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
B. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Internal and external communications involves the effective use of media relations to support the mission and goals of the school district; to provide information about district programs and employees; and to address the interests of staff and other stakeholders and their need for information. It also involves the effective use of written publications, newsletters, pamphlets, and flyers and electronic communication such as Web sites directed at district staff members and parents, community members and taxpayers.
Restructuring School Leadership, a February 2001 report by the Institute for Educational Leadership, states that effective communication among board members, superintendents, district and school staff, as well as parents, students and community members is not only essential, it can be the difference between the success and failure of a school district.
The report further states that district leaders must be comfortable with managing media relations, public meetings and politically-inspired pressures, and be adept at developing both permanent and temporary coalitions with often-disparate community groups. Without such abilities, even the most professional stewardship of a district's affairs can come up short. The Institute for Educational Leadership is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington D.C.
DISD's Media Relations division is managed by an operations executive director and supported by two media specialists. The operations director position is vacant. Media Relations is responsible for maintaining regular contact with local newspaper, television and radio outlets through the distribution of press releases; planning press conferences; and monitoring news coverage of district events. The division is also responsible for responding to calls for information from local and national news organizations, writing public service announcements on various subjects, and maintaining a calendar of district events and activities. In addition, Media Relations is responsible for preparing speeches and bullet points for the superintendent, attending board and community meetings, and helping principals and department heads manage and report crises to the media.
Internal Communications and Information Services are managed by an executive director and supported by three editor/writers, a translator/writer, a photography specialist and a graphic designer.
FINDING
DISD's regular board meetings, which are held on the last Thursday night of each month, have been broadcast on the local cable network Channel 7B of AT&T Cable Systems since 1999. Televised broadcasts of board meetings provide a convenient means of access for those community members and DISD staff who are unable to attend.
Students interested in broadcasting as a career tape the board meetings as they are fed live to the cable channel. Broadcast Services provides supervision and oversight to students during the tapings. Videotapes of the board meetings are also produced.
Broadcast Services also tapes board committee meetings. Board committee meetings are fed live over Channel 11B, a closed-circuit television station aired throughout DISD's administration building.
COMMENDATION
DISD broadcasts regular board meetings on local cable and board committee meetings on internal closed circuit television stations making it convenient for community members and district employees to stay abreast of district issues.
FINDING
Many parents and community members feel that communications about the district's programs and services are not reaching their intended audiences. A telephone survey of 1,223 parents and community members showed that 84 percent of the survey respondents felt they knew nothing about the programs and services provided by DISD based on what they had seen or heard from newspapers, television, neighbors and friends. Exhibit 3-6 summarizes the parent/community telephone survey results.
Exhibit 3-6 Source: TSPR Telephone Survey, December 2000.
DISD Public Input Stakeholder Survey Results
Parent/Community Telephone Survey
"How much do you know about the programs and services provided by Dallas ISD based on what you have seen or heard from other sources (i.e., newspapers, television, neighbors and friends)" Respondent A Lot A Little Nothing Total Parents/Community Members 1.6% 14.4% 84.0% 100% There is a vast difference in the perceptions of district administrators and support staff and teacher survey respondents regarding media reports about the district. About 63 percent of district administrators and support staff, and 55 percent of teacher survey respondents felt local television and radio stations regularly report school news and menus. Exhibit 3-7 summarizes these stakeholder survey results.
Exhibit 3-7 Source: TSPR District Administrator Support Staff and Teacher Surveys, November 2000.
DISD Public Input Stakeholder Survey Results
District Administrator/Support Staff and Teacher Survey
"The local television and radio stations regularly report school news and menus." Respondent Number of Respondents Strongly Agree Agree No Opinion Disagree Strong Disagree Total District Administration and Support Staff 120 10% 53% 8% 23% 6% 100% Teachers 781 8% 47% 12% 25% 8% 100% In response to the low survey ratings, Media Relations staff told TSPR that about 300 news releases about district programs and activities are distributed throughout the Dallas Metroplex each year. Media entities that receive these news releases include:
- seven television stations
- two daily newspapers
- 15 to 20 radio stations
- 20 weekly newspapers
Media Relations' tracking systems show that the majority of news releases are printed in weekly newspapers.
Media Relations also maintains an extensive file of news stories about the district and monitors media coverage. Media Relations developed the following goals to improve communications:
- Increase positive news stories pitched to radio/television reporters
- Continue to increase the number of news releases targeted to weekly and minority media
- Work more diligently with school communications contacts to promote student/staff successes
- Update news releases on the district's WWeb site weekly to provide district news to broader audiences
- Continue to meet the needs of smaller media outlets by providing camera-ready artwork, photos and columns
- Increase the number of public service announcements to help keep the community aware of district meetings and events
- Match coverage and effort put into promotion of events by maintaining data on television news stories generated from news releases, stories pitched and newspaper clips printed from news release
- Track schools and departments in news stories to ensure they do not focus on just a few schools
The telephone survey administered to parents and community members showed that nearly 59 percent of the survey respondents felt that communication between the DISD administration and the community were poor. Exhibit 3-8 summarizes parent/community telephone survey results.
Exhibit 3-8 Source: TSPR Telephone Survey, December 2000.
DISD Public Input Stakeholder Survey Results
Parent/Community Telephone Survey
"Communication is good between the Dallas ISD administration and the community." Respondent Strongly Agree Agree No Opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Parents/Community Members 1.3% 29.0% 11.0% 48.1% 10.6% 100% Public input comments regarding communications between DISD administration and the community include:
- "Communication is great at the school level. Districtwide, you usually have to read it in the newspaper..."
- "The DISD newsletter promotes their friends' schools! It's not fair..."
- "There isn't enough communication between the parents and the teachers and the administration..."
- "Our reputation in the community is not good. We need to increase public awareness of the myriad of victories that occur daily in our district..."
- "There needs to be communication in the community. Flyers given to students to bring home don't make it home. Maybe there should be mail-outs and volunteers to call homes to inform parents of meetings..."
- "Communications between the school and community is excellent at City Park and Martin Luther King Learning Center..."
- "I am from Thompson Elementary and I feel that there should be more communication between the school and parents in both languages with more time between each meetings instead of one language and overnight notice of meetings..."
Internal Communications and Information Services produce a broad complement of publications and materials used to reach parents and community members. District publications produced by Internal Communications and Information Services include:
- This Week (weekly newsletter for staff)
- District Times (bimonthly, feature-oriented newspaper for staff and the community published in both English and Spanish)
- Awards and Honors/Report to Parents (annual publication of student, school and district achievements)
- Directory of Services (two-page directory of DISD services for staff and the community)
- School and Staff Directory (contains the telephone and fax numbers of district schools and administrative staff)
- Annual Report or District Report (account of districtwide accomplishments published in English and Spanish)
- Facts Brochure and Fact Sheet (pamphlet and single sheet that contains facts that correspond to frequently asked questions, published in English and Spanish)
- New School Brochures (introductory pieces that provide information about location and attendance boundaries of new district schools published in English and Spanish)
- Special brochures and reports
- Information sheets
- Guide for Hispanic Parents (handbook published in English and Spanish that provides information about requirements for enrolling students in school)
Department and school publications include school brochures, department brochures, program brochures, booklets; reports, special purpose publications, posters, flyers and ads.
In addition to the publications produced by Internal Communications and Information Services, the department of Evaluation/Accountability and Information Services produces five wall maps for use by the district, parents and community members. These wall maps are used to illustrate elementary, middle and high school attendance zones, board of trustee district boundaries and boundaries for area superintendents.
Peer districts vary widely regarding the number of publications they distribute to internal and external stakeholders. Hillsborough County in Tampa, Florida reported that about 60 different internal communication pieces are targeted at employees and 70 different external communication pieces are targeted at parents and community members. These communications are developed and published by several central office departments, not just the communications department.
In contrast, San Diego City Unified Schools reported that their Communications Department publishes four core internal communications pieces targeted at district employees and three external communications pieces targeted at parents and community members.
Recommendation 56:
Develop strategies and goals for improving districtwide internal and external communications.
Communications Department management should conduct a series of focus groups with DISD community members to identify media, print, and Web-based publications that would have the greatest impact on improved communication. Potential focus group participants should be carefully screened to ensure that stakeholders from all segments of the DISD community are involved.
Once the focus group data is collected, goals and related strategies for improving districtwide internal and external communications should be refined and prioritized.
The executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services should evaluate the content, appeal, target audience, frequency of distribution and cost-effectiveness of all publications produced by the Communications Department and develop strategies for improving communication and raising awareness among community members. These strategies should be incorporated into the Communications Department's annual operating plan.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1. The special assistant to the superintendent for Communications directs the operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services to plan logistics and develop focus group criteria and discussion guides. August 2001 2. The operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services select focus group participants from a wide cross-section of DISD stakeholders. August 2001 3. The operations executive director of Media Relations and Media Relations specialists screen and invite potential focus group participants. September 2001 4. The operations executive of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services conduct six to eight focus groups. October 2001 5. The operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services review, analyze and use focus group data to refine goals and related strategies for improving districtwide media communications. October 2001 6. The operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services develop an inventory of media communications and publications and evaluate overall effectiveness. November 2001 7. The operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services solicit input from community focus groups for improving publications and internal communications. November 2001 8. The operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services develop strategies to improve media and publications, based on community focus group evaluations. November -December 2001 9. The operations executive director of Media Relations and the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services redesign communication tools', improve their appeal, refocus on a selected target audience and change the frequency of distribution, as necessary. January 2002 10. The special assistant to the superintendent for Communications improves communications and raises awareness of DISD programs and services. January 2002 FISCAL IMPACT
This recommendation can be implemented with existing resources.
FINDING
DISD maintains an attractive and user-friendly Web site that provides general information about board members and schools. But it is not as comprehensive as those of other large districts, and does not keep information such as board meeting agendas, board meeting summaries and information about individual schools current.
The DISD Communications Department and Internal Communications and Information Services Division have had little control over the content, organization and design of the school district's Web site at <www.dallasisd.org> or the district's Intranet site at <www.phoenix.dallasisd.org>. While the Internal Communications and Information Services division played a role in the conception and original design of the Internet Web site in 1996, it is maintained by the district's Technology Department.
As the Internet, Intranet and e-mail have become primary tools for communication, the Communications Department has not developed a strategy for effectively using these forms of information exchange to establish a successful connection with district stakeholders.
Internal Communications and Information Services staff efforts are primarily directed toward gathering and disseminating information about the district through weekly and quarterly publications. One of the quickest methods that they use for expanding communications is to make this printed information accessible to a wider range of readers on the DISD Web site. Because staff time is not allocated to reformat the published articles from the newsletters and newspapers for Web placement each week, the Web site's content is not timely.
In addition, the Web site's home page and links are not organized to provide direct access to articles. Web site versions of the weekly newsletter, quarterly newspaper, and annual Awards and Honors are buried in the Web site's links and are extremely difficult for district employees to find. It is even more difficult for parents and community members unfamiliar with the site to find the publications.
As an alternative, some districts use a direct and specifically named link to articles placed on the home page of their Web site. For example, one of DISD's peers, Austin ISD, has an illustrated link prominently positioned at the top of its home page for "NEWS & MEDIA: The latest news, media, and happenings at AISD." A similarly prominent link is not available on DISD's home page for direct access to news, press releases and publications.
DISD's home page lists a link for parents called "Parents' Corner." This site provides information on Youth Action Centers, Youth & Family Centers, phone numbers of student support services and links to other Internet sites directed toward parents. This site has not been expanded to include considerably more information essential to parents and families considering a move to Dallas, such as:
- School calendars
- PTA information and school volunteer opportunities
- Student handbook information (including the dress code and discipline procedures)
- Maps of school attendance boundaries
- Information on special district events and student competitions
- Transportation information
- School feeder patterns
- Types of alternative schools
- State academic skills test information and results
The Parents' Corner also provides a "Parents' Forum," which is "an avenue for parents of DISD students to communicate with other parents on issues of concern." It specifically points out that the forum is not for parents to communicate with or ask questions of administrators or school staff. Only 40 messages have been posted on the Parents' Corner link since the start of school in August 2000, a small percentage of parents for a district with more than 160,000 students.
In addition, the majority of messages are not responses to other messages. The Parents' Forum does not provide an opportunity for questions from parents to school and district administrators, so two-way communication between the district and parents does not take place. Parents seeking the best educational opportunities for their children are not offered an opportunity to express opinions and ask questions of the district's decision-makers.
DISD's Web site has only one listing under the link for "Corporate Partnerships" for one company's volunteer painters at an elementary school. None of the district's more than 2,200 business and organization partnerships (Partners in Education) is listed. The Community Relations Division of the Communications Department has not expanded its efforts through the Internet.
The district's Web site is not currently being used to provide appreciation and publicity for its partners, or information for recruiting sponsors, supporters, volunteers and partners for the schools.
The district's Intranet site is accessible to most central administrators, but only to a limited number of school administrators, teachers and other district personnel. Originally set up to provide technology-troubleshooting information to district employees, the site provides a limited range of information for district employees, including: online access to the Services Center catalog, the board policy manual, maintenance service procedures, safety and security procedures, employee benefits information and salary schedules, records management forms, technology assistance information, and the district telephone directory.
The Intranet site does not provide a wide range of employee information on a regular basis. The Intranet site does not include any of the following:
- This Week articles about district employees
- "Just the Facts" columns on employee issues
- Organizational charts
- Duties of the various district departments and divisions
- Operation Involvement duties
- Hidden Agenda (question and answers about employee concerns)
- Employee discount program details
- Employee event schedules (principals' meetings, seminars, staff development)
- Information on grants available to schools and departments
The district's Web site does not contain a page for employees to share personal accomplishments, such as retirements, births, deaths, marriages and employee awards and recognition.
GroupWise, the district's e-mail system, is not being used as a tool for communicating "hot" items of interest to district employees in a more expeditious manner than possible in the employee newsletter. Email communication often helps allay the frequent complaints from employees that they first hear of major district actions or events on the evening news.
Hot items often include board decisions on controversial issues, such as the hiring or resignation of superintendents and other top district officials and major health plan changes. Guidelines have not been established to determine what types of district news are considered hot. Nor is anyone designated as an administrator with responsibility for final approval of the news items transmitted.
For the Communications Department to make the most effective use of electronic communications, the following elements would be necessary:
- School district information that is updated on a regular basis
- Comprehensive information in all areas of interest to district employees and stakeholders and up-to-date reports that will be anticipated and revisited by site readers
- A targeted electronic campaign to invite community involvement with the district
- Electronic formatting software that is adaptive for ease-of-use and accessible by Web site contributors and visitors
- Assignment of staff responsible for electronic communications content decisions and adequate staff to produce, maintain and update Internet and Intranet Web sites
DISD's Technology Services Department has one webmaster, who has primary control of information placed on the district's Web site. The director of Internal Communications and Information Services is responsible for most internal and external publications distributed by the district.
Recommendation 57:
Enhance DISD's Web site so that it can be used more effectively as a timely communications tool.
The Internal Communications and Information Services division should work closely with DISD's Technology Department to coordinate the channeling of timely information to the district's Web site to improve communications to staff and community members.
An increasing number of district staff and Dallas households will have access to the Internet in the future. An enhanced Web site will substantially broaden the audience of district and community stakeholders who receive DISD communications.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1. The superintendent directs the executive director of Internal Communications and Information Services to work with the chief technology officer to make communication enhancements to DISD's Web site. September 2001 2. The director of Internal Communications and Information Services and the chief technology officer review innovative Web sites of comparably sized peer districts to document potential improvements. October 2001 3. The chief technology officer constructs a project plan to modify the existing Web site. November 2001 4. The chief technology officer assigns access privileges to the director of Internal Communications and Information Services to modify the portion of the Web site that pertains to the Communications Department. December 2001 5. The chief technology officer and the director of Internal Communications and Information Services select a small number of individuals to review the modifications to the Web site and refine it as needed. January 2002 6. The chief technology officer and the director of Internal Communications and Information Services implement enhancements to the district's Web site. January 2002 FISCAL IMPACT
This recommendation can be implemented with existing resources.
FINDING
DISD uses the informal name "Dallas Public Schools" even though its official name is the Dallas Independent School District. DISD introduced its unofficial name in a news release in December 1993 when it announced the creation of its new logo, which featured the profile of a child's face looking upward silhouetted against a sun-like background symbolizing enlightenment. In a June 1994 news release, district officials stated that the new logo and unofficial name were designed to represent the positive changes and progress made in the district. A memorandum to the Superintendent's Council from August 1994 instructed district officials to use the formal name Dallas Independent School District on contracts and legal documents, but the short name "Dallas Public Schools" when referring to the district.
The term Dallas Public Schools was adopted when executive leadership in the district was in turmoil. Instead of being associated with positive changes as intended, the short name may now be associated with a negative era. On many of the district's documents and publications, the legal name Dallas Independent School District and the unofficial name Dallas Public Schools are used interchangeably and it is confusing. All Texas public school districts are independent school districts organized under the laws set forth in the Texas Education Code and subject to the rules and regulations established by the Commissioner of Education, the State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency. The consistent use of the official name reinforces the fact that DISD is a part of the state's system of public schools and as such is accountable to the people of Dallas and the taxpayers of Texas.
Recommendation 58:
Discontinue the use of the unofficial name "Dallas Public Schools."
DISD should require that only Dallas Independent School District or the acronym DISD be used on all district documents and publications beginning in the 2001-02 school year.
Formal news and districtwide communication releases should be announced to the public and district employees informing them of the change.
The district should retain the use of its existing logo, but phase out the use of the unofficial name on all forms, letterhead, internal and external publications and signage as old materials are depleted.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1. The superintendent directs the special assistant to the superintendent for Communications to develop a board policy discontinuing the use of the unofficial name Dallas Public Schools and requires the use of the legal name Dallas Independent School District or acronym DISD. August 2001 2. The special assistant to the superintendent for Communications inventories all district documents and publications with the unofficial name Dallas Public Schools and develops a plan to phase out the use of the name. September 2001 FISCAL IMPACT
This recommendation can be implemented with existing resources.