Jan 18, 2008
Katonah-Lewisboro communications plan
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District looks to improve communications
One of the biggest issues critics have had with the Katonah-Lewisboro School District in recent years is communications: The district doesn’t do enough to communicate with residents, some say. This has been gradually changing, with the introduction of frequent Web site updates and open forums scheduled around the district, among other things.
On Thursday, Jan. 10, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Roelle presented a draft of the district’s new communications plan to the school board, proposing a widespread strategy to disperse information to residents, through more meetings, the Internet, cable television, the media, and “backpack mail” flyers.
Parts of the communications plan have already been implemented — the district has started holding public forums at the different elementary schools, allowing residents to meet with two or three board members and just ask questions, without having to deal with the cameras and time of a full board meeting. While attendance at the first such forum was light, likely because of a severe storm, a large turnout at the last forum resulted in several topics finding their way into board discussions, including elementary school enrichment programs and the school calendar.
The board also implemented an e-mail list for district-related announcements, which may be subscribed to through the district Web site. While the recipients of the announcements are now primarily parents and employees, it is open to the community.
The full “public information plan,” as presented by Dr. Roelle, would include a part-time (60% of the work week) public information officer and webmaster, as well as a full-time cable television coordinator. Money for the public information officer was included in the 2007-08 school budget, but has not yet been spent.
A cable television coordinator would need to be included in a future budget should the school board agree that such a position is needed. How much a potential coordinator would be paid was not addressed. Dr. Roelle told The Ledger later that he had looked at coordinators in two school districts, which paid between $65,000 and $75,000, but that the district would need to make a decision when and if the position made it into a budget.
“We don’t think we’re maximizing the use of cable television,” said Dr. Roelle. He mentioned ideas for broadcasting student performances, timely discussions and more athletic events on public access television, which in Lewisboro is Channel 20. While some athletic events are now broadcast on Channel 20, not all of them are, and the only school-based talk show is the student-produced Straight Talk, which is broadcast intermittently.
Dr. Roelle’s plan was not yet completed, which will happen only after he has met with board members Eve Hundt and Mark Lipton, the unofficial communications advisory committee, for feedback, but he told The Ledger he hoped a final draft would be complete by next month. Once the draft is complete, it will likely go before the policy committee to be integrated into the board’s policies.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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