COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
This chapter reviews Dallas Independent School District's (DISD) communications and community relations efforts in four sections:
- A. Organization and Management
- B. Internal and External Communications
- C. Community Relations
- D. Broadcast Services
Community involvement is essential to the success of a school district and the quality of life within a school district's community. A successful community involvement program is designed to address the unique characteristics of both the school district and the community. Community involvement activities include activities that enable parents, business leaders and others with a stake in public education to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing the district and become involved in the district's activities.
BACKGROUND
Dallas County has more than two million residents, according to1999 U.S. Census data. The county's ethnic composition is 54 percent Anglo, 21 percent African American, 20 percent Hispanic, 4 percent Asian and 1 percent other ethnic groups. Dallas has the 12th largest Hispanic population, the 10th largest African American population, and the 17th largest Asian population in the nation.
DISD's 2000-01 student population is as diverse as the community. The district's ethnic composition is 54 percent Hispanic, 36 percent African American, 8 percent Anglo, and 2 percent other ethnic groups. More than 74 percent of DISD's student population is economically disadvantaged.
The district's community involvement program has undergone two performance evaluations in recent years-one in 1992 by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts' Texas School Performance Review (TSPR) Division and another in 1995 by members of the Public Relations Society of America.
Commendable community involvement practices identified during the TSPR review included:
- An extensive array of citizen advisory committees
- District support provided to advisory committees
- Increased involvement in planning programs at each campus through the implementation of the School-Centered Education Plan
- A wide array of public information channels including televised broadcasts of the district's programs and operations
- Numerous publications and brochures made available to the public
- A highly attended annual fair held to inform the public of the district's magnet schools
- A collaboration with the city of Dallas to achieve recognition for educational reform and designation as an "America 2000" city
- An extensive adopt-a-school/volunteer program that provided about $9 million in materials services and financial assistance during the 1990-91school year
- A collaboration with Dallas business leaders to share in funding a $2.4 million school and incentive award program
- Strong evidence of community support for public education substantiated by the passage of a 1985 bond referendum that provided $195.5 million in capital improvements for the district
Major recommendations of the 1992 TSPR review included:
- Using citizen advisory committees and ensuring that the committees receive timely information on major district duties and activities
- Modifying the annual report from the superintendent to the community and staff to include a list of the district's goals and objectives and the extent to which each goal was met that year
- Restoring public confidence in the district's ability to manage its business operations by establishing of a strong internal auditing program, using formal work management systems designed to support management processes, and developing and enforcing written administrative goals
Major recommendations made by members of the Public Relations Society of America included:
- Restructuring the department into four major areas -- media relations, internal communications and information services, external services, and television and broadcast
- Increasing the media relations staff to make it more proactive
- Staffing the proposed internal communications and information services area with two new positions (a graphic designer and photographer)
- Developing an issues management program
- Developing and implementing a crisis communication plan
- Implementing state-of-the-art, technology-based communications systems such as e-mail and cellular telephones
- Transferring the district's cable communications and television operation back to the Communications Department;
- Decentralizing community outreach, maintaining coordination and support at the central office for programs such as the speaker's bureau and community leader advocates
- Implementing ongoing research and evaluation programs that measure public perception and the effectiveness of all district communication programs
DISD implemented all of the recommendations suggested in both the 1992 TSPR management and performance review and the Public Relations Society of America Society study, yet public confidence regarding the district's ability to manage its operations is still poor.
DISD's Vision 2003, a five-year strategic plan for improving the school district, was written in 1998 with the assistance of Sirota Consulting of New York. The five-year strategic plan contains a section on historical problems. One problem noted is the diverse constituencies and expectations throughout the Dallas area that make it difficult to meet the needs of the growing student population. The historical perspective also notes DISD's poor reputation, which creates a platform for continuous criticism and diminishes the quality of the leadership pool that could successfully address the district's challenges.
When TSPR conducted a management and performance review of Houston Independent School District (HISD) in 1996, the district faced many of the same issues that DISD faces today, including poor test scores, top-heavy central administration and inadequate facilities. In a January 19, 2001 Houston Chronicle article, Dr. Rod Paige, former HISD superintendent and present U.S. Secretary of Education, credited the 1996 TSPR report with contributing to the district's turnaround. The article described how in the months prior to TSPR's performance review, Dr. Paige sought the input and expertise of the Houston business community to assist with the restructuring of the district. In the months following TSPR's review, the head of HISD's media relations publicized the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report. Dr. Rod Paige also publicized the successes derived from the TSPR report to change public perception about the district. When HISD proved to the public that district operations had improved, public perception improved.