School District Working Toward Creating a Communications Plan

Community members that responded to the Whitefish Bay School District's communications survey last month are now able to see the survey results.

The communications audit gathered feedback from both district staff and community members from Feb. 1 and Feb. 22, and the information will be used to form a communications plan, which is expected to be brought it forward in about June and will start taking effect next school year.

The results of the communications survey were presented at a March 9 school board meeting. Generally, the survey results show both staff and community members are satisfied with and are proud of the school district. It also showed community members are hungry for information about the school district.

Respondents also trusted the school district and use the district website as their main source of information.

Where is the community currently getting its school district information? Of the 456 community members surveyed, 58.3 percent said the district website, 53 percent said school newsletters, 23 percent said parent organizations and 42 percent said friends or neighbors.

Roughly nineteen percent of respondents said they get their information through North Shore Now, and 12 percent said they receive information from Whitefish Bay Patch.

Some of the guiding principals the board took away from the report include the district’s newfound role as both a school district and a reporter of information. With declining page counts and a changing media landscape, Donovan noted the local newspaper is not able to provide as much information as it did in the past.

“…(T)his creates a situation where the district must actively work to push news out to the local community in a way that it may not have had to do so in the past," the report states.

One lesson that came out of the report is the need for the district's website to improved. The report states it would be helpful for the website to allow more contributions from staff.

The communications initiative is being spearheaded by a communications advisory committee, led by consultant Joe Donovan, of the Donovan Group, LLC. Donovan said the timing of the communications plan is perfect, as it allows the board to dovetail the plan into the district's strategic planning iniative, which is currently in progress.

"They fit very much hand in glove," he said.