The Anchorage School District’s Communications Committee heard May 29 that the district will focus limited outreach resources on a scaled‑back back‑to‑school campaign that uses a mailed checklist, organic social media and a website upgrade due this fall.

MJ Communications, the district’s external communications lead, told the committee the team piloted expanded livestreaming at graduations and other events this year and is “leaning into” summer learning and back‑to‑school planning. MJ said the district completed a soft launch of the back‑to‑school campaign and “the website is live, but we’ll really launch the rest of it in late July,” though the exact date cited in the meeting transcript was unclear.

The committee was told the district will repeat a printed checklist mailer that drew positive feedback last year and will rely more on “people power” and current digital platforms for other outreach because of budget constraints. “Given our budget situation, we are not going to be doing most of the stuff that we did last year,” MJ said.

Alisa (staff member) summarized internal communications work, saying the district wrapped a first year of adopting SharePoint to replace an internal newsletter and has built site templates to help principals share district messaging with school communities. “We will continue that on for next year,” Alisa said, and recommended additional app‑based uses of SharePoint and event‑specific sites after a summer evaluation.

Board members pressed staff on cost efficiency and asked about ways the board can use low‑cost channels. One board member noted the district’s budget deficit and urged cost‑effective teacher and board engagement through organic social posts and op‑eds, saying they would follow up with MJ to plan a strategy.

The committee also heard that a multi‑month website upgrade project is underway and is scheduled to launch Sept. 13; staff said the summer will be used for training and preparing school staff for the new site. Staff emphasized the district’s need to balance a reduced outreach budget with continuing internal improvements for staff communications.

The committee concluded with staff offering to return with more recommendations after summer planning and training work is complete.