NSPRA's Communication Audit Report - Harford County Public ...

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• MRSA updates. • Don’t always hear about issues from district directly. Input into decisions ■ This group believes many people feel the Board only gives lip service to wanting input. This is the reason people want an elected board; they want to hold members accountable. • No one from the district came to a meeting about saving Aberdeen High School. Three invites didn’t get the Board there. Greatest challenges facing the district ■ BRAC. ■ Individual comments included: • Commend district for doing well with the limited level of funding. But it’s catching up. • Providing modern facilities for students. • Old district office building is historic and important to Bel Air. No one talked to them about what to do with it (reported it would be torn down). Got harsh list of demands from Board about what they’d consider. Could refurbish and use building for professional development. • Board comes to a decision without ever going through a study process. • Feel Board “gives the back of their hand” to the public. • Board gets filtered information from superintendent and staff. GROUP: CIVIC GROUPS/FAITH COMMUNITY Strengths of the district ■ Overall, the district is strong. ■ Individual comments included the following: • Always on the cutting edge. Aggressive about what’s being done. • Excellent superintendent leadership and longevity of leadership. • Community-minded, good relationships with other organizations. • Availability of facilities for community use (i.e., by churches). • Receptive of new ideas. • The schools use a lot of lay people as contacts on advisory committees. Improvements needed ■ There is a need for improved communication between the schools and the district so that outside groups receive the same messages from both. ■ There is a need to ensure understanding of district-level decisions about magnet programs and other special programs. ■ Individual comments included the following: • Magnet schools are good (i.e., the science and math academy) but sometimes the magnet plans don’t make sense from the community perspective (e.g. why do we have an agricultural academy?). NSPRA Communication Audit 65 Harford County Public Schools
• “We need to bring our business and industry leaders in to get their opinions about the programs.” • “How well are we working internships with Aberdeen Proving Ground?” Current image of district ■ In general, this group believes the public has a positive view. ■ Individual comments included the following: • The Aegis is very negative. • On the Blue Ribbon schools report – none of the schools listed were in Harford County. Things like that affect public perception, even though people may not know how schools get on the list or anything about it. • Good stories about test scores or merit scholars need to get more play. • The system is probably in the “middle of the pack,” but it could be exceptional. Logo ■ There’s no “magic” in the current logo, but it isn’t a high priority. Best sources of news and information ■ Harford Schools newspaper. ■ People to people – word of mouth. ■ Newspapers. ■ Board of Education meetings. ■ ALERTNOW notification system. Ways district communicates well ■ “ALERTNOW system is great.” ■ Harford Schools newspaper is good. Effectiveness of publications ■ Who gets the Harford Schools newspaper? Not everyone gets it. ■ Send the newspaper out to area industry leaders. ■ Taxpayers should get the Harford Schools paper – it should be mailed to everyone or at least everyone should know about it or have access to it. The circulation should be expanded. Web site ■ The most common problem is not keeping the information updated. Communication challenges/Improvements ■ Individual comments included the following: • Build an e-mail list and then send links to information. • A directory of names and phone numbers with departmental and school affiliations would be very good to have. • Provide an opt-in for online copies rather than paper copies for those who want them that way and more options for e-newsletters. • Hear a lot about from the Board at budget time, but maybe need more over the course of the year rather than just at budget time. NSPRA Communication Audit 66 Harford County Public Schools
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NSPRA’s Communication Audit Repor
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NSPRA Communication Audit 2 Harford
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is to determine whether it is helpi
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Educational public relations progra
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the communication loop, citing a br
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Recommendation 1: Develop a strateg
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However, with changing community ne
Page 15 and 16: streamline the efficiency of the of
Page 17 and 18: schools or departments where commun
Page 19 and 20: current technology has made it easy
Page 21 and 22: exception of sports. The Harford Sc
Page 23 and 24: greater community, such as BRAC and
Page 25 and 26: Recommendation 5: Improve communica
Page 27 and 28: distributed as well), so that every
Page 29 and 30: epresentatives (as end users) in de
Page 31 and 32: Stakeholders could sign-up on the d
Page 33 and 34: communicator network and to conside
Page 35 and 36: As HCPS’ flagship publication, th
Page 37 and 38: school motto and mascot, etc.). At
Page 39 and 40: “experienced” parents can serve
Page 41 and 42: • Encourage district leaders to b
Page 43 and 44: HCPS to have a clearly delineated p
Page 45 and 46: • Mandatory media training - We r
Page 47 and 48: The current HCPS public web site is
Page 49 and 50: • Provide additional support to s
Page 51 and 52: • Develop guidelines for marketin
Page 53 and 54: enhance the web site with streaming
Page 55 and 56: Conclusion HCPS is a quality school
Page 57 and 58: Logo ■ Needs updating. Best sourc
Page 59 and 60: Current image of the district ■ I
Page 61 and 62: • Curriculum evaluation committee
Page 63 and 64: • They want to help, yet run into
Page 65: • Have had three principals at th
Page 69 and 70: • Need to start over with high sc
Page 71 and 72: Greatest challenges facing the dist
Page 73 and 74: • The benefits sign-up process is
Page 75 and 76: Information timeliness ■ Good; ex
Page 77 and 78: Ways district communicates well ■
Page 79 and 80: Current image of the district ■ F
Page 81 and 82: GROUP: SECONDARY TEACHERS Strengths
Page 83 and 84: • To a large degree, district has
Page 85 and 86: • Principals keep getting more on
Page 87 and 88: Web site ■ In general, the web si
Page 89 and 90: Current image of the district ■ I
Page 91 and 92: ■ No “one clear voice” respon
Page 93 and 94: What people need to know ■ HCPS s
Page 95 and 96: • Construction should happen in t
Page 97 and 98: Greatest challenges facing the dist
Page 99 and 100: • Parents have their own interest
Page 101 and 102: NSPRA Communication Audit 100 Harfo
Page 103 and 104: 8. Do you feel the district does a
Page 105 and 106: Focus Group Questions for Student G
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