SchoolCEO Spring 2024

POWERED BY APPTEG Y SPRING

HIGHLIGHTS:

Artificial intelligence expert Rebecca Bultsma, APR, on what generative AI means for school comms

How one finalist for AASA’s Superintendent of the Year turned her district into an enterprise

Partners in Comms: How Superintendents and School Co + mmunicators Can Work Better Together

Research: A Seat at the Table

New Findings on School Communicators Presented by SchoolCEO and NSPRA

The Case for Comms Directors

Why Your District Needs a Full-Time School Communicator

How can communicators and leaders work better tog eth er?

Peanut butter and jelly. Needle and thread. Salt and pepper. All these pairings have one thing in common: They work better together than they do apart. But in your central office, there’s another such partnership you may be overlooking: the one between superintendent and school communicator.

In your district, the work of building a communications strategy may be siloed in either the superintendent’s office or the communications department. Maybe you, as the superintendent, are handling comms all by yourself—or maybe you’ve left it completely in the hands of your district’s comms director or team. But truthfully, neither of these approaches is ideal. The most effective communications strategies are founded on a solid partnership between the district’s comms director and the superintendent.

If you’re a superintendent already tackling communications solo, you may be wondering if you need a comms pro in your district at all. In short, the answer is yes. As we’ll show you later in this issue, a school communicator can relieve stress in your already stressful job, offer a unique perspective on your work, and even help generate funding for your district. That said, having a comms director in your central office doesn’t give you license to walk away from communications. Your comms chief needs you just as much as you need them.

School communicators (and their teams, if they have them) cannot do their jobs adequately without the help, support, and respect of their superintendents. They don’t need you to hold their hands or micromanage them. What they need is access—access to you and to the decisions being made at the highest levels of your district. Later in this issue, we’ll share research we conducted in partnership with the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) on this very topic. Do school communications professionals have “a seat at the table” when it comes to their districts’ executive decision-making? And what else do they need to feel supported in their work?

We wanted this edition to be something that superintendents and school communicators could read and discuss together. Some of the content you’ll find here will be more helpful to school leaders—like guidelines on hiring your first comms professional. Some is geared toward communicators—like tips on writing in someone else’s voice. We’ve also included a Q&A with a superintendent-communicator team on how they manage their collaborative work.

Strong school brands are powered by effective teamwork between supers and their comms professionals. We hope the content you’ll find in these pages will support you both in strengthening your all-important partnership.

Editor: Melissa Hite

OUR TEAM

How a small Texas district expanded both the capacity of their comms office and the opportunities they offer students 9

Dr. Pete Hannigan and Comms Specialist Samantha Cook share strategies for working collaboratively. 14

Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora is leading her district to new heights with against-allodds tenacity and an enterprising spirit. 22

Does your district really need a full-time school communicator? We believe the answer is yes. Here’s why. 26

In a world where school communication is more powerful than ever, what do comms pros need to be successful?

38

If you’re hiring your district’s first comms lead, here’s some expert insight to help you find the perfect fit.

48

Artificial intelligence is here to stay—so how can schools use it to their advantage? Guest writer Rebecca Bultsma, APR, breaks it all down.

The data is in: No matter how you feel about it, artificial intelligence is changing school communications.

50

We asked a few professional ghostwriters for their best advice on writing in someone else’s voice.

54

How three communications directors dealt with tough PR situations in their districts—and how you can do the same

These shortcuts will help you save time and stress as you tell your district’s story and keep your stakeholders informed.

Want to read up on all you’ve missed? Past issues are available at: schoolceo.com

Scan this QR code to read and share this issue online.

Listen to SchoolCEO’s podcast and join the conversation.

Plus, find us on social media: X: @School_CEO

LinkedIn: SchoolCEO

SCHOOL SHOUT OUT : ALL HANDS ON DECK

BY MARIE KRESSIN

In a perfect world, every school district would have access to a robust, well-resourced communications team. We all know, however, that this is simply not the case—especially in smaller districts. According to NSPRA’s 2022 Profile of a School Communicator survey, it’s very rare for a small district to have a large communications team. In fact, over threefourths of districts with fewer than 2,000 students reported having only one communications professional on staff—a finding that rings true for Lytle ISD in Texas.

Right on the outskirts of San Antonio, Lytle ISD has just over 1,700 students, 74% of whom are economically

disadvantaged. “A lot of our kids don’t have access to the kinds of experiences that would really open up their horizons,” says Lorrianne Migura, Lytle’s public relations director and sole communications professional.

Like so many other small districts, Lytle ISD found themselves looking for ways to expand both the capacity of their communications office and the opportunities they offer students—without exceeding their budget. Their answer? Skull Studios.

What Is Skull Studios?

Thankfully, Skull Studios has absolutely nothing to do with skeletons. Instead, the name comes from Lytle ISD’s mascot: the Pirates. Skull Studios is a student organization that provides marketing and communications support both for the district and for businesses in the surrounding community. From logo design to web commercials to commercial printing, Skull Studios does it all—but it took them a while to get to where they are now.

Migura first came to Lytle ISD as a private consultant to help the district make their audiovisual technology and commercial photography classes more career-focused. But by the end of their first meeting with Migura, high school leadership was asking her to come work at their campus full time. The job would be a big pay cut for Migura, but she was drawn to the work because she knew how much good she could do working for the schools.

“So I made a huge decision to get certified through an alternate program and start teaching,” Migura says. “I probably wasn’t a very good teacher at first, but I loved the kids. I absolutely loved them.” Migura tells us that when she first stepped into the classroom, she didn’t have a clear curriculum, and she wasn’t sure where to begin. So she decided to take a project-based approach, similar to her own education as a public relations professional. “I didn’t want to just give them cookie-cutter projects, though,” Migura explains. “I wanted them to do projects that would actually help the district.”

Thanks to the vision of Lytle’s former communications officer, Derrick Adams, and Superintendent Michelle Carroll Smith, Skull Studios was already in operation before Migura ever came aboard. But thanks to Migura’s expertise in photography and video production, her classes could support Skull Studios in expanding the types of projects they took on. In the past, the club had focused mainly on making Lytle ISD Pirates merchandise for fundraisers, but now they were doing portrait photography and livestreaming football games.

Eventually, Migura moved into the role of public relations director. “I had no budget to hire staff, but we clearly needed to better communicate our success stories to the community,” Migura says. “And I knew the district’s communications needs created a pipeline of real-world work that my students could produce with my guidance, while also building their own portfolios.”

In partnership with Skull Studios’ current club sponsor, Andrew Oser, Migura has continued to grow the students’ capacity. Now, they do everything from documentary production to graphic design to vinyl printing. And as their skills have begun to diversify, so too has their clientele.

“The expansion of projects into the community happened very organically when businesses started seeing web stories, photography, videography, and printed signs that were projects completed by students,” Migura tells us. After all, many small businesses don’t have the budgets to hire communications and marketing professionals. But, according to Migura, even organizations that could hire pros often elect to hire Skull Studios because they prefer to use their money to support schools.

“We did a logo for a beautification committee in town,” Migura says. “We designed banners for a music festival. We have a large format printer, and we get quite a bit of business from the community creating vinyl signs.” The list goes on and on. But behind every project, there are students learning and growing, supporting their community both within and beyond the district.

Photos courtesy of Lytle ISD

Supporting the District

It’s true: Skull Studios has done a lot to support the broader community. However, according to Migura, the bulk of the club’s projects come from within the school, including things like printing prom tickets, designing event banners, and even helping out with photography. In fact, Skull Studios produces almost 100% of the district’s sports photography.

“We’re able to provide the raw photos to families for free if they can’t afford the portrait packages,” Migura says, “but we also print the pictures on our high-quality commercial printer to create a portrait package that would normally retail for about $80. We’re able to sell those packages to our families for just $25.”

In order to connect the students behind Skull Studios to the district’s various needs, the club uses a request form. The form asks district personnel to indicate what kind of support they need, whether it’s print services, graphic design, audiovisual support, or something else. Often, though, the club gets request forms that aren’t totally complete or clear. Maybe the staff member knows they need a banner and what they need it to say—but they have no idea what size or material to specify.

“That’s part of the learning,” Migura says. “When you get a client request, you have to do a needs assessment. If you work in a creative firm in the real world, you’re expected to interface with clients, hear their needs, and then try to meet those needs.” Because the club frequently gets requests

from staff members who don’t know exactly what they want, the kids have learned to create options. “In the creative process—especially with graphic design—you should never fall in love with your first design,” Migura says. She expects students to generate two or three different options for every “client,” just as they’d be expected to do in the real world. After all, that’s the goal: to prepare students for life beyond the school’s walls.

Supporting the Community

Skull Studios has done plenty of work for various organizations throughout the community—such as creating web commercials or doing graphic design—but thanks to their staff sponsor’s love of donuts, the club found itself with a new and exciting project: redoing the local donut shop’s menu sign.

As a frequent customer of Lytle Donuts, it had come to Oser’s attention that the shop’s drive-thru menu had fallen into disrepair. The owner had actually reached out to a professional company about getting the sign fixed, only to

Skull Studios member Stefan turned this pencil sketch (left) into a digital design (right) that eventually became the official logo for Lytle’s beautification committee.

receive a quote that was way out of his price range. So Oser asked if the shop would be interested in hiring Skull Studios.

When Skull Studios takes on a project, they charge for materials plus a suggested donation of $10 per hour of work. “That suggested donation helps because we do mess up a lot,” Migura explains. “In a learning environment, you’re going to fail. You’re going to print something wrong. Something’s going to get scratched. Those donations help keep our printer operating and our supplies on hand.” Once all was said and done, the students were able to complete the project at a cost low enough for the shop owner to manage.

“That was probably one of the bigger jobs we’ve done,” Migura says. “The kids didn’t just design it—they actually made the sign, even found the backing material that would fit.” And all that work started with a donut delivery. To kick off the project, the shop owner donated several boxes of donuts for the students to photograph and use in their designs. Of course, once the photos were taken, the donuts were devoured.

“After that,” Migura tells us, “the design work was pretty monotonous: picking a font, lining up prices with donut types, that kind of thing.” In addition to creating design options, the students came up with dimensions and selected a self-adhesive vinyl material for printing. “We’d never done anything like this before,” Migura says, “so there was a lot of YouTubing. How do we get all the bubbles out? How do we use atomizer bottles? That was all done with the kids observing and helping, and their teachers learning right alongside them.”

The revamped sign outside of Lytle Donuts is a proud marker of what Skull Studios can do. “Even though they don’t get paid, I think a big part of the students’ motivation is seeing their work out in the community,” Migura says. Now, the Lytle Donuts drive-thru sign advertises more than kolaches and glazed donuts. It advertises what students can achieve and how much direct impact a school district can have on its community

Supporting Students

In addition to supporting the district and community, Skull Studios supports the growth of the very students doing the work. The club not only lets them explore a variety of career paths, but even allows them to build creative portfolios.

“Especially in rural communities like ours, you don’t have big corporations or employers,” Migura says. “We have H-E-B. We have a couple of banks. But it’s historically agriculture here—and there are only so many jobs with that.” Students involved with Skull Studios gain exposure to careers like graphic design and video editing. They build experience as photographers and writers. And with that, they build their portfolios and resumes.

For example, Skull Studios uses Adobe products for things like layout design and video production. Being able to include “proficient with Adobe products” is a huge boost to any resume. Also, because the students’ assignments are responses to real-world needs—like designing a logo or redoing a menu sign—they’re able to cultivate a creative portfolio of work to take with them beyond graduation. As Migura says, “We can build their resumes with actual work that doesn’t look like it was just a school assignment.”

Wha t’s more, the club will soon transition into a full-scale edu-business, meaning that it will still be run by Skull Studios students but won’t be limited by school club financing rules. “Not all the kids get into graphic design,” Migura says. “Soon we’ll have the kids doing things like looking at spreadsheets, handling billing, or doing data entry on our website.”

But even more than helping to build their resumes and portfolios, Skull Studios is helping Lytle students build their confidence. One of Migura’s favorite annual Skull Studios projects is the documentary they film and enter into the University Interscholastic League’s Young Filmmakers Festival. Last year, the students produced “Housing the Unhoused,” a documentary about a tiny home community that will provide services to unhoused people on the outskirts of San Antonio. This year, their entry “Caiden’s Hope” told the story of a nonprofit that offers financial help to families of premature babies. Both films won the state championship

“We h ave extraordinar y kid s here, many of who m don’t have dream-focused support,” Migura says. It’s important to her that students who show an interest in creative fields are encouraged to recognize their creativity as a professional asset. Skull Studios is a way for students to develop the skills they need in order to turn their dreams into careers.

In fact, three years ago, Migura recruited one of her former students, Adam Leyva, to come back and teach after earning his bachelor’s degree in media arts. As a 2016 Lytle graduate, Leyva easily relates to his students, and Migura says he’s a huge part of Skull Studios students’ success. He’s proof that building creative skills can lead to strong career options.

by Marie Kressin

In another installment of Hawthorn District 73’s popular video series, “Dr. Hannigan’s Shenanigans,” Superintendent Dr. Pete Hannigan holds an old-school box microphone up to a student. “Are you excited for kindergarten?” Hannigan asks. “I’m not in kindergarten. I’m in first grade!” the student laughs into the mic.

“Dr. Hannigan’s Shenanigans” is just one way the Illinois district shares their story with the broader community. Only a few years ago, though, Hawthorn 73 didn’t have any communications personnel at all. They were also experiencing a good amount of negativity on social media. Now, they have a full-time school communicator and consider their social accounts to be places of positivity. So how’d they do it? It’s thanks in no small part to the teamwork of Hannigan and the district’s communications specialist, Samantha Cook.

Hannigan has been a school administrator for 20 years, while Cook is a young millennial professional. It would be easy to assume that working across such a generational gap would be difficult—but that hasn’t been the case. In fact, it’s their differing perspectives and skill sets that have helped Cook and Hannigan work together as a team. In just the last two years, the district has gone from reactive communications to proactive engagement, successfully regaining control of the district’s narrative and sharing positive stories day after day.

AQL et’s start with “Dr. Hannigan’s Shenanigans.” Where did that idea come from?

Hannigan: Back before “Hannigan’s Shenanigans,” I’d go to classrooms and engage with the kids, ask them questions—just get to know them. Then, when I would come back to the district office, everyone would ask, What did you see at Townline? What did you see at the dual language school? At first, I would just tell them stories, but then we had the idea to start filming my interactions with the kids.

My whole life people have said, Pete’s up to shenanigans —so once we had the idea, I suggested “Dr. Hannigan’s Shenanigans.” That’s how we got the name. Then it started snowballing. When we hired Samantha, she was able to take the concept and really bring it to life.

C ook : What’s been really cool about working with Pete is that he’ll just come up with these random ideas. I don’t always know how to feel about them or execute them at first, but then they turn into something awesome.

With “Hannigan’s Shenanigans,” I was a little nervous. Pete really is unfiltered and very direct—so I wasn’t sure how that would work with the kiddos. But he just went with it, and it worked. I’m very fortunate to have a superintendent who’s willing to put himself out there, and not just in the classrooms. Pete’s willing to be visible on social media, which can be a scary, nasty place sometimes.

Hannigan: One of the things I’ve learned is that we need to tell our story. We weren’t telling the Hawthorn story before. I always talk about how we’ve got to make deposits with our community because, as schools, we’re always going to have to make withdrawals. If the goodwill bank is empty and we’re withdrawing from nothing, it’s going to be problematic. The community is hearing all kinds of stuff on the news about what’s happening in schools—some of it’s true, and some of it’s not. As school districts, we need to get out in front of it. We need to tell the story, not let somebody else

Dr. Pete Hannigan Samantha Cook

QA

tell it for us. That’s been the biggest upside of “Dr. Hannigan’s Shenanigans”—we can proactively tell our story.

C ook: And from a PR perspective, it’s honestly been a gold mine. It’s definitely been a multigenerational endeavor. Pete goes out with this old-school big mic, interviews these little kindergarteners through middle schoolers, and gets funny responses. We push it out on Facebook, our most popular platform right now, and everyone loves it—parents, grandparents, the whole community. It’s kind of blown up locally, and now the kids recognize Pete a lot more than before.

P ete, what are the most important parts of your role, and how does Samantha support you in that work?

H annigan: I think the most important part of my role is setting the vision for the district. It’s my job to work with the school board and other stakeholders who are representative of the community in order to determine where we’re going. As the superintendent, my goal is to get everybody moving in the same direction. Then, once the vision is set, it’s my responsibility to develop an action plan, to determine how we’re going to achieve our vision.

That’s where Samantha’s role comes into play. She showcases our work proactively so that there isn’t miscommunication around what the district is trying to accomplish. And when it comes to sharing the district’s vision with the broader community, it’s been helpful to have Samantha’s perspective. Sometimes when I draft something out, I’ll use buzzwords and acronyms, as if everybody should automatically know what I’m talking about. Samantha’s the person who will say, Yo u know what? Nobody in our community is going to understand what the heck you’re trying to say.

As an administrator, it can be easy to end up working with blinders on. We start writing, and we forget that not everybody knows what we know. Samantha helps me communicate in a way that’s digestible for the entire community.

AQS amantha, what are the most important parts of your role, and how does Pete support you in that work?

C ook:

In today’s world of emerging AI, the most important part of my role is to just bring myself. I don’t make as many high-level decisions as Pete does, so what’s most important for me is to bring my humanity, my perspective, my personality, and my understanding. My family is very diverse, much like our district’s community and families are. My mom is a Mexican immigrant. My dad’s a Chicago South Side Black man. I like to think that having that perspective helps expand the table and the solutions that are brought to the table. That’s how I can help Pete and the other decision-makers in our district come to more well-rounded solutions—and then effectively communicate those solutions.

Pete is great about surrounding himself with really strong, intelligent, well-rounded people. That disposition alone is a huge part of how he supports me in my role. He doesn’t just come into my office and say, Here’s the decision. Now write some stuff up. He holds discussions with his assistant superintendents. He’ll write up drafts for me, send me examples of what he wants or what he’s looking for, and then we meet and discuss. I’ll type some stuff up, we’ll meet again, and then we debrief.

That might sound like micromanagement to some people, but in reality, Pete is just a strong leader who has a clear vision of what he wants. And he understands that in order to make his vision a

AQW hat makes you such a good team, and why are you able to collaborate so effectively?

C ook: Like I was saying earlier, Pete doesn’t shy away from differing perspectives. In my personal experience in the workplace, higherups sometimes surround themselves with people who look like them, act like them, talk like them. That’s not the case with Pete. He’s very open and comfortable around people who are different from him, and that’s really helped open up trust and communication between us.

Hannigan: My background is in HR, so I spend a significant amount of time vetting candidates. I want to make sure I invest a lot of effort on the front end. Every day I’m pulled in a thousand different directions, so I have to be able to trust that everyone on my team will do their jobs without me hovering over their shoulders. My role is to oversee things, let them bounce ideas off of me, and provide feedback. That’s why trust is so big for me. I need to be able to trust my people, to know that they’ll get the job done.

In the relatively short time Samantha’s been here, we’ve already had some issues arise that have required a strategic PR response. The way she handled those situations made me trust her as a coworker and team member. She came to me proactively, saying, Here’s the situation. This is what I think we should do. What are your thoughts?

And Samantha’s right: I believe in surrounding myself with different types of people, people who will bring different things to the table. I don’t want everybody to be like me. As a superintendent, I’m constantly getting filled up with information, and ultimately, my job is to take all that information, synthesize it, and then make a decision. I want to make sure I surround myself with different perspectives so that I can make the best decisions possible with the information I have.

AQC ook: What we’ve built together has really been very organic. There definitely aren’t easy steps or a formula to it. Sometimes PR folks who have seen “Hannigan’s Shenanigans” ask me questions like, How do you get Hannigan to do stuff like that? How do you build that relationship? Luckily, Pete’s pretty cool. I don’t think anything goes unspoken between us. Maybe that’s why things have developed so organically. If there’s ever anything going on, we just tell each other.

S chool leaders and communicators are often pressed for time. How do you work smarter, not harder?

H annigan : It’s important to make sure we aren’t duplicating tasks. We want our work to be streamlined, to make sure we’re all on the same page Pete’s gonna do this. Samantha’s gonna do this. The principals are gonna do that. We want to make sure there’s no room for overlap because when we start duplicating work, that’s when people get frustrated. Everybody should know where their lane is and what their role is.

I’m also always thinking about return on investment. Samantha is so good with videos and brochures and things like that, so everybody will come to her, saying , Hey, make this video. Bu t I know th e tim e i t takes for her to build those materials, so I want to make sure it’s a good use of her time.

C ook : On average, a project like “Hannigan’s Shenanigans” is an eight-hour ordeal or more. It takes me about three to four hours to edit one minute of video. Pete plays a crucial role—he is “Hannigan’s Shenanigans.” Even so, I don’t think he’d understand how much goes into it if he wasn’t always checking in to see how it’s going and how far along I am with editing. But he does check in all the time, so he’s able to see how much it takes to produce those videos.

Q A

The reason that’s so important is because, being the millennial people-pleaser that I am, it’s hard for me to say no. My skill set is easy to take advantage of because other people don’t know how much work goes into making even just a short video. Pete has been helpful by protecting my time.

Hannigan: And again, for that to work, we have to intentionally communicate. Samantha and I have tons of informal conversations, but we also have dedicated time in our schedules every other week for a formal, one-on-one, sit-down meeting. That’s when we’re discussing and evaluating the impact of different projects. If something is going to take her eight hours but have little impact, why would we do it?

W hat do you think has made your communications strategy so effective?

H annigan: I’m always planning six or seven weeks out, and I can do that because most of the school year is predictable. We end on June 1; we start on August 21. I know I’m always going to send a backto-school letter on August 21, so why would I wait until August 19 to start writing it? There are always things throughout the school year that we can depend on happening; that’s the 70% that we can control. We need to proactively prepare for that 70%—because when the 30% we can’t control hits, it is time-consuming.

I think that’s been the biggest takeaway now that we have Samantha on board. Before, everything was done reactively. Now—whether Samantha’s making Facebook posts or pushing out information related to a board meeting—our communications are more proactive.

Cook: In our district, we’ve also found that authentic, less polished content fosters more trust within our community. It offers a genuine glimpse into our schools and the people who make them so special. Unlike polished videos, which can sometimes feel like advertisements, organic content resonates more with our audience. It sends the message: We’re kind and normal just like you.

This is particularly visible in “Dr. Hannigan’s Shenanigans.” In my video editing, I try to preserve the authenticity of Pete’s personality by keeping the videos unrefined and lighthearted, with some playful graphics. We avoid overly staged scenes or scripted dialogues because we want the content to remain as true to life as possible. That authenticity is key to our storytelling strategy. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re doing—just telling our story. And our community feels like they’re experiencing it right there with us.

AQS amantha, from your perspective, what can superintendents do to make their communications professionals feel valued?

C ook: It’s important to mention how big a role personality plays in the workplace and in work relationships. Fake and forced feels fake and forced. We’ve all had those jobs where the only conversation you have is: Good morning. How are you? Great.

But it’s not like that with Pete. He’s very easy to be around. He’s not watching to see who comes in late or has to leave a little early. No one feels like they can’t take time off. At the end of the day, Pete just wants to know things are getting done.

This man loves his wife, his kids, his dog Luna. And he knows that the people working in the district have additional priorities as well. I think that makes all the difference. Pete asks me about my family, writes me birthday cards, and seems genuinely invested in my success here at Hawthorn.

Superintendents can make their communications professionals feel valued by simply valuing them as people. Pete knows that when I do well, it’s going to reflect well on him, too. If I’m doing good, he’s doing good. I’ve got his back. He’s got my back. Communications people care a lot about their work. They really do. I think all superintendents need to do is just care about them, too. After all, a communications professional’s entire job is to make their superintendent look good—to make the entire district look good.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora

DR. MARTHA SALAZAR -ZAMORA THE ENTERPRISE SUPER

By Corey Whaley

When Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora describes herself as a lifelong learner, she means it. In first grade, she was on the cover of her hometown newspaper for having perfect attendance in school. But she wasn’t alone. Her dog Mannix stood by her side—along with her teacher, who always let her bring her best friend to class. “He went to school with me every day,” she tells us. “And we sat right up front.”

For Salazar-Zamora, now in her 38th year in education, serving as a superintendent means being both highly personal and powerfully strategic. “Regardless of whether this is your fifth year or your 15th, we have to be bold leaders,” she tells SchoolCEO. “We have to make bold decisions because our students need and deserve it.”

Salazar-Zamora knows all about being bold, too—and being resilient enough to make a lasting impact on the lives of others. “I’m very fortunate to do what I love,” she explains. “But I never expected to be in this seat. I am from a very poor community in south Texas, and I was born with profound hearing loss.” It was Salazar-Zamora’s experience as a young learner that made her the against-all-odds leader she is today.

Salazar-Zamora is currently leading Tomball ISD, about 35 miles north of Houston. The suburban district not only increased its enrollment during the pandemic, but has also continued to exponentially grow the number of students it

serves. “We are putting the ‘fast’ in fast growth,” she explains. When she started at Tomball 10 years ago, the district had just under 10,000 students; today, it has over 22,000.

Despite this overwhelming momentum and an influx of students from all over the world, Tomball has maintained its success as one of the highest-achieving districts in Texas. “We’ve continued a straight-A academic record by keeping high standards and continuing to push the envelope in affording choices and opportunities for our students,” Salazar-Zamora says. The superintendent has also kept a sharp focus on ensuring the district stays as tightknit as possible, even as it grows. “We want you to come here, experience the excellence that we provide in all areas of our community, and see that no matter how large we get, it still feels like home,” she says.

Salazar-Zamora’s leadership extends far beyond the borders of Tomball ISD. She is also the current president of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and the Fast Growth School Coalition, as well as the presidentelect of the Council of Women School Executives. In 2023, TASA named her Texas Superintendent of the Year, and she was subsequently selected by AASA as a top-four finalist for the national honor. “It takes a special person to take care of hearts and take care of business,” Salazar-Zamora tells us. “And I want to be that person.”

Daring to Dream

As a child, Salazar-Zamora was enrolled in both special education—due to her hearing loss—and gifted and talented classes. This gave her an up-close look at how schools serve different kinds of students and the vital role parents play in their children’s education. “My mother was my first advocate,” she says. “She taught me to live by a mantra that I’ve shared with many, many parents: Never, ever let any disability be an inability . Both of my parents taught me that I could do anything anyone else could do. My drive, passion, and the belief that all means all comes from that experience.”

Salazar-Zamora was so impacted by her experience as a student that she initially began her career as a speechlanguage pathologist. First, she worked in a clinical setting, but as soon as she began working with students in Texas’ Alice ISD, she realized her true destiny. “I fell in love with public education,” she tells us. “And I quickly realized that as much as I loved speech therapy, I was an educator through and through.”

She would go on to hold several leadership roles in other Texas districts, from director of special education to assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “These were not jobs I necessarily applied for,” she explains, “but oftentimes because I was tenacious, people saw something in me. What I didn’t realize at the time was that each one of these roles was preparing me for the superintendency.” Salazar-Zamora eventually found her way back to her home district, Kingsville ISD, where she became the first female superintendent in its history. Her three years there were followed by leadership opportunities in larger districts like Houston ISD and Round Rock ISD before making history again as the first woman to lead Tomball ISD.

No matter the roles she’s held, Salazar-Zamora has remained grounded in the belief that with support from their schools an d families , any chil d ca n beat th e odds—just like sh e did “I still love to talk to parents, especially those whose children are living with disabilities,” she says. “A parent needs to know that their child can grow up to be whatever their destiny is. All of our kids need to be afforded the opportunity to dream bigger, so parents should work as partners with the public school system to ensure that their child achieves greatness.”

Leaving a Legacy

When we spoke to Salazar-Zamora, she was approaching her seventh anniversary as Tomball ISD’s superintendent—a role she has redefined by being a bold and strategic leader. Of the many things she’s accomplished at the district’s helm, Salazar-Zamora says she’s most proud of the Tomball Innovation Center. This multidisciplinary campus has given the students of Tomball the opportunity to explore a vast array of careers and hone their skills through interactive, onthe-job experiences.

But before the Innovation Center became the multipathway powerhouse it is today, it was just an idea—one that went through many highs and lows before it came to fruition. “This idea actually started off as a partnership with BJ Services, a very large oil and gas company right here in Tomball,” Salazar-Zamora explains. “We were planning to build an academy of energy and international business—first in the state and second in the nation—so that our students would receive their entire high school experience in industry.”

The district had even hired administrators, interviewed staff, and selected students for the academy. But then COVID struck, and like so many companies, BJ Services filed for bankruptcy a few months later. “It was very disheartening,” Salazar-Zamora says. But despite the bankruptcy’s effect throughout the community and the heartache it caused, the project wasn’t a total loss. “The dream didn’t actually die,” she says. “It just had to be repurposed.”

T hat dream began to take its new form months later when Salazar-Zamora, driving by the shuttered headquarters of BJ Services, saw a large “For Sale” sign. Wasting no time, she consulted with the district’s CFO. They quickly realized that with the land under bankruptcy, they could purchase the entire property—70 acres with 10 buildings—at a substantial discount. “So what started as a wild dream has turned into an even wilder reality,” she says. In the end, the district was able to purchase the property, currently valued at close to $400 million, for only $39.5 million.

The options offered by the Tomball Innovation Center run the gamut. It houses the district’s new P-TECH program for medical services, as well as Tomball Star Academy—which blends high school with the first two years of college. “It gives our students the opportunity to graduate with a diploma in one hand and 60 college credits in the other,” SalazarZamora explains. “And this past year, 100% of those academy kiddos graduated with both degrees. We made it happen, and they made it happen. Team Tomball made it happen.”

But, of course, that’s not all. The Tomball Innovation Center also hosts CTE programming covering everything from cybersecurity and law enforcement to drone certification and aviation. The innovation center also recently had a ribbon-cutting for their new Agricultural Science Center— which includes a livestock show barn that doubles as a

robotics arena. “So when there’s not piggies there, there are robots,” Salazar-Zamora says. The dual-use show barn has begun drawing a lot of attention, too. “We already have 15 national robotics competitions slated for that space,” she adds.

“This is a legacy purchase,” says Salazar-Zamora. “I can’t believe how fortunate we are as a district to take something sad and turn it into an opportunity for all.”

The Enterprise Superintendent

In addition to housing the innovation center, the former BJ Services complex has created a vast amount of other opportunities for the district. “These are not buildings in the sense of how we build public schools,” Salazar-Zamora explains. “Oil companies like their marble. Their leather is real leather. And when you buy something in bankruptcy, you get everything that was left behind.”

“We can rent out things like warehouse spaces, cranes, and other big products needed for oil and gas in the area,” Salazar-Zamora says. In fact, the district already leases one of their new buildings to local energy technology company Baker Hughes. “So now we are enterprising and generating new revenue for our schools,” she adds.

Photos courtesy of Tomball ISD

This inno vative approach—finding new sources to supplement school funding—has become a hallmark of Salazar-Zamora’s leadership. “I say I’m an enterprise superintendent,” she explains. “Generally you don’t go into education thinking that business will be such a driving force in what you do, but as the CEO of a school district, you are running a very large business that often employs the largest number of people in a community. So I like to remind people to look within their communities at what opportunities there might be.”

The Innovation Center isn’t the only revenue stream SalazarZamora has found for her schools. “We are also now the prou d owner s of a wastewate r treatment plant, ” sh e says I t all happened because the district needed water treatment access in an underdeveloped part of the community—and, once again, Tomball would have to fork over much-needed funds to ensure their school community was being cared for. “But instead of paying for a service, we created our own,” Salazar-Zamora adds, “and now others are willing to pay us for our wastewater treatment. So we’re generating a substantial amount of money—and serving the community at the same time.”

Under Salazar-Zamora’s leadership, Tomball also recently used bond funds to build a new, state-of-the-art, 10,000-seat football stadium—something a lot of people in the commu nity are thrilled about. “We’re in Texas, okay? So football and athletics are pretty big around here,” she says. What’s more, the stadium includes an event center that the district can utilize themselves—or rent out for weddings, parties, or community events. It’s just one more way the district is gen erating funds that can be put to good use for students.

Despite her against-all-odds approach to leadership, Salaz ar-Zamora is quick to acknowledge that these innovative enterprises wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of support. “I have the most amazing team here in Tomball, and I’m so fortunate to work with people who encourage us to do great things,” she says. “And in this day and age, it takes a supportive, amazing school board, too.”

The superintendent also wants to inspire other leaders to find ways to generate ongoing revenue for their schools. “I’m not saying that’s going to subsidize your entire budget,” she explains, “but it is extra support at a time when not a lot of our politicians are putting additional dollars into our schools— which is so, so necessary.”

Paving the Path

It would be impossible to look at Dr. Salazar-Zamora’s time in Tomball and her many years in education without acknowledging the impact she’s had on other leaders, especially women. “When I became a superintendent over 25 years ago, there were very few, if any, people who looked like me in this role,” she explains. “There were very few women and even fewer women of color. All these years later, there are more of us, but there are still not enough of us.”

And e ven though she’s had a storied career of firsts as a Latina leader, Salazar-Zamora isn’t one to rest on her laurels. “I want to serve as a mentor for women of all ages— those who are just starting their careers and women who have done this for a long time,” she says. “I think my story resonates especially with women of color because they often don’t see themselves in a role like this.”

As a mentor, Salazar-Zamora is dedicated to helping women in leadership like herself find their own voices in public education. In fact, her assistant often tells her that she can’t mentor the entire world. “But we’ve all heard that phrase, To whom much is given, much is expected , right?” she asks. “I believe I’ve had a very fortunate career, so I want to help others on their journeys in education leadership or even outside of education.”

For Salazar-Zamora, helping young leaders sometimes takes the form of sitting in on a dissertation and giving feedback. But in a more personal sense, she is known to hand out her phone number to any young woman who needs inspiration or guidance. “Sometimes they just need encouragement, but it’s important to do anything I can to help them,” she says. “It took 100 years for TASA to have a Latina president, and I vow not to be the last.”

“I believe I’ve had a very fortunate career, so I want to help others on their journeys in education leadership or even outside of educa tion.”

As the mother of two young women and the grandmother of two more, Salazar-Zamora speaks passionately about making sure they know their value. “Young women of color are often disregarded, pushed aside, or not taken seriously,” she says. “They are not fully seen for their strength, for their ability, or for what they can offer. I want to see them, and I want them to see themselves. And if seeing me allows them to see themselves, then I’ve done something right.”

After nearly four decades in public education, SalazarZamora is showing no signs of stopping, and her district and state are all the better for it. “At a time when it is not easy to serve in education—much less public education—I still believe I have the best job in the entire world,” she tells us. “And I’m certainly at retirement age, but I cannot even fathom walking away from a job I love so much. So until that day comes—and it won’t be anytime soon—I’m going to continue doing what I think is important for the students of Tomball ISD and for students everywhere.”

REQ UIRED READING

Books for comms teams and supers to read together

by Heather Palacios

Author Malorie Blackman writes, “Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” A s we thought about tools for forging stronger bonds between superintendents and communications professionals, offering a curated list of books to read only seemed fitting. After all, reading together is one of the best ways to unify your team and blaze new trails for organizational growth.

Our hope is that this collection will empower you to build a stronger culture, market your schools, and tell better stories. These books range in topics, but they share central themes: the power of being different and how small changes can lead to big results. They will unravel any preconceived notions you may have about marketing and challenge you to think differently about every facet of your district. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Beyond Measure

by Dr. Margaret Heffernan

From the publisher: “This book is aimed at everyone— from the CEO to janitor—who wants a better place to work. It looks at the accumulation of small, everyday thoughts and habits that generate and sustain culture: ways of speaking, listening, arguing, thinking, seeing. These aren’t multi-million dollar, multi-year programs; these are small steps that anyone can take at any time, the small steps that mark the beginning of big change.”

Why you should read it: A strong employee culture is at the heart of every thriving school district, and it isn’t something that can be cultivated by one person alone. We love this book because it enables everyone in your organization to embrace the power of small changes that lead to big results. It’ll teach you how to have hard conversations, overcome challenges, and strengthen social bonds. If you’re looking for a book to improve internal collaboration, this is it.

This book pairs well with our podcast episode “Margaret Heffernan: The Big Impact of Small Changes.”

“T o collaborate effectively, you really need at least two things. One, you need other people who will come at the problem in a different way. And two, you all have to have the capacity to endure the ensuing argument, recognizing that it’s how you get to a better place.”

— Dr. Margaret Heffernan

Magic Words by Dr.

Jonah Berger

From the publisher: “New York Times bestselling author Jonah Berger’s cutting-edge research reveals how six types of words can increase your impact in every area of life: from persuading others and building stronger relationships, to boosting creativity and motivating teams. This book is designed for anyone who wants to increase their impact. ... Whether you’re trying to persuade a client, motivate a team, or get a whole organization to see things differently, this book will show you how to leverage the power of magic words.”

Why you should read it: No other book has challenged us to think so deeply about language as it pertains to marketing. Some words are more effective than others; they can influence behavior and even change minds. Everyone will find something to love about this book because it provides the skills necessary for becoming a better communicator inside and outside the workplace.

This book pairs well with our podcast episode “Jonah Berger: Increasing Our Influence.”

“

It’s not just about telling a great story, because you can tell a great story that doesn’t lead to a take-home point. If we’re schools, if we’re leaders, if we’re employees, we don’t just care about great stories being told. We care about the take-home point of those stories.”

— Dr. Jonah Berger

Alchemy

by Rory Sutherland

From the publisher: “Based on thirty years of field work inside the largest experiment in human behavior ever conceived—the forever-unfolding pageant of consumer capitalism— Alchemy ... decodes human behavior, blending leading-edge scientific research, absurdly entertaining storytelling, deep psychological insight, and practical case studies from his storied career. Equally startling and profound, Sutherland’s journey through the strange world of decision-making is filled with astonishing lessons for all aspects of life and business.”

Why you should read it: Alchem y teaches you how to approach every aspect of marketing (and life) counterintuitively—to zag when common sense says you should zig. Few districts are approaching communications like this, which means applying this mindset is one of the best ways to make your schools stand out. This book will inspire you, make you laugh, challenge you, and possibly even frustrate you. That being said, you’ll walk away with fresh ideas on how to market your schools, and you’ll never see branding the same way again.

The Perfect Story

by Karen Eber

From the publisher: “What makes a story perfect? How do you tell the perfect story for any occasion? We live in a story world. Stories are a memorable and engaging way to differentiate yourself, build connection and trust, create new thinking, bring meaning to data, and even influence decision-making. But how do you turn a good story into a great story that informs, influences, and inspires? Without relying on complicated models or one-size-fits-all prescriptions, this book makes storytelling accessible with practical and impactful steps for anyone to tell the perfect story for any occasion.”

Why you should read it: Whether you’re leading your district, managing communications, or just trying to get better at telling stories, this book is for you. Eber breaks down every aspect of storytelling, from building the right framework to forming ideas to improving community

s entiment. This book will teach you to draw out the best stories from stakeholders all over your district. You’ll learn how to turn an unengaged audience into active listeners.

This book pairs well with our podcast episode “Karen Eber: How Storytelling Can Shape School Culture.”

“ The thing that is really powerful in storytelling is specificity. Sometimes telling the smallest story you can and then zooming out is powerful.”

— Karen Eber

Different by Dr. Youngme Moon

From the publisher: “Youngme Moon identifies the outliers, the mavericks, the iconoclasts—the players who have thoughtfully rejected orthodoxy in favor of an approach that is more adventurous. Some are even ‘hostile,’ almost daring you to buy what they are selling. Using her original research on companies such as IKEA and Google, Moon will inspire you to be counterintuitive and meaningfully different—to rethink your business strategy, to stop conforming and start deviating, to stop emulating and start innovating. Because to stand out you must become the exception, not the rule.”

Why you should read it: Different isn’t like other business books with bullet point takeaways. Instead, this book feels more like an open discussion and careful examination of a few pivotal brands that have broken the conventional mold and offered something special and unique to the world. Today, effective marketing isn’t about being loud or excessive. Marketing means thinking carefully about who you are and being different enough to make your audience listen. This book will get you thinking about how your district brand is different from others, what you can do to stand out, and how to garner your audience’s attention.

Interested in starting or joining a SchoolCEO book club? Scan here to fill out an interest form.

The Case for Comms Directors

Why your district needs communications professionals

By Melissa Hite

At this point, you know a strong communications strategy is crucial for a successful school district. (If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading this magazine.) But as a superintendent, you may be trying to squeeze communications into a teacher or staff member’s already long list of priorities. You may even be trying to handle it all yourself.

We get it. Money is tight; hiring a new central office staff member is a big investment. And as the school leader, you should be involved in your district’s branding and communications strategies. But you don’t have to go it alone—and in fact, we believe the benefits of hiring a full-time school communicator far outweigh the costs. Here are a few reasons why any district can benefit from a fully fledged school comms professional.

School comms professionals save you time and stress.

In AASA’s most recent Decennial Study on the American Superintendent, released in 2020, superintendents ranked “job-related stress” as the most pressing problem they faced in their positions. Only 8% of those surveyed said they felt “little to no stress”; 56% felt “very great or considerable stress.” And that was before the onset of COVID-19. More recently, a 2023 survey from nonprofit think tank RAND Corp found that school superintendents were more than twice as likely as other working adults to report job-related stress. In that report, nearly 80% of the school leaders surveyed said work was “often” or “always” stressful. We’re sure none of these numbers surprise you.

All that stress seems to come, at least in part, from the myriad demands on a superintendent’s time. In the Decennial Study, “excessive time requirements” ranked second among school leaders’ most pressing problems. “For the superintendent, the position is a 24-hour-a-day job,” write the study’s authors. “The challenges and the demands upon time are never-ending.”

Faced with all those challenges, are superintendents actually spending their time on the issues they’d like to? It would seem not. When asked which issues consume the bulk of their time, school leaders cited “school-community relations” in the top five—above “school reform/improvement,” “curriculum/instructional issues,” and “educational equity/diversity.” However, when asked which skills they would like to improve, 30% of superintendents listed “school reform/improvement,” and 26% answered “curriculum/ instructional issues.” Furthermore, only 34% rated themselves “very effective” in handling diversity issues. It seems that superintendents want to improve in areas that they simply don’t have time to focus on.

Communications issues are no doubt important and no doubt time-consuming. But just as important (if not more so!) are concerns about academic rigor, continuous improvement, and equity. You can’t do it all, and trying to do so might be destroying your mental health and work-life balance. So why not bring in some expert help in the form of a communications professional?

School comms professionals are becoming more common.

At one point in the not-so-distant past, having a dedicated school communications professional was generally seen as a luxury, something only the very largest districts could justify. However, this is no longer the case. The field of school communications is growing—and if your district doesn’t have a school communicator in its ranks, you may be at a disadvantage.

Need proof? Take a look at the growth seen by the National School Public R elations Association (NSPRA), the country’s leading organization for school comms professionals. Just since 2020, they’ve seen a 51% increase in membership, gaining nearly 1,000 new members. Also telling is what kind of districts those members are working for. In their 2022 Profile of a School Communicator report, NSPRA found that 10% of those surveyed worked for a district with an enrollment of fewer than 2,000 students. This is the highest percentage of school comms pros working in districts this size since 2009, when overall membership was significantly lower. “It could be reasonable to consider one such factor of this shift to be that smaller school districts that did not previously have a communications-specific position added one over the last two years,” the report speculates.

This shift isn’t exactly a surprise, either; after all, in the last four years, we’ve gone through a global pandemic that necessitated clear and consistent communication. Now more than ever, people are seeing how critical it is to have a school communicator on their team. No matter the size of your district, your peers are hiring communications professionals, maybe even more than one—and they’re reaping the benefits. You can’t afford to be left behind.

School comms professionals offer a different perspective.

As a leader, you already know the value of listening to multiple viewpoints. It’s why you survey your community before building a bond campaign or bring families together to collaborate on your district’s Profile of a Graduate. You are only one person, with a limited perspective and your own built-in cognitive biases. The more diversity your team includes, the better solutions and strategies it will generate.

But what does this have to do with school communications professionals? School comms pros often provide a different perspective than superintendents, whether due to their age, gender, or professional background.

Age, Gender, and Diversity

You’re probably well aware that even though it has been slowly diversifying over the years, the superintendency is still dominated by men. Research conducted by Dr. Rachel S. White at the Superintendent Lab found that during the 2023-24 school year, 71% of all superintendents were male. The position is also fairly uniform in terms of age; according to a 2024 survey from AASA, more than 85% were between 40 and 60 years old. Only 4% of those surveyed were under 40.

But according to our recent survey, conducted in partnership with NSPRA (see page 26), most school comms professionals—76%—are women. Comms directors are much more diverse in age as well. Our research found that more than one-quarter of school communicators are under 40, and in fact, 6% of those surveyed were in their 20s.

These differences matter. Research has shown that diverse teams—as opposed to homogeneous ones—come up with more innovative ideas and identify the flaws in a plan more readily. What’s more, the presence of women on a team greatly improves collaboration, regardless of what role they play.

We’re not suggesting that by hiring a comms professional, you will automatically have solved diversity issues in your central office staff or cabinet. Though both positions are slowly diversifying over time, both superintendents and school communicators are still overwhelmingly white. As you look at your executive team, you should always be considering which perspectives are represented there and which ones aren’t.

Of course, these numbers are generalizations, and they don’t represent reality for every district. But the odds are decent that if you hire a comms professional, they’ll be different from you in some major way—and the more perspectives you have on your team, the better your collective decision-making will be. Adding a communications professional is just one way to add another crucial, unique perspective.

Professional Background

No matter what path they took to the superintendency, nearly all school leaders have one thing in common: They’re education insiders. Even if you’re in your first year in the role, you probably spent years (if not decades) teaching or coaching before moving into administration—and just about everyone in your cabinet likely did the same.

Communications professionals, though, are different. Many of them are—or at least were—education outsiders. In our recent survey, we found that 42% of current school comms professionals worked in public relations or marketing outside of schools prior to their current roles. About a quarter had worked as reporters or journalists before joining their current districts.

This means that a school communications professional will likely know a lot more about public relations and marketing than you do. They’ll bring outside expertise to the table—whether it’s knowledge of the latest trends in private sector marketing or insight into the types of stories reporters are looking for. A former journalist, for example, will know the best ways to pitch positive school stories to your local news—because they’ll know what would have piqued their interest when they were on the beat.

As education outsiders, comms professionals also act as a bridge between you and your larger community. Remember: Many of your parents, families, and community members are education outsiders as well. A comms pro with a non-education background can help you cut out any ”eduspeak” and translate your messaging to appeal to a broader audience. It’s true—you or someone in your central office might be able to develop the skills necessary to handle communications competently. But you’ll never have the unique viewpoint of an education outsider.

School comms professionals are a good investment.

We haven’t been living under a rock—we know this is a tough time for schools financially. As ESSER funds run out and student enrollment declines nationwide, you may be looking to save money wherever you can. Maybe you did hire a school communicator with pandemic relief funding, and you’re now wondering if it’s worth it to find the money elsewhere. Whatever your situation, we believe it’s well worth the investment to hire (or keep) a comms professional.

Here’s the thing: The work of school communications has to be done. It’s nonnegotiable. Just think what would happen if your district suddenly went dark on social media, stopped sending out any updates, and quit responding to incoming messages from families or the media. Your community’s trust in your schools would implode overnight. Whatever your district’s financial situation, you have to keep communicating; the question is on whose shoulders that massive responsibility will fall.

Imagine you’re a restaurateur looking to hire a chef. You’re strapped for cash, but opening a restaurant without any food is not an option. You could hire a professional with experience working in successful restaurants, or you could hire your neighbor Jeff, who volunteered to do it as a side gig. Jeff is a decent home cook, and he’d definitely be cheaper than a pro—so he’ll do, right?

When we frame it this way, it sounds ridiculous, but that’s the reality for a lot of districts when it comes to school comms. Instead of investing in a professional, districts cram school communications onto a staff member’s already long list of responsibilities and hope for the best. But no matter how competent they are, a stipended employee probably won’t have the expertise or the capacity of a full-time school communicator.

The truth is that a skilled comms professional costs more because they can do more. They can help you shape your brand; prepare you to communicate during crises; recruit teachers and classified staff; and even boost your finances through successful bond votes and enrollment campaigns. Just like a five-star chef attracts diners to a restaurant, an effective school comms professional can actually help you generate funding for your district. Why wouldn’t you make that investment?

We realize that you, the superintendent, may be handling communications yourself—but you won’t be as effective as a professional, either. As we’ve already seen, you have way too much on your plate. Of course, we’re not saying that you should hire a communications director and then divest yourself of all comms concerns and responsibilities. To be successful, a comms professional will need to work in partnership with you to keep your marketing and comms strategies aligned with your overarching district goals.

You can’t walk away from school communications completely— but you also don’t have to do it alone. Leave the heavy lifting to the experts. Hire a school communicator.

Research

A Seat at the Table

This might not come as a surprise, but the SchoolCEO staff has a favorite team. It’s not the Bengals, and it’s not the Seattle Storm. It’s the team that develops when a superintendent and their district’s communications professionals work together hand-in-hand to build their district’s brand.

In the world of K-12 education, school communications professionals inhabit a uniquely challenging—and uniquely rewarding—role. And while the work of a comms professional can look wildly different from one district to another, its importance is only growing as we adapt to a changing educational landscape. Now more than ever, schools are competing on every front. Where once a district’s continued existence was determined mostly by the ebb and flow of their local population, districts of all sizes must now fight to thrive or even to survive.

Schools have not been immune to the global decrease in institutional trust, and with education becoming increasingly politicized, schools have had to work particularly hard to retain positive brands in their communities. When districts have successfully maintained strong brands, it has often been a testament to the hard work of their communications teams.

Communication s professional s play a critica l rol e i n a district’s ability to rise to current challenges and to build a memorable brand. They can head off public relations concerns with dexterity and help executives on their teams communicate clearly both internally and externally. For districts who are able to employ them, communications pros offer an incredible advantage. But what do communications professionals need to thrive?

Despite the fact that communications professionals have been a fixture in many school districts for decades, their work is surprisingly under-studied. Beyond the thoughtful and thorough work of NSPRA, the National School Public Relations Association, there is very little research into a field that is both well established and only growing in importance.

At SchoolCEO, we have spent years researching elements of school communications, marketing, and culture, mainly as they relate to superintendents and teachers. But here, we are going all in on the study of communications professionals, especially with regard to the following questions:

• Which communic ations professionals have a “seat at the table,” or access to executive decision-making?

• Do communications professionals have adequate and productive access to their superintendents?

• How does a communications professional’s executive access (or lack thereof) impact their work for their district?

With these questions, we are striving both to build upon what we know best—the superintendent’s part in school communications and marketing—and also to shine some light on the school communicator’s pivotal role in a district’s ability to thrive.

Here, we’ll dig into how our respondents see themselves, their work, and their goals. We’ll unpack how superintendents can support their communications directors. And we’ll offer recommendations for you to take the work already happening in your district to the next level.

About Our Survey

Our anonymous survey was distributed via email to our own lists of communications professionals and to NSPRA’s member network. It was open for about three weeks and received exactly 600 responses.

Our sample population included communications professionals from 47 states and all major geographic regions of the United States. About 37% of our respondents hailed from the Midwest, 13% were from the Northeast, 27% were from the South, and about 19% were from the West. Our sample included respondents in their early 20s who were in their first year on the job—and professionals nearing retirement after decades in the field.

The “Typical” Communications Team

Almost half of all communications directors work as a team of one. As our team combed through data from 600 communications professionals across the country, we were struck by how much a single statistic can convey. After all, communications workers are tasked not only with telling the stories of a multitude, but also with communicating internally to staff, managing website and social media updates, and interfacing with the press. To think that all this work is—47% of the time—don e b y a singl e perso n i s astounding.

Who are America’s Communications Professionals?

Our survey received 600 responses from 47 states. Seventy-six percent of our respondents identified themselves as women, 22% identified as men, 1% preferred not to respond, and about half of one percent identified themselves as nonbinary. Our respondents varied in age from 23 to 76, with the average age being about 43 years old.

Who are America’s Communications Professionals?

Respondents were able to choose as many answers as they deemed appropriate.

Who are America’s Communications Professionals?

Career Experience

In order to determine the tenure of our participants, we asked both how long they had been in the field of school communications and how long they had been in their current district.

When it came to overall career experience, the distribution was generally evenly spread. The distribution in how long communications professionals had been in their current roles was similarly even. Participants had generally spent less time in their current roles than their overall time in the field, as could be expected.

We also wanted to understand which pathways most communications professionals took before entering their current role. When asked what their employment experience was prior to their current role, respondents selected from the positions above. Participants were able to select multiple choices as they saw fit.

Even teams with more than one person were still likely to be small, with 32% of comms professionals reporting being on teams of only two or three people. Communications pros working on teams with more than five people accounted for less than 15% of our respondents

(Figure 1)

How large is your district’s communications team?

Do communications professionals have executive access?

Despite interfacing regularly with other administrators—including the superintendent and school board—not all communications roles are considered cabinet-level positions. Depending on the size and nature of the district, school communicators may spend their time completing tasks assigned to them by cabinet-level administrators rather than contributing to district strategy themselves. However, a communications professional can also serve as a partner to the superintendent and other high-level administrators, and may be tasked with developing strategic communications initiatives for the entire district.

When we designed this study, we first wanted to understand what factors make it more likely for communications professionals to have a seat at the table—regular access to the spaces and conversations where decisions are made. Then, we wanted to find out how different levels of access are related to various work outcomes. From our years of conversations with school communicators, we know that having a seat at the table is a critical component of proactively orchestrating strategic communications.

If a communications professional isn’t part of the executive decision-making about an initiative or incident, they often complain that they are responsible for cleaning up a mess they could potentially have helped prevent. As one respondent put it, “I need to be in the senior leadership meetings to hear the discussion taking place. I pride myself on preventing us from pitfalls, so it is extremely frustrating when I’m called upon to bail us out of something when I was never included prior.”

We asked our respondents, “On a scale from 1-5, to what degree do you feel your district’s executive team gives you a ‘seat at the table’ when important strategic decisions are made for the district?” Because this is such a common concern among communications professionals, we assumed that most respondents would report that they generally didn’t have access or input when it came to strategic decision-making. But to our pleasant surprise, this wasn’t the case. About 64% of our participants responded that they “always” or “often” received a seat at the table, and 20% said that they “sometimes” did. Only 16% said that they “rarely have” or “do not have” a seat at the table (Figure 2)

Despite our expectation that most respondents would indicate a lack of access to the executive suite, it seems comms professionals across the board are quite positive about the level of access they’re afforded. But while the majority of comms directors have a seat at the table at least sometimes, those who don’t often have a few things in common. First, school communicators from districts with fewer than 1,000 students were less likely to be afforded access to leadership circles. Furthermore, communications professionals with more time in the field—those with 10-15 years of experience—were more likely to have a seat at the table than those with less experience.

To what degree do you feel your district's executive team gives you a "seat at the table" when important strategic decisions are made for the district?

In considering these results, it’s important to think about which professionals aren’t given executive access. Small districts seem like a natural place for a communications professional—who should have more easy face time with their leadership team— to have a seat at the table. But that isn’t true, perhaps because superintendents and other executives are accustomed to doing the work themselves. And while it may not be surprising at the surface level for comms pros with less experience to be excluded from leadership decision-making, it’s important to consider what perspectives they could bring if they did have a seat at the table.

Finally, survey participants generally responded positively when asked about their role in building their district’s communications strategy. When presented with the statement, “My superintendent and other executives look to me to help build our communications strategy,” a solid 48% of respondents selected “strongly agree.” Just under 13% of participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed that their executive team looks to them to build their district’s communications strategy.

How accessible are superintendents?

Regular face time with their superintendent is critical to a comms professional’s ability to align communication strategy to the broader district strategy. We asked a couple of questions to help us understand the nuances of school communicators’ working relationships with their superintendents:

• “On a scale from 1-5, how well do you feel your superintendent understands the work you do in your role?”

• “On a scale from 1-5, how accessible is your superintendent to you on a typical workday?”

In keeping with our respondents’ generally positive feelings about their superintendents, most participants felt that their superintendent understood their roles. About 38% of respondents believed their superintendent understood their role “very well,” and 31% selected “fairly well” (Figur e 4)

Comms professionals who reported that their superintendents understood their roles were also more likely to have a seat at the table. In other words, superintendents who understand what school communicators do are more likely to show that they value the work by including their comms professionals in executive decision-making. Superintendents should pay special attention to this correlation. If no one on your district’s communications team is

included in executive decision-making or cabinet-level meetings, how well do you understand what they do—or what they could do given the chance?

When it comes to a superintendent’s accessibility to their communications professionals, the numbers remained generally positive across the board. Nearly 77% of respondents indicated that their superintendents were either “extremely” or “very” accessible to them on a typical workday. Less than 10% of participants responded negatively—saying that their superintendents were either “not at all” or only “slightly” accessible to them (Figure 3)

When it comes to the various nuances around executive access, communications professionals are positive on all accounts. A large number of school communicators have a seat at the decisionmaking table, and the bulk of our respondents feel that their superintendents do, in fact, understand their roles well. But a communications professional’s relationship with their superintendent is only one factor in their ability to thrive in their district. We also need to understand how they interact with other staff.

How accessible is your superintendent to you on a typical workday?

Figure

How well connected are communications professionals to other staff members?

We began this report by exploring the concept of the single-person communications team. And while communications professionals generally feel supported and included by their superintendents, their relationships with the rest of their schools—including both leaders such as principals and individual contributors like teachers—look quite different. These relationships with school staff speak much more to the isolation that comms pros can feel in their work. One respondent explains: “It is very hard to tell the positive stories of our schools, teachers, and students when I am distanced from all of that in my district office.”

As we noted above, there’s a positive correlation between superintendents who understand comms professionals’ roles and those who include their comms workers in executive decision-making. This correlation could suggest a pretty logical conclusion—those who understand a role are more likely to value it. But how well do school staff besides the superintendent understand what comms workers do? The answers are a bit surprising.

First, let’s talk about principals and other leaders. Our participants were asked, “On a scale from 1-5, how well do you feel principals and other leaders in your district understand what you do?” Compared to how comms professionals feel about their superintendents’ understanding of their roles, the results here are pretty mixed. The most common response was “somewhat,” chosen by nearly 37% of our respondents. Only 13% of respondents selected “very well” (Figure 4)

We also wanted to gauge how well staff members who aren’t in leadership roles understand comms professionals’ work. We asked respondents, “On a scale from 1-5, how well do you feel teachers and other staff not in administration understand what you do?” The answers to this question trended even more negatively, with only 3% of respondents choosing “very well.” Nearly 36% of respondents chose either “not at all” or “slightly,” suggesting that non-leadership staff don’t truly understand what communications professionals do— or what all they can offer (Figure 4)

Think back to the isolation that’s inherent on a team of one. How much more isolated would someone feel surrounded by colleagues who don’t understand—and therefore likely don’t value—what they do?

This is a place where superintendents can really shine. Many of our open responses mentioned that while community surveys or strategic plans often indicate a need for “increased communication,” not many leaders publicly cite this need as the rationale for investing in school comms. When a superintendent speaks to internal stakeholders, they should make it clear that the key to stronger communication and an improved district brand is a trusted and empowered comms team. After all, communicators are the people who can make it happen.

Many school comms pros also shared that their effectiveness was hindered by the lack of a line-item budget they could direct strategically. One respondent made this crystal clear: “First and foremost, I need an actual budget. For equipment, for professional development, for publications, for advertising. … I try to save the district money whenever possible. I don’t spend frivolously. I understand that we are using taxpayer funding. But those taxpayers WANT better communication.”

How do communications professionals spend their time— and how do they feel about it?

We also wanted to understand how executive access impacted comms pros’ work priorities, as well as the relative proactivity or reactivit y of thei r work To addres s this , we consulte d NSPR A’s results from their annual use of time survey. According to that survey, comms directors spend most of their time on tasks that fall into the following categories:

• Crisis communications

• External communications

• Social media management

• Internal communications

• Building long-term strategy

• Website management

Which of the following tasks takes up the most of your time in a typical day?

External communications

Social media management

Internal communications

Website management

Crisis communications

Building long-term strategy

We then asked respondents to rank these tasks based on two different scenarios:

• “Which of the following tasks take up the most of your time in a typical day?”

• “Which of the following tasks do you believe are most important to being effective in your role?”

Participants’ responses appear in Figure 5, with the tasks that ranked highest at the top. The juxtaposition between these columns is fascinating; it doesn’t seem that communications professionals’ priorities line up with how they spend their time. For example, our respondents ranked social media management as one of the most time-consuming tasks on their list, but also rated it as one of the least important.

As you can imagine, our analysis revealed a lot of relationships between district size and how communications directors spend their time. Comms workers for larger districts were more likely than their peers at smaller districts to deprioritize social media and website management. This changes based on the size of the team as well. Comms workers from larger teams were more likely to spend their time working on crisis communications or building long-term strategy. They were also more likely to spend less time on social media and website management. On the other hand, comms professionals who work solo were more likely to spend their time working on social media management and website management. Solo respondents were also more likely to spend less time on external communications, internal communications, and building long-term strategy.

Which of the following tasks do you believe are most important to being effective in your role?

Building long-term strategy

External communications

Crisis communications

Internal communications

Social media management

Website management

In their open responses, many participants lamented that too much of their time was spent either managing social media or “putting out fires,” and that they wished they had more time for strategic, long-term planning. “I wish I had more time to do strategy!” one respondent said. “As a one-man band, that is often an item that gets pushed to the end of the list even though I am most passionate about it.” Another respondent explained: “Social media takes much more time to create and manage than I believe it is worth in 2024. Gathering all the pieces (researching content, getting photos, checking names, cross-checking image releases, learning and dealing with the latest Facebook/Instagram update) takes as much time as creating a quality email. I believe other forms of communication and marketing are currently more valuable.”

Open responses also revealed that social media wasn’t the only tedious task that ate into comms directors’ time. In many districts, a proliferation of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests has fallen to communications personnel, to the detriment of their other tasks. “I am currently spending most of my time split between a bond referendum and FOIA requests,” one respondent explained. “The bond falls into the strategic planning category, but I wish I could spend less time on FOIA requests. It has taken over my job, and I am not able to be in the schools as much telling the stories of the amazing things happening in our classrooms.”

It’s no surprise, then, that over half (54%) of the respondents disagreed with the statement, “You spend the majority of your time focusing on what you consider to the be the most important elements of your role” (Figure 6).

Many of our respondents described spending far more time on day-to-day reactive tasks than on proactive, strategic tasks. As one participant put it, “I wish I could spend more time being creative and overseeing fun video projects to help tell our story. Instead, I’m constantly dealing with students or staff getting in some sort of legal trouble, legislative affairs trying to destroy public education, parents going to the media about stupid things that should be handled internally, etc.”

Still, when it comes to proactivity or reactivity, the good news is this—56% of our respondents feel that their work involves an equal mix of proactivity and reactivity. Less than 2% of our respondents felt that their work was “almost always reactive,” and a similar number found themselves on the other side of the spectrum (Figure 7)

Figure

It’s safe to assume school leaders want their districts’ communications to be proactive just as much as comms directors do. So what can your district do? Comms pros who believed their districts had clearer brands were more likely to describe themselves as engaging in more proactive work. This sentiment was echoed in the open responses. As one participant succinctly stated, “Your brand is your message. Clear, consistent, connected messaging and image are key to engagement and trust in your school.”

How does this impact burnout?

In a post-pandemic world, workplaces are rife with burnout. This isn’t unique to schools, of course, but if your communications team is experiencing burnout, their potential will be limited.

To understand how burnout impacts school communications professionals, we provided our respondents with the following prompt:

According to the National Institutes of Health, burnout is “a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. The three key dimensions of this response are an overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.”

Based on the above definition, how frequently do you feel “burned out”?

Participants were asked to rank themselves on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being “always burned out.” An alarming 77% responded that they were at least “sometimes” burned out, with 37% answering that they were “always” or “often” burned out.

Burnout can be especially detrimental given the isolation inherent to being on a team of one. When asked about their plans to continue in the field for the next five years, 40% of respondents said that they did not plan to remain in school communications. Because of the isolation of the position, some school communicators felt that they were overlooked when it came to the broader conversation around burnout in education. One participant explained: “We hear a lot about teacher burnout, but I also know many school communicators who are burned out. The constant barrage of criticism, unkind comments on social media, and the ever-increasing demands of the job in a 24/7 news cycle all contribute to some school communications professionals leaving. I believe that school districts must address staff members’ mental health issues in a systematic way.”

But despite their workload and burnout, many communications professionals told us that they loved their jobs, especially when they could regularly connect with other school communicators about their ever-changing field. One respondent explains: “I still love my job and never dread going to my office, being at one of our schools, or spending time with a community group. My communications toolbox is much larger and changing regularly, but as long as I have access to colleagues in similar roles and professional organizations, I remain enthusiastic about serving in my role even on the most stressful day.”

Why does this matter?

Most school leaders don’t become superintendents without distinguishing themselves as adept managers of people and purpose. But when it comes to the superintendent-communications professional relationship, there are a lot of steps you can take to center your district’s brand and mission more strongly.

The first thing you should know is this: No single person can be responsible for telling a brand’s complete story. Everyone who takes part in your brand—teachers, staff, students and even community members—plays some role in how it grows in your community

A few years ago, we conducted a study called “Who Speaks for Your Brand?” in which we discovered that teachers looked to their superintendents and communications directors to serve as their district’s primary spokespeople. However, 72% of teachers also felt it was their own responsibility to improve their district’s reputation when speaking to others about their schools.

In other words, teachers (and other staff) already have a sense of responsibility when it comes to supporting your district brand— and even consider it a regular part of their job. They already intend to contribute to your district’s positive story; they just need some direction to get it right.

Remember: When asked whether they believed teachers or staff members understand their role, 40% of our respondents said “not at all” or “slightly.” It can be challenging for communications directors to work with educators if those educators don’t understand the purpose and authority of the district’s communications department. Many of our respondents commented that they often feel nervous working with building-level leaders on communications strategy, fearing that because they lack an education background, they might not be taken seriously.

Other communications pros mentioned how time-consuming it can be to source stories, especially when there are no systems or relationships to make the process easier. One respondent explained: “I need teachers and staff to better understand my role. We have not had a comms director before, so people don’t always understand why I am here.”

While it may be daunting to involve others in your district’s storytelling process, know that this happens best when a communications professional can play the role of coach and consultant. When collective authorship works well, your district’s brand will be supported by dozens—or even hundreds—of smaller stories.

But what’s next?

This is a SchoolCEO research publication, and truthfully, we wouldn’t be satisfied without providing some clear, succinct, research-backed takeaways for superintendents and comms professionals alike. Here are just a few points to take forward with you. Learn how one district built storytelling systems in our podcast episode “Jeffrey Collier & Coty Takeaways for Superintendents

1. Give your communications professional(s) a seat at the table.

The research is clear: Communications professionals with access to executive decision-making can focus on more strategic, proactive work and are generally less burned out. This access is critical, even if you have a novice school communicator. Giving your comms person access early on in their career will level up their expertise much more quickly— which will only make them even more valuable in their role.

2. Focus on systems and relationships to build mutual trust between your staff and your communications workers.

Given our research, we hope you’re one of the majority of superintendents who value school communications. But for your comms professional, having a great relationship with you isn’t enough to feel connected to your school community.

Work intentionally with your comms professionals to build the kinds of relationships—and systems—that will help them keep up with what’s happening in every building throughout your district. Whatever system you decide upon, you must start by giving your district staff an understanding of who your communications pro is and how they help the district.

3. Be thoughtful about how your comms professionals spends their time.

Next time you want to ask your comms pro to take on a new initiative, look back at Figure 5. If a project doesn’t either align with your plans for your district brand or fall into the “most important” category, think carefully about how much time and stress it may put on your comms team. As a superintendent, you’re likely always considering the costbenefit ratios of different initiatives and are probably familiar with action-priority matrices. This is a great time to use them.

Takeaways for Communications Professionals

1. Us e our data to advocate for a seat at the table.

You already know this: Having a seat at the table means being able to focus on more, proactive work and generally getting less burned out. While a lot of this is understandably in the superintendent’s court, we invite you to use our research as a tool to help leaders in your district understand just how critical it is to include you in the conversation from the beginning. Furthermore, if you’re one of the 47% of school communications professionals working solo, your district can’t afford not to have you there.

2. Get involved with communities of support. Building a strong, proactive, strategic school communications program is incredibly difficult, but doing it without a roadmap is nearly impossible. Luckily, NSPRA has lots of resources and tools to help you and your superintendent get your district on track. Their rubrics and programs are full of actionable strategies and mentorship opportunities from the best professionals in the business. For example, their Rubrics of Practice offer an in-depth standard of success for almost any type of school communications program. Getting your superintendent on board with supporting you as an NSPRA member—or even joining their superintendentcommunications team cohort—is a great way to understand the how of school communications and build the mutual respect that is a core part of a strong school PR program.

3. Help your superintendent build storytelling systems.

When it comes to district communications, you’re the professional—and sometimes, being the professional means coaching others. One person alone can’t hold up the story of an entire district, so you need to recruit others to join a narrative that aligns to the brand that you and your superintendent have designed. This means empowering lots of storytellers and building systems that make collective authorship work. In our open responses, many communications pros lauded the effectiveness of creating incentivized Google Forms for teachers to submit photos, having assigned communicators on each school campus, and conducting regular trainings with building-level staff on the elements of good storytelling.

Learn how one district built storytelling systems in our podcast episode “Jeffrey Collier & Coty Kuschinsky: Collective Authorship.”

We want to extend our deepest gratitude to the 600 school communicators who took our survey and the many who shared it with their networks. Thank you also to NSPRA, both for their partnership with us and for their continued support of excellence in school communications.

In today’s educational world, the importance of school communication is here to stay. We hope this research will play a part in supporting communicators who are doing the work—day in and day out. It’s clear to us that for districts to thrive, school communicators need a seat at the table. What’s more, they need to be as intertwined as possible in the vibrant fabric of their schools.

Research Manager: Brittany Edwardes Keil

Assisting Researchers: Barrett Goodwin, Abigale Franco

Scan here to read and share this research article online.

The Perfect Fit

Hiring Your First Comms Director

by Corey Whaley

According to data from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA), school communicator roles have been steadily on the rise in recent years. In fact, in 2023, membership in the organization topped 2,800 for the first time in decades. Why the increase? Well, with school choice and negative sentiment around public institutions both sweeping the country, it’s no surprise that school systems are putting a higher premium on messaging and communication.

If your district has been making due without a communications director, we’re betting you’ve at least considered hiring someone to lead your communications full time. Maybe you’ve started chatting with your board about the position or are already in the process of creating a job description. Either way, we can help.

Do You Need a Communications Director?

In short, the answer is yes. No matter the size, makeup, or location of your district, it’s imperative that someone is responsible for updating your stakeholders, telling your schools’ stories, and communicating with the public in times of celebration or emergency. If you’ve been operating without a communications team, then you know all too well how much work goes into keeping your community informed.

“Our community’s need, desire, and demand for communi -

“I saw clearly that I needed help,” Cox tells us. “To be an effective superintendent, I needed to be able to delegate and have resources and supports. I am still that chief storytelling officer of our district, but now I have a thought partner. I have somebody who can take what I do and make it even better.”

(For more on why you need a school communications professional, turn to page 22.)

Writing the Job Description

Before hiring for a communications role, you’ve got to establish exactly what you’re looking for—and make sure this is clear to your applicants. This process is also about letting your school community know exactly what the role entails, what should be expected of your new hire, and how their work relates to that of the district.

Be specific about the responsibilities of the role.

Duties and expectations for a school communicator can vary depending on the strategic approach of your district and the needs of your school community. So a good job description should both attract the right candidates and directly outline the responsibilities of the role. The more specific you are about who you’re looking for and what you expect from them, the easier and more efficient the hiring process will be.

In your job description, you should be direct about the vital role this position will play in the daily workings of your schools. Obviously, no two school districts are the same, but there are consistent standards for what constitutes good school communications, as well as what the relationship between a school communicator and their community should look like.

For the role of a communications lead, you’ll want to guarantee your new hire can collaborate well, communicate effectively, and handle times of crisis. They should be able to keep sensitive information confidential, take part in executive-level meetings, translate “eduspeak” to the broader community, and make judgment calls on when and how to disseminate important information.

’s also important to note that comms directors are responsible for sharing information on behalf of the district and its leadership. Some superintendents want a comms person to be an extension of themselves—someone who replicates their voice in district communications. Others want their comms director to establish their own voice in the community. Either way, your applicants should know exactly what you’re expecting of them.

Learn from stakeholders

Before hiring a comms director, you’ll want to be sure the role will meet your school community’s needs. Let’s say that in a recent survey, parents and families in your area listed highquality teachers as the number-one thing they’re looking for. You might include something in your job description about the importance of identifying everyday successes and curating stories that celebrate the district’s staff members. By listening to your stakeholders, you can ensure that this role will benefit both the district and the community.

Educators know there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. Do you know other leaders who’ve already written a job description for a comms role? What could you learn from them? In Rochester, Cox says it took him three years to research and determine exactly what the district needed in terms of a communications director. He attended professional development sessions, got involved with NSPRA and INSPRA (Illinois’ NSPRA chapter), and even consulted with communicators whose work he admired. “I just learned,” Cox says. “And then I started asking school districts all over Illinois to show me their job descriptions for communications roles.”

Clay Corley, superintendent of DeSoto Parish Schools in Louisiana, recently hired the district’s first communications and family engagement coordinator, but not before honing in on a job description that was informed by the other leaders in his district. “Ultimately what I did was sit with our district directors and with other school leaders to hear from them,” Corley explains. “Then I compiled all that feedback to develop a job description.”

Align the role with your district’s mission and values.

As we mentioned above, your job description should not only attract good candidates, but also speak to the importance of this new role in your district. Your schools likely have a mission statement or set of values that guide their work.

If you want your board, staff, and school families to believe in and support the investment of hiring a comms director, you’ve got to justify the role’s place in the overall mission of your schools.

“Over the last few years, I’ve been envisioning what this role would become,” Corley explains. “We launched our new brand at the beginning of this school year, and with that came a lot of surveying and stakeholder input. We really got a good sense of what people thought about us. That helped to shape this role’s specific responsibilities and connect them with our mission statement and values.”

By outlining exactly how your comms director will support the district’s overall mission, you’ll reassure your community and board that the district is in good hands. “It takes years to build trust and credibility with your community, and it takes seconds to destroy it,” Corley adds. “Your communications coordinator is the gatekeeper of that trust, so you’ve got to have somebody who understands your district’s mission.”

Conducting the Interview

The interview process isn’t just for learning more about your candidates’ qualifications—it’s also a chance to dig deeper. Who aligns with your district’s goals, needs, and culture? If you’ve described the role with thoughtfulness and precision, then the candidates you interview will have already proven worthy on paper. But asking the right questions will help you gain a greater sense of how well this person could represent, speak for, and advocate on behalf of your schools.

Megan Renihan, communications coordinator for Batesville Schoo l Distric t i n Arkansas , ha s som e inside r advice “Yo u want to ask something like, How would you navigate multiple projects at a time while also maintaining good relationships with people? ” she offers. “And you want to ask questions that reveal how savvy your candidates are, like, Have you ever worked in a position where you’ve had to manage crisis response? ”

Renihan also says it’s important to determine how well a candidate understands the way information should be released to the public. “As a communications person, we’re aware of things that happen before they’re finalized by the board,” she adds. “It’s our job to make the decision about whether or not information is released.”

Make sure they align with your district’s values.

Since a school communications director plays a crucial role in shaping your district’s image, reputation, and trustworthiness, you’ve got to make sure the person you’re hiring buys int o th e value s of you r schools Let’s say you r distric t promotes values like a growth mindset, a focus on equity, and a commitment to fostering relationships. If that’s the case, it’s vital to find out if a candidate will push themselves, devote themselves to including all district voices, and maintain healthy relationships with students and staff.

One of DeSoto Parish’s values is “providing a positive and collaborative culture”—so Corley and his team used the interview to gauge each candidate’s collaboration skills. “We asked questions like, How do you exemplify the values we believe in? ” Corley explains. “If they can get behind our values, it’s an easy fit.”

Assess their skills.

Of course, any comms role boils down to having exceptional communication skills. A lot of things can be learned on the job, but a communications director needs to approach the role with a built-in ability to communicate in nearly any

Another round of interviews in DeSoto Parish was designed to test candidates on their ability to communicate effectively in various situations. According to Corley, each candidate was given four potential scenarios and asked to respond to three of them. One of the three had to be a crisis scenario.

“We wanted to see how they would act and perform under pressure, but we were also assessing their writing skills because that’s a big part of this job,” Corley says. “We didn’t care what tools they used—we only cared what the work looked like when it was turned in.”

Ultimately, Corley was most impressed by Peyton Dufour— who was already a teacher in DeSoto. So he hired him as the district’s new communications and family engagement coordinator. “Peyton was a strong candidate,” Corley explains. “He checked a lot of the boxes, but mostly we chose him because he’s a learner. He is well equipped, sure, but he’s also interested in learning and growing professionally. That’s huge for this kind of role.”

In Rochester CUSD 3A, Cox and his team conducted two rounds of interviews that were broken down into five categories—strategic communication planning; stakeholder engagement and community relations; communications goals and strategies; working with the superintendent; and handling confidential information. Within these categories, they asked questions like, What strategies will you utilize to engage with the various stakeholders within the school district? How does collaboration play a role in your approach to crisis communication planning and response? “Let me tell you this,” Cox says, “our responses from applicants were the best we’ve ever had for any position.”

This helped Cox and his team find the perfect fit for Rochester’s new director of communications and engagement role: former news anchor Jon Hansen. “Jon’s rich background in communications immediately impacted our school district positively,” Cox tells us. “He has remarkable enthusiasm and an innovative approach to storytelling through social media, imagery, and video. His creative flair vividly portrays the essence of our Rochester Rocket community, elevating our narrative with energy and vision.”

Onboarding Your New Comms Professional

Once you’ve filled your new position, you’ll want to start integrating your new school communicator into your district’s day-to-day work as soon as possible. This could certainly look different depending on the needs of your school community, but the following approaches will help you welcome your new hire and ensure they feel supported and informed.

Keep them close.

Both Cox and Corley recognize how closely they need to work with their communications leads. That’s why they each immediately moved their new hires into the offices next to them and began inviting them to executive-level meetings. “Peyton has an honorary seat at every table,” Corley says. “He’s involved in all of our leadership meetings and our department team meetings. He’s got to be privy to everything we’re talking about and planning so that he knows how and when to communicate those things to the public.”

In Rochester, Cox feels the same way. “Jon has to be in the know,” he says. “We have to collaborate so much that our communication is informal and often.” In fact, Cox says much of the relationship between him and Hansen is quite direct— and has to be. “I need him to be confident enough to critique me and push back,” he says. “The best onboarding is having frank and intentional conversations.”

Connect them to communities of support.

It’s hard to say enough about communities like AASA and NSPRA when it comes to providing support and resources to both school leaders and communicators. Cox and Corley have both encouraged their new hires to join NSPRA and their state chapters of the national school communications community

But that’s just the start. Both supers have also signed up to participate alongside their new communications directors in the Leadership in School Communication Program facilitated by AASA and NSPRA. “It’s important that we’ll be in this cohort side-by-side,” Cox says.

The program is a hybrid course where superintendents and their communications leads participate in two in-person sessions and four virtual ones. During these sessions, they learn together about effective strategies and best practices for school communications; identify areas for growth and improvement; and create roadmaps for their districts’ respective approaches to communications.

“It’s exciting to do this together. I want to be able to get into the weeds with him,” Corley adds. “Professional development is something we’re committed to, and making sure he’s connected is a big part of that.”

In Good Hands

The process of hiring a communications professional is a critical step for strengthening your relationship with your school community. And, in today’s world of rapid news and social media mayhem, the need for a dedicated school communicator is undeniable.

There are certainly varied approaches to this process— and every community’s needs are different. But by crafting a detailed job description, approaching your interview process strategically, and providing your new hire with a thoughtful onboarding process, you can ensure that your district’s story will always be in good hands.

Full Steam Ahead

Generative AI in School Communications

Rebecca Bultsma, APR, is a strategic school communications and public relations professional with artificial intelligence expertise and more than 15 years of industry experience. She is currently the director of communications for Westwind School Division in Alberta, Canada, as well as an executive board member of the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education. She speaks regularly to groups of school leaders, educators, and professional communicators about ethical AI adoption and literacy. Here, she shares her thoughts on how school communicators can and should use AI to tell their districts’ stories.

I’m writing this article in February, fully aware that by the time April rolls around—or whenever you, the busy school leaders you are, get a chance to read this—the landscape of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) for school communications will almost certainly have morphed yet again. The past few years have been a masterclass in adapting and pivoting, teaching us that change in today’s world is constant and coming at us faster than ever in unpredictable ways.

I have a unique vantage point in education right now, with dual expertise in both school communications and GenAI. My goal here is to share how I see GenAI reshaping and redefining the foundational aspects of school communications—the ways we build and maintain trust, safeguard our reputations, and strengthen relationships with our school communities.

It’s never been more critical to have trust, accuracy, and human connection at the forefront of our school communications strategies. The GenAI landscape demands a mix of curiosity, caution, and teamwork—with trust as the central pillar.

The Rise of Generative AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been quietly working in the background of our digital lives for decades, filtering spam out of our email inboxes and powering the algorithms that customize our Netflix binge-watch lists or LinkedIn feeds. This “traditional” form of AI operates on a predefined set of rules— an algorithm—to understand and interact with the world.

But generative AI (GenAI) , the game-changing AI that’s left us all reeling, doesn’t just understand the world—it adds to it by creating brand-new, high-quality content. Large language models (LLMs) have the astounding ability to communicate, create, and even think in ways that convincingly mimic human intelligence.

In November 2022, OpenAI, an AI research lab housed in a repurposed mayonnaise factory, launched a “low-key research preview” of an LLM called ChatGPT, with humble expectations. The night before the launch, company president Greg Brockman predicted a tepid response to the new technology at best—a single tweet thread, maybe 5,000 likes if they were lucky.

But he was wrong. ChatGPT became an overnight sensation, capturing the world’s attention, drawing in a million curious minds within days, and sparking a phenomenon that caught everyone off guard. They weren’t ready. We’re still not ready.

A Catalyst for Change

Picture GenAI as a thundering train barreling through the education landscape with unstoppable force. It’s exhilarating and daunting because we can clearly see that this train has the potential to reshape everything it encounters on the educational terrain. The kicker? Stopping the train isn’t an option.

The Wharton School’s Dr. Ethan Mollick, one of our generation’s most important voices in AI, says that even if AI advances were to stop today, the ripple effect would last years. “Given the inevitability of change,” he explains, “we need to figure out how to mitigate the negative, but also how to channel the change for good as much as possible.” The GenAI train needs skilled conductors to harness its momentum and steer it toward a future where it enhances human relationships rather than diminishing or replacing them.

Trust: the Linchpin of School Communications

Take a minute and think back to your first smartphone. Consider how that device, and the many models you’ve owned since, represented a paradigm shift in how we communicate, and even how we communicate in education. There was a time when school communications was limited to a note home in a backpack and an annual meetthe-teacher night. Today, we use email, text messages, notification apps, social media, and other engagement platforms to support school communications strategies.

Yet when we strip away the complexities, the essence of school communications revolves around two primary objectives: reputation management and relationship cultivation. Ideally, your school or district not only celebrates its victories and navigates crises with grace and transparency, but also actively listens to and meets the diverse needs of its community. School communications isn’t just about sending emails or posting cute Facebook photos; it’s about engaging in meaningful dialogue, where trust and mutual respect are the bedrock of every interaction.

And your school’s ongoing efforts to build trusted online communication channels, implement effective communication systems, and share human-generated content are all about to be more critical than ever before.

A Double-Edged Sword

Fo r years , school s hav e bee n integratin g traditiona l A I into the fabric of their communications strategies—from checking grammar to analyzing sentiments in surveys to gleaning insights from social media engagement. Unfortunately, the same AI that boosts the efficiency and impact of school communications also creates a neverending game of digital whack-a-mole, involving AI-driven phishing attempts, cyberattacks, and waves of mis- and disinformation that flood social media channels daily.

This is the paradox of the digital era: As AI technologies enhance our ability to communicate and connect with our school communities, they simultaneously expose schools to new vulnerabilities, making it even more difficult to protect reputations and strengthen relationships.

Leveling up the risks and rewards of tech-driven school communications is GenAI, playing by an entirely new set of rules. LLMs like ChatGPT operate as if by magic, creating brand-new content—be it text, images, or even music— that is indistinguishable from human-generated work. Yes, you read that right. Even the best AI detectors on the market cannot reliably distinguish AI-generated content from human-generated writing, images, or even phone or video calls. And society doesn’t have any great solutions yet.

Just as tracks guide a train’s path, trust guides the relationship between schools and their communities. Ethical GenAI use will ensure the train keeps moving in the right direction, strengthening rather than undermining trust. Trust is the nexus of school communications, and there are a few key things you need to keep in mind to maintain trust with all of your stakeholders in the GenAI-dominated world.

Generative AI is Not just a tool.

You’ve likely heard that GenAI is “just a tool” to add to a school communicator’s toolbox, and in some ways, this is true. GenAI is a tool in the broadest sense—it’s a means to achieve an end. With that said, this tool functions dramatically differently from the traditional tools we’re used to. Consider using a hammer or even a spellchecker; with these tools, your intention directly guides the outcome, and you can reasonably anticipate what will happen when you wield them. They are predictable.

GenAI tools are different. They regularly surprise us with unexpected, even outrageous outcomes. Sometimes it’s impossible to get them to work in the way we need them to. They are wildly creative; they go off-script. And the truth is we don’t know exactly how they work or what’s going on under the hood. That makes them risky in school communications.

Never trust an LLM.

Accuracy is a critical, nonnegotiable element of school communications. Teachers, parents, and students depend on clear, accurate, timely updates—and the stakes are high. Even a tiny error in communication can ripple through your community, causing confusion and eroding trust.

Here’s the headline: Never trust an LLM, and lay human eyes on every GenAI-generated output before distributing it. LLMs often regurgitate false or biased information retrieved from disreputable online sources and training data. Sometimes they simply creatively embellish facts for no apparent reason, even when accurate data is readily available. These oddities make LLMs a less-than-reliable source of information, even when connected to the internet. Fact-check, cross-reference, and triple-check every output for accuracy or bias every single time. GenAI models are famous for hallucinating facts and delivering misinformation with absolute confidence.

Beware of Very Real Deepfakes.

While the battle against online misinformation and bad actors using technology for nefarious purposes is not new, GenAI is escalating the conflict, making the spread of falsehoods faster and more believable. Hyperrealistic AI-generated deepfakes pose very real threats to school reputations and relationships, and the technology to create them is largely unregulated, easily accessible, and virtually untraceable.

In the earliest weeks of 2024, sexually explicit deepfake images of an AI-generated (but very real-looking) Taylor Swift ignited an uproar, garnering over 45 million views. In the same week, a Hong Kong company lost $25 million following a Zoom meeting featuring deepfaked company executives. And schools are not immune; in 2023, three high schoolers used GenAI to create a deepfake of their principal spewing a racist rant that circulated on TikTok.

Effective school communications in the age of GenAI means ensuring your community knows how to access accurate information on your school-owned online channels when confronted with deepfakes. It’s important that your community knows they can trust the district when these situations arise.

Stay Vigilant about Privacy and Security.

Maintain trust with your school communities by protecting private data. Keep in mind that we don’t know exactly how most of these GenAI systems work, how they are trained, or what makes them tick. Schools must be extra vigilant about unintentional disclosure of sensitive information, including student data, that could potentially violate privacy regulations and laws.

Set clear guidelines about what data should (and should not) be entered into GenAI programs. For example, based on what we know right now (which isn’t a lot), avoid uploading student photos, spreadsheets of survey responses that include participant email addresses, and meeting agendas that may include confidential topics. Rachel Woods, CEO of the AI Exchange, coined the Reddit Rule: If you wouldn’t post it anonymously on Reddit, don’t put it in ChatGPT (or any other GenAI model).

Don’t Give Up the Human Touch.

One of the fastest ways to lose trust with your audience is to use GenAI to replace human interactions and human-generated content. Attempting to pass off GenAI content as human-created can have dire consequences for your district’s reputation and trustworthiness. Transparency is key.

It’s deliciously tempting to cast GenAI in the starring role of your school communications story. Certainly, its allure as a prolific writing tool is undeniable—who wouldn’t be enticed by the promises of drafting school newsletters, reports, and announcements in a fraction of the usual time?

Resist the urge. While AI can draft messages that are grammatically perfect and factually accurate, it usually struggles to convey warmth, understanding, genuine concern, and authenticity—all qualities that come naturally to human writers. These human elements are the critical ingredients of effective school communications.

The truth is, while people can’t always tell if written content is human-generated, they trust it more if it is. Research shows that people demonstrate a bias toward content they know was created by humans—a phenomenon known as “human favoritism.” People prefer content known to be humancrafted because they feel people are more trustworthy and empathetic than computers.

Ultimately, human-written content is more likely to resonate emotionally with your school community, which will be even more critical during a crisis or any other time you must address sensitive topics. Transparency and authenticity in our communications are key to maintaining trust.

Without question, the true power of GenAI in school communications lies in casting it in a supporting role, with humans always in the lead.

Using GeNerative AI Strategically

Based on my experience, writing is the least interesting way to use GenAI. Here are six ways you can leverage GenAI to support school communications. Keep in mind that the sweet spot is balancing the efficiency of GenAI with the irreplaceable human element of school communications.

Simplify Your Research.

Instead of spending hours searching through pages of Google results, use AI-powered tools like Perplexity AI to automatically find and summarize relevant information on issues important to your school community. These tools link directly to sources and make cross-checking easy. In a similar (but more fun) way, Grok, integrated with the X platform (formerly Twitter), uses GenAI to instantly summarize what people are saying about any topic that impacts your school in real time. (While X may not always be a reliable data source, it can help you gauge public sentiment .)

Catch Blind Spots.

Use GenAI to assume the role of any stakeholder and identify your communication blind spots. For example, feed a human-created report (after removing confidential information, of course) into ChatGPT and prompt it to review the material from the perspective of your board. This will not only prepare you to address their inquiries, but also help you pinpoint potential information gaps. Similarly, share your written communication messages with ChatGPT, explain who your target audience is, and ask it to evaluate what you might have missed or give you pointers on how to improve it. You may be surprised!

UPgrade Your Media Training.

Ensure your school’s spokesperson is fully prepped for a press conference by casting ChatGPT in the role of local media. Assign the AI any sentiment, topic, or personality to help your spokesperson practice and improve their skill levels. Keep it fun by using the voice conversation feature in GPT-4 to have verbal conversations. Leveraging GenAI strategically in this way not only enhances preparedness but also helps you fine-tune your messaging so it resonates more effectively with each audience.

Enhance Your Strategic Planning.

Us e a GenA I like Claud e (just to mi x i t u p a bit) to as k yo u 1 0 thought-provoking questions to help your team dig deeper into your communications SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. Have GPT-4 evaluate last year’s strategic comms plan and identify 20 new tactics and strategies for message distribution. You can even work with Perplexity AI to conduct a thorough environmental scan of academic research related to school communications and current trends.

Outsource some of your Brainstorming.

Use a friendly GenAI like Pi to ask for ideas on what research may be required ahead of an important engagement campaign. Spend less time coming up with a list of 100 creative hashtag ideas for a school event and more time on the aspects of the campaign where the human element is most critical.

Improve Community Engagement.

Improve your two-way communication efforts by working with Pi or Gemini to brainstorm different ways to ask important questions or evaluate the effectiveness of survey questions you’ve already written. Partner with an AI tool like Claude to summarize and distill complex information and determine the best way to communicate it with school families. Use AI to evaluate message tones, identify nuance and context in survey responses, and quickly suggest next steps. While protecting private data, work with an AI tool like GPT-4 to analyze survey responses and conduct sentiment analyses on survey data. This will save you hours of time— hours that can be redirected toward actioning the results of the survey and focusing on relationships.

Proactively prepare for Crises.

Be better prepared for any crisis by asking ChatGPT to simulate detailed crisis scenarios and evaluate your response from the point of view of a parent. Use Perplexity AI to identify news articles about specific crises and responses, such as handling data breaches in school districts, or collaborate with Pi to ensure your pre-prepared crisis messaging will resonate with your school community. Use ChatGPT to evaluate your school emergency plan’s initial responses, key messages, steps for notifying stakeholders, and strategies for rebuilding trust.

The truth is, it’s an exciting time to be alive. The GenAI train, despite its relentless momentum and dizzying pace, is carrying us to places we’ve never been and showing us views we’ve never imagined. And we’re all going there together.

Full steam ahead.

For more information on the AI tools referenced in this article, scan here.

AI and the Future of School Communications

By Brittany Edwardes Keil

School communications is changing, and artificial intelligence (AI) is only part of it. Chances are, you’ve heard of ChatGPT and other AI-derived tools, maybe you’ve even started to explore how they can impact your work. National interest in and application of AI has been sufficiently documented in the media, but its implications for school communications are only starting to solidify.

In our recent survey of school communicators, we asked a few questions about AI use and interest. (For the broader results of that survey, turn to page 26.) We wanted to understand how interested school comms pros are in using AI to aid their work—and how often it’s already being used.

Let’s start with interest. We asked our participants, “Are you interested in using ChatGPT or other AI-derived tools for work?” (Figure 1) . Given its potential to fundamentally change the day-to-day of school communications, it’s no surprise that the vast majority of school communicators are interested in using AI.

Nearly one-third of our participants selected “extremely interested,” and 25% chose “very interested.” Overall, over 90% of participants indicated some level of interest in ChatGPT and other AI-derived tools. Fewer than 7% of participants said they were “not at all interested”—an astoundingly small minority considering how new AI use is.

So school communicators are interested—but are they actually using ChatGPT and similar tools? Rather than give our respondents a simple yes-or-no choice, we asked how often participants were already using ChatGPT or other AI-derived tools (Figure 2) . The results showed a widespread, albeit

somewhat infrequent, use of AI. Nearly a third of participants use the tools weekly, while about 15% use them daily. The bulk of respondents—about 36%—use AI-derived tools rarely—either “once a month” or “less than once a month.”

This group is particularly interesting. Are respondents not using these tools frequently because they don’t find them useful? Or because they aren’t quite sure how to use them effectively? We can’t know from the data, but our open responses suggest mixed feelings about how these tools will impact school PR as a profession. The responses we received ranged from hesitation and worry to confident hope:

“I am scared to death about what AI means for school PR. Younger school communicators seem to be excited about it; I am not.”

“I think we need to watch AI. I think leaders will lean on AI and maybe try not to use a comms professional—and that is detrimental to the district.”

“I’m feeling optimistic about industry changes. If AI can expedite the creation of social media posts and crisis comms responses, we will be able to focus more on delivery and strategy than copywriting and beefing up webpages.”

To contextualize these responses, we turned to a seasoned school communicator. Jake Potter, APR, is the director of public relations at Leavenworth Unified School District in Kansas, and his exploration of AI has changed how he approaches his role. Throughout this school year, Potter has worked closely with his superintendent to be both thoughtful and progressive when it comes to how his district uses AI, from integrating it into student learning programs to using it to track sentiments from staff surveys. In fact, Leavenworth has the distinction of being the first district in Kansas to join Magic School’s AI Innovators Program. This program gives teachers free access to AI tools, allowing them to explore ways to save time and build efficiency in their work.

For Potter, AI use has been nothing short of transformative. “I’ve been consumed with AI in a healthy way,” he says. In his research and implementation of AI, he’s discovered two main ways (so far) that it can broaden his capacity.

How often do you use ChatGPT and other

The first way is using AI to generate small, tedious writing samples. “So many of us are consumed by small tasks— writing alerts, press releases, and other things that take a lot of time but not a lot of personalization,” Potter explains. “It’s

And this is only the beginning. Potter spends time each week watching demos and listening to AI-centered podcasts to keep track of what’s emerging so that he can push his work even further. Potter is excited about AI and its game-changing potential for school comms. “I believe that considerations about integrating AI in schools offer school PR professionals an opportunity to be actively involved in—and possibly even champion and lead—district initiatives,” he says. “Whether the goal is staff retention or classroom usage to enhance student outcomes, the necessary research, planning, implementation, and evaluation steps are great opportunities for the communications team to make meaningful contributions.”

By Melissa Hite

If i t hasn’ t happene d t o yo u yet , it’s boun d t o happen at some point. Someday—whether due to a scandal, a controversy, or even a simple mistake—your district will face bad publicity. These situations demand attention from several different angles: communicating honestly with your community, interfacing with the media, making the problem right when necessary, and rebuilding trust in your district. That’s a lot to manage, even for a seasoned professional.

The way you handle bad publicity depends on what precipitated it, but a few overarching principles can help guide you through any situation. We spoke with three school comms professionals about tough school PR situations they’ve experienced and how they made it to the other side. Some of the circumstances we’ll address are, admittedly, really uncomfortable to talk about—things like employee misconduct and racism—but that’s exactly why we have to talk about them. These situations won’t blow over on their own, and ignoring them will only add fuel to the fire. You have to face them head-on—and that’s exactly what these comms pros did.

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B e as proactive as possible.

It was just three hours before a public school board meeting when Public Information Officer Jared Revlett learned the news. The superintendent of his Kentucky district, Owensboro Public Schools, was under investigation by the state police for an inappropriate relationship with a student in another district. That night the board would vote to suspend him with pay—the necessary first step toward terminating his contract.

Needless to say, this came as a shock to Revlett. “We had worked closely together for a long time, but I had also known the guy for 20-plus years,” he says. “He encouraged me to take this job when I applied for it. He was a personal friend.” Just the night before, Revlett had been coaching the superintendent through the talking points of his graduation speech. That would be the last time they ever spoke.

Owensboro’s board had been notified of the investigation a few days before the public board meeting, but they hadn’t received any details. It was only the morning of the meeting that they’d learned what the superintendent was being investigated for. “The investigation was still ongoing,” Revlett says. “But by then the board had enough information to know we couldn’t have this person leading our district anymore.”

With so little time, it might seem impossible to be proactive— but really, even the three short hours that Revlett had were a gift. Since there hadn’t yet been an arrest, only a handful of people knew what was coming. This gave Owensboro the crucial opportunity to control the narrative and break the news to the community themselves. So Revlett and the board spent that afternoon preparing for the board meeting as well as possible, hoping to minimize the damage.

First came the question of when in the board meeting to break the news. As part of that night’s agenda, the board would be recognizing retirees from all across the district for their years of service, meaning the room would be packed. “But we knew that 90% of the people in the room were going to leave once we got through that segment,” says Revlett. So to avoid overshadowing their retirees—or breaking the news to a larger-than-usual crowd—the board would conduct their vote to suspend the superintendent at the very end of the meeting.

Even more crucially, Revlett and the board needed to strategize on exactly how to present the news. “Normally, I’m the district spokesperson,” says Revlett, “but a matter such as terminating the superintendent is a board thing, not a district thing. This was something the board needed to be the face of.” But as the comms professional in the situation, Revlett could still help the board prepare. “I worked with the board chair on putting together talking points—what to say, what not to say, and the answers to questions that might be asked,” he explains.

The Owensboro team also wanted to be mindful of their staff—perhaps very few of whom would actually be in attendance at this board meeting. “I wanted them to hear it from us before they saw it pop up on social media or the news,” Revlett explains. “It was important to take care of our people, who were innocent bystanders in all this.” So he prepped an email that would go out to all staff the moment the board voted, giving as much information as possible and letting them know when they could expect more.

Revlett also put together similar material for local newspapers and TV affiliates. “I knew as soon as it broke, they were going to call me wanting more information,” he says. Sending that informatio n before i t wa s eve n requeste d woul d save the district valuable time and effort in the long run.

Owensboro’s PR crisis wasn’t over when the board voted to suspend the superintendent—in fact, it was just beginning. But the quick and proactive way the district handled the situation at the beginning set the tone for everything that would follow. “I think the community still supported the school district because the school board moved so quickly,” Revlett explains. After months under the leadership of Interim Superintendent Anita Burnette—a veteran of the district well respected by the community—Owensboro named Dr. Wendy Duvall their new superintendent in early April. And in March, the Kentucky School Public Relations Association named Revlett their first-ever School Communicator of the Year.

“The school district’s going to go on,” says Revlett. “We’ve been here for 150 years, and that’s not going to crumble overnight. We just had to do what we could to let parents know that the moment this information came to light, the district made the decision it had to make. Now, we’re going to move forward and continue educating kids.”

B uild trust before you need it.

David A. Smith knows a thing or two about navigating a PR crisis. In his 20 years in school communications, he’s seen it all—from his first district losing its accreditation to a teacher being caught on video kicking a student. “I have at least half a dozen stories, things that have made international news,” he says. Now the chief communications officer for the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas, he recently faced a particularly fraught situation: a viral video of a racially charged fight at Shawnee Mission East High School. In the video, a white-passing boy calls a Black girl a racial slur before the two come to blows.

The video is ugly and difficult to watch, and it caused a lot of pain and anger across the Shawnee Mission community. As an African-American man himself, Smith felt that pain intensely. “I would say to anybody who called, That was horrible to watch. None of us condone it. It doesn’t matter what happened or why—it was just awful ,” he says. But Smith also doesn’t believe anyone can accurately judge a district based on one viral clip.

In the wake of the video, “there were a lot of projections about the work of both Shawnee Mission East High School and the system as a whole around the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Smith says. But diversity, equity, and inclusion— or DEI—is actually a huge priority for Shawnee Mission, as outlined in their community-developed strategic plan. Since 2019, the district has been executing detailed action plans aimed at “relentlessly creating a fully unified, equitable, and inclusive culture,” as their strategic plan puts it—from revising board policies to recalibrating hiring practices to implementing Deep Equity training for staff.

So like any district, Shawnee Mission had work to do around equity—but they were already actively doing that work before this incident ever occurred. “When something like this happens, a lot of people are going to make assumptions about who you are and what your work is, and that’s a challenge,” says Smith.

To combat and correct those assumptions, Smith and his team leaned on the relationships of trust the district had already built—starting with the high school’s direct community. “Generally, we want to communicate with the people who are closest to an issue, and we want that communication to come from the people with whom those people have a relationship,” he says. “This was a school incident, so we wanted the communication to the school community to come from the school—not just from the district.”

Of course, that’s not to say that Shawnee Mission East’s principal was on his own. “Whenever something happens in a school, we always tell our principals, Your job is to take care of your kids and your staff. We’ll work on the communication for yo u ,” says Smith. Working with executive leadership, the district comms team worked with the principal to put together messaging to send out to his community. That way, families would be hearing from an administrator they already knew and trusted—not a distant figure from the central office.

Smith has spent his career building trusting relationships with local media—and in a crisis, stronger relationships help everyone to withstand the pressure. That’s a lesson he learned in his first week in his very first school communications role, when his Missouri district lost its state accreditation. At first, Smith didn’t realize he was doing anything special. He was just answering the phone when reporters called. “But I remember several reporters saying to

me, We didn’t expect you to answer, let alone talk to us. The district never had before ,” he tells SchoolCEO. “I figured out early that reporters have a job to do, and if you support their work, that helps build relationships and trust.”

Of course, Smith doesn’t expect local reporters to refrain from covering stories that might make the district look bad or that hold it accountable. That’s not how the news works. “But when things are hard, having those relationships can help,” he says. “A reporter who knows you and trusts you might take a slightly different angle than one who assumes you’re going to lie to them.” You’re more likely to get fair coverage—and even a chance to clarify misconceptions— from someone you have a relationship with.

The strong advocates in Shawnee Mission’s community— from staff members to families to residents—also proved deeply valuable when misinformation reared its ugly head. In response to the video, “somebody who should have known better made comments about how there weren’t any people of color in district leadership,” Smith explains. But in reality, that’s not the case. “Of course, I really didn’t want to engage in that conversation because if I did, that would just open up a whole other series of unrelated topics,” he says. But Smith didn’t have to weigh in—because the district’s advocates did. “Almost immediately, several people jumped in and said, Hey, that’s wrong. Here’s what’s actually true ,” he says. “So you count on your folks, and they’ll be willing to step up for you.”

Of course, trust requires constant maintenance, especially in the face of a PR crisis. You can’t just lean on the trust you’ve already built; you have to keep building and rebuilding trust

“A reporter who knows you and trusts you might take a slightly different angle than one who assumes you’re going to lie to them.”

with your whole community. At Shawnee Mission, this meant shining a broader spotlight on the DEI work the district is already doing. “I told my team, Let’s start talking more about what our work is ,” says Smith. “It’s the same work we’ve been doing—but we need to highlight it more.”

But even more importantly, building and maintaining trust meant listening to students about what needed to happen moving forward. After all, the district still has work to do. “We talked with the principal and said, Make sure you connect with your kids ,” says Smith. “ They’re saying things about your building that you need to hear, and you need to make sure that you create a space for them to have those conversations. That won’t be easy, but they’ve got to feel like their voices are being heard. That’s part of the work .”

A ccentuate the positive.

On the very first day of the 2023-24 school year, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Kentucky found themselves in the middle of a transportation disaster. Just a few weeks prior, the district had lengthened bus routes in an attempt to offset their bus driver shortage. But as a result, the morning was riddled with bus delays—and in the evening, a few students didn’t make it home until nearly 10 p.m.

For Chief of Communications and Community Relations

Carolyn Callahan, the first priority was to admit that the district had messed up. “That night we sent out a very honest email basically saying, This was 100% unacceptable ,” she tells us. “ We have to do better .” Superintendent Dr. Marty

Pollio took several interviews with local media and filmed an apology video explaining what the district would do next. Then, JCPS canceled school for the rest of the week, using that time to solve the problem.

The district implemented as many short-term solutions as they could right away. They reduced the lengths of bus routes and even sent extra staff members along with bus drivers to help with directions. “One thing that we realized was that we had no way to tell parents where their kids were when they were on our buses,” Callahan says. “So parents were calling, and not only were their kids three hours late, but we couldn’t tell them where their bus was, which makes it even worse.” JCPS got a GPS tracking app up and running by the end of that week.

But despite that quick response, the media fervor has continued. “That is still the story,” says Callahan. “It is still what everyone’s talking about. Still, a couple of times a week, we are asked what we’re doing, what changes we’re making.” And massive changes are in the works for next year’s transportation plan—but those long-term fixes take time. So what could the district do in the meantime? Callahan’s answer was to accentuate the positive.

The idea was to highlight the positive stories from JCPS’s bus routes. “We wanted to call attention to bu s drivers wh o love thei r job s an d highlight why they love their jobs,” Callahan says. In a series of videos , th e distric t di d just that “We got o n

a bus with them, talked with them, showed them high-fiving cute kids—showed how much their kids love them,” she tells us. At many of the district’s schools, students made signs, put together gift bags, and handed out snacks and water to drivers before and after school. “So we highlighted all of that on social media and our website, too,” says Callahan.

The strategy is pretty simple; if you can’t control the narrative from the get-go, change it. “The media’s not necessarily going to tell the positive, so we have to tell our own story,” Callahan says. “We just flood our social media and our website with positive news, whether it’s on this bus driver situation or the other positive things going on in our schools. Great things happen every day inside every JCPS school— you just might not hear about them. In comms, our job is not only to protect and defend the brand, but to highlight those amazing stories.”

This too shall pass.

In each of our conversations, a common theme emerged: No matter what crisis you’re facing, it won’t last forever. “In my first communications job, my superintendent told me, Today’s news is tomorrow’s fish wrapping, ” says Smith. “The metaphor doesn’t work as well now in our digital age, but the point still stands. Even when you think you’ll never get past it, you do. These things have a cycle. It’s going to be hard for a while, and then you’ll get back to some sense of normalcy.”

So if you’re in the midst of a PR crisis, stay the course. Get ahead of the situation when you can, lean on your relationships, and never stop highlighting all the great things happening in your schools. Before long, this will all be a

Photo courtesy of Jefferson County Public Schools

Use Templates for Speed and Brand Consistency

Posting on social media can be a bit overwhelming when there’s a lo t goin g o n i n you r schools Fro m weathe r update s to crisis communications, you often need to create and share content quickly while also maintaining the brand and voice your stakeholders recognize. Using templates that are already aligned to your brand—with your logo, school colors, fonts, etc.—can save you a lot of headaches and promote brand consistency across social media platforms.

Holly McCaw, APR, director of communications at Michigan’s Otsego Public Schools, uses templates in a variety of ways. “I have premade templates for snow days, half days, vacation weeks, etc.,” she tells us. McCaw even keeps a contact on each school sports team so that, using her templates, she can craft and share congratulations posts as soon as results and highlights come in from a game.

In Oregon’s Reynolds School District, Director of Communications

Steve Padilla uses templates to help district leaders respond to crises in a timely fashion. “I have templates of letters for all of our principals to use in case there’s some kind of community incident,” Padilla tells us. No matter the potential situation—a power outage, a weather event, or something more serious—Padilla knows a principal can’t stop and write a letter to the community when their top priority is everyone’s safety. Having this bank of templates ready to go saves everyone time and ensures that families get the information they need as quickly as possible.

When it comes to actually creating templates, most of our experts mentioned using Canva. The user-friendly online graphic design tool is free to use or has a paid subscription option if you’re looking for extra design features. “I use Canva for a large portion of my work and keep a template for all of our social media post announcements,” says Meagan Dorsey, public relations officer at Dothan City Schools in Alabama.

Plan Ahead With Evergreen Content

Sometimes there’s so much going on in your schools that sharing every story seems impossible. And if you’re trying to get vital information out to your community, it may not be the right time to post about the quiz bowl team’s big win—even if that victory just happened.

Many of the communications directors we’ve spoken to over the years have mentioned saving up content for later use. When times get hectic or your comms team is stretched too thin, having a bank of positive, evergreen stories to share can help keep your district’s inspiring work from getting lost in the shuffle.

“As a part of our social media strategy, we are intentional about highlighting all of our buildings each week,” McCaw says. “But there are times when we have more items from one building than another, so I’ll schedule them out for the following week or save them for another time. Or, if we have a really busy week with tons of things going on from multiple buildings, I’ll choose a few evergreen stories to save for a later time as well.”

Curating a bank of positive stories ensures McCaw always has content to share, even when there’s a holiday break or a slower week in the district. “Since I already have the content, it’s also easy to write up a caption and schedule the post in advance,” she says.

Leverage Online Tools

If your district uses a custom app to keep school families updated, you already know the convenience of having one digital space for stakeholders to find information about your schools. Keeping your app up to date is key for building trust within your community.

Betsy Bailey, director of communications and community relations for Arkansas’ Searcy School District, has found Thrillshare Mobile* to be a great tool for keeping her community informed and telling Searcy’s story. “We use Thrillshare Mobile because it goes to three social media channels at the same time,” says Bailey. “And you only have to type your message in once—that saves me a lot of work.”

Thrillshare Mobile allows multiple users to keep your website and custom app updated. You can post on your Live Feed, share content on multiple social media platforms, and even send notifications, text, and voice alerts to your stakeholders—all from one app on your phone.

Recruit and Train Media Reps

You can’t be everywhere at once, especially if you’re the only member of your team. That’s why many communications directors rely on a districtwide network of media reps to help find stories, generate content, and share site-specific updates. “It really does come down to building relationships with key communicators in your buildings and making sure people understand the why of a school communicator’s job,” McCaw says.

*Thrillshare Mobile is a product of our parent company, Apptegy.

Jessica Jernegan, director of community engagement for Oklahoma’s Bixby Public Schools, certainly doesn’t let being a “one-woman shop” keep her from telling her district’s collective story. Inspired by a conference session she attended, Jernegan created what she calls Bixby’s “Comms Cadre” this past school year. “I developed a role description of sorts and talked with my district about paying stipends to existing employees,” Jernegan tells us. “Then I created a little mini-comms director at each of our 12 school sites.”

Jernegan spends a full day training Bixby’s media reps, explaining how everything they post should align to the district’s strategic plan and going over tools like ChatGPT and Canva. In addition to quarterly meetups, they share a planning calendar to keep things organized and on track. Having this Comms Cadre allows Jernegan to focus on district-level communications while dedicated reps tell their schools’ respective stories. “I think our community can feel a stronger connection to their children’s classrooms because of these efforts,” she says.

Use Shared Online Spaces

Keeping communications top of mind for leaders across a district can be difficult and time-consuming. Fortunately, utilizing online spaces can keep you connected to leaders and other designated communicators in your district.

“I have a shared public relations Google Drive that principals and school directors have access to,” says Dorsey. “It houses things I often receive requests for, including our official school logos and instructions on things like how to make an email signature or use mass notifications.” Having these resources in one easy-tofind place saves valuable time both for principals and for Dorsey herself. School leaders don’t have to go on a wild goose chase to find what they need, and Dorsey doesn’t have to field as many requests for information.

In Bixby, Jernegan uses online spaces to keep the district’s sitespecific communicators connected and collaborating. “I have a shared online workspace where we can all chat and share ideas,” she tells us. “When we have something going on districtwide, like a bond issue or Homecoming Week, one of our cadre will make a Canva graphic and share it for everyone to use. So instead of 12 people making 12 different graphics, one of them gets it done, and we’re good. It’s a shortcut that creates more shortcuts.”

You can use spaces like these to share templates, brand toolkits, and even answers to questions about what to post and when. The key is having a place where all your district’s storytellers can easily find information and collaborate.

Get Support From the School Comms Community

Though the role of a school communications professional can be overwhelming and isolating, you’re not alone; there are many others walking in your shoes. As we’ve spoken to school comms pros over the years, the vast majority have mentioned how important it is to form community with others in the field.

We’re never surprised when a school communicator mentions how valuable the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) has been to them. With over 2,800 members, the organization has been fostering a supportive community of school comms professionals for nearly a century. Needless to say, tapping into NSPRA’s resources is a great way to gain insights, inspiration, and support. They offer everything from professional development webinars and monthly chats to an impressive bank of resources and research tools. The organization also has 30 state and regional chapters across the U.S. that provide networking and local professional development opportunities.

As president of ArkaNSPRA, Arkansas’ state NSPRA chapter, Bailey knows a thing or two about staying connected to her local school comms community. “Very few districts have a whole team of communicators,” she says, “but ArkaNSPRA is a great way for fellow communicators to share information with one another.”

With just over 60 members statewide, ArkaNSPRA has quarterly, in-person meetings at different district and school sites. “And we’re on a closed Facebook group, so if we have an issue that someone else has dealt with, we’ll just throw a question out there and ask what we should do,” Bailey says. “We try to stay in constant contact.” On the last Friday of every month, ArkaNSPRA members participate in what they call “FriYay!”—a Zoom meeting where they can collaborate, troubleshoot, and share ideas. “We are such a close-knit group, and we are always welcoming to anyone who wants to join,” says Bailey.

Have a comms tip that makes your job easier? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at: editor@schoolceo. com

Social Media Tips and Trend s for Schools

Top predictions and strategies from six comms professionals

When it comes to the duties of a communications professional, social media takes a big piece of the pie. And it should. The typical internet user spends about two and half hours on social media per day. That’s arguably way more time than people spend on your school website or app—which means social media is something you have to get right. It’s also one of your best tools for sharing important information and engaging with your community.

We reached out to a few school communications professionals who are in the weeds, doing the work of cultivating a robust social media presence for their respective districts. We wanted to know where they invest their time on social media and what strategies have worked for them.

1 . Artificial intelligence could show your community what your district feels like.

“Social media trends appear to be evolving toward more dynamic and immersive experiences, including incorporating more video content, livestreams, and interactive features like polls and surveys in Stories. I also believe we’ll soon be incorporating more AI and virtual reality to showcase school environments and events. Educational partners want to know what a school feels like, including the physical environment and the culture. These types of interactive tools will help schools and districts deliver that experience.”

Executive Director of Communication and Community Engagement Jessica Hull, Roseville City School District, CA

2. Photos are just as powerful as video— and even more dynamic.

“I always put a premium on photography. The idea that a pic ture is worth a thousand words holds true. Quality photos convey a sense of joy and reassure parents and the community that our schools are welcoming, safe spaces for their children to learn and thrive. This is the type of message that parents and guardians want to receive above all else.

I also place a value on video, but I believe it needs to be tailored for specific audiences and platforms. A photo instantly conveys a message, whereas most people will not have the attention span to watch even a 20-second video. And when you’re trying to administer social media with very limited time and resources, a photo can be used dynamically across all platforms, whereas video cannot.

— Chief Communications Officer Daniel O’Brien, Worcester Public Schools, MA

3. Increase community engagement with short-form video.

“This year, I have been focusing heavily on short-form vid eos like Reels and Stories to connect with our community on social media. Short-form videos like Instagram Reels are particularly effective for highlighting school events, student achievements, and day-to-day school life in an engaging, digestible format. Stories, available on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, offer a more personal , behind-the-scene s loo k at schoo l life They’re great for real-time updates and fostering a sense of community and immediacy.

By leveraging these content types, we aim to create a more engaging, relatable, and interactive online presence for our schools. I feel like these short-form videos give me the best ROI for my time. I’ve noticed that engagement on Reels and Stories is easily five times higher than engagement on a standard post. It’s a fun way to connect with your audience and know that your content will be seen and shared.”

District and Community Relations Coordinator

Lynette White, Banning Unified School District, CA

4. Facebook is a trusted source for district information, second only to your website.

“It’s very interesting but not very surprising that our stakeholders put a lot of weight into our social media channels. In my district, we’ve seen the mediums our stakeholders trust to find our information shift over the years. Though our website still remains the most trusted public-facing platform to find information about our district, I would say Facebook is a close second. If we miss posting news or photos about a student group’s success on Facebook, we always hear about it.”

— Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Kelli Mayhew, Grand Island Public Schools, NE

5. Change the conversation by utilizing your staff’s voices.

“As a one-person department, I cannot tell our district’s story on my own. One thing that has worked well for me is really empowering our staff to help tell our schools’ stories. Getting others on your team excited about social media is a huge help and makes for more diverse content.

One of our biggest successes has been keeping our community informed about what school lunches look like in our district. Working with our child nutrition department, we have been sharing updates about the local Ohio farms we source food from, the fresh options available to students, and all of our efforts to introduce our students to new foods (with happy smiling faces to boot!). Slowly and consistently, we have changed the conversation around what a school lunch looks like in Plain Local Schools.

These types of social media successes don’t just happen—they take time and consistency. But they are a wonderful way to celebrate our departments and keep our stakeholders informed. Oftentimes our teachers, admin, and staff don’t think the work they are doing is newsworthy. As soon as you change that mindset and switch to ‘Our community would love to see this,’ everything else falls into place.”

— Public Relations Director Mary Beddell, Plain Local Schools, OH

6. Focus on the platforms that matter.

“T he effective use of fewer platforms is better than the ineffective use of multiple. Quality content creation demands consistency, and by concentrating our efforts on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, we aim to deliver that consistency to our community while maximizing our time. Anyone who has worked in social media for an extended period of time will tell you that social media is fast and easy if you don’t do it right. It takes time to make sure your content is crafted specifically for each channel. In essence, the key to success in social media for schools lies not in casting a wide net across every trending platform, but in mastering the channels your community prefers. It’s a calculated approach.”

— Facilitator of Marketing Skyler Hefley, Tyler ISD, TX