website -just starting

"

Website - planned
"

Website - will once building

is networked
"

Local papers
Question #14:
"

E-mail - coming
"

E-mail
-
as soon as technology is av ailable
"

E-mail - some hav e ( 2)

"

E-mail - since Nov ember 2001

"

E-mail - limited
"

E-mail - next August

"

Cable T. V - in house
" Fax
"

We need the ability . I f we had it, we'd use it .

Question #15:
"

Hav en't but should

" Sometimes
Question
#16:
"

Yes -a s r el a ted to technol ogy

"

Yes -p a r tia l
meetings
"

Yes -
r ep or t ca r d meetings
"

Yes -wa s a segment of a fa cul ty

meeting
"

Yes -in tea ms

a nd on sma l l gr oup b a sis, b ut
not the entir e sta ff
"

Yes -
I t wa s a p a r t of sev er a l
meetings .
"

Yes -gr a d e
l ev el meetings (2)
"

Yes -b ut
not a s a sep a r a te top ic
"

No -b ut "yes" to
ind iv id ua l office sta ff onl y
"

No -a p a r ent
wor kshop
"

Pa r t
of meetings
Question #17:
"

Yes -a t
Meet the Pr incip a l s
Night
"

Yes -infor ma l
-PTSAJSI T
"

Yes -
coming
"

Yes -in the p a st,

not this yea r
"

Yes -
I MAP
"

Yes
-
end of l a st yea r , not
this yea r
"

No -not yet
"

No -
howev er , p a r ent feed b a ck a t PTA
Executiv e Boa r d ,
SI T a nd inter na l
conta cts
"

No -not yet
this yea r (2)
"

No
-
p l a nned for this yea r
"

No -infor ma l l y
onl y a t PTA meeting
"

No -in
Ja nua r y
"

No -b eing p l a nned
thr ough school imp r ov ement
tea m
"

Committee is
d esigning one a s p a r t of
SI T Action Tea m
"

Wil l this
yea r
"

We wil l this yea r

thr ough the School
I mp r ov ement Tea m .
"

Onl y infor ma l l y
. Officia l sur v ey is
cond ucted l a ter in the
yea r .
Question #18:
"

Yes -
tutor s for r ea d ing
"

Yes -PTA
"

Yes -
Science F a ir , Ca r eer
F a ir
"

Yes -
high school mentor
p r ogr a m with ev ent
"

Yes -
gr a nd p a r ents, Pea ce Cor p . ,
v ol unteer s, etc .
"

No -no sp ecific p r ogr a m,

b ut a l l a r e
wel come a nd to
v ol unteer
Question #19:
"

Yes -Beca use of our "choice"

school sta tus, some
community
memb er s
p er ceiv e us
a s the l owest a chiev ing
school in the county
. We a r e
wor king to
cha nge this
p er cep tion a nd woul d a p p r ecia te
a ny a ssista nce
.
"

Yes -a l wa ys r oom for

imp r ov ement
Question #19: (continued)
"

Yes -next year

"

Yes
-
But
I don't think they would attend . Teachers believe they are excellent
communicators, and they're not .
"

Yes -for new ideas or approaches

"

No -can be handled in-house

"

No -good
idea but not at
this
time,
next
year
"

No -not at this time

Question #20:
"

Yes
-
I f it
is
not cumbersome .
"

Yes - I f it could involve Cable 73 .

"

Yes -always can be helpful

"

No -We have a plan through our Parent/Community

I nvolvement Action
Team.
"

No
-
We
are
currently working with the Office of Professional Development .
"

No -not at this time