At a recent meeting of the Lafayette Parish School System Board, district communications staff summarized a series of planned actions to expand social media outreach, clean up the district website and run targeted registration campaigns for prekindergarten and kindergarten.

The update explained why the changes matter for parents, staff and enrollment: communications leaders said clearer, more uniform online information and boosted social posts will help the district reach families quickly during routine announcements and emergencies and should support year-round student recruitment.

Tracy, a communications staff member, told board members the office ties every external message to the district’s core values and works closely with principals and school chiefs when media are present or when an emergency requires coordinated messaging. "Assume it's public and permanent," Tracy said, urging board members to treat social posts as records that can be requested. She said the office tries to keep parents informed without releasing details law enforcement does not clear.

Jacob, a district social media staff member, presented metrics showing growth since July 1: published content was "up by 20," interactions "up by 27%," story interactions rose roughly 250%, video interactions 377% and watch time about 200%. Jacob said Instagram followers had grown from about 19 in the summer to roughly 700. "We're measuring it every day," he said, and the communications team plans to use targeted paid boosts for specific enrollment drives such as pre-K and kindergarten registration.

Legal limits on moderation and public pages drew questions. Bob, a staff member who addressed legal issues, told the board that disputes over whether public officials may remove or block users are "pending before the United States Supreme Court," citing conflicting appellate rulings from different circuits. "But we don't have a final answer yet," he said, urging caution when setting rules for public-facing pages.

Staff described the district's system for school-level social media: each school has an assigned social media liaison who posts to a shared calendar and supplies content that district staff can amplify. Tracy said the liaisons receive guidance on posting frequency and content types; at the district level the communications office can schedule posts weeks in advance and will ask schools to share strong posts for broader amplification.

On the district website, staff said they are conducting a comprehensive cleanup because pages contain outdated information, including old COVID guidance. Tracy said the team hopes to finish most updates "within the next couple of months," while acknowledging the work is tedious and ongoing. Blaine and Olivia (district staff) are reviewing pages and flagging items that need correction.

The presentation included implementation details and limits: JCampus assignments are tied to the user’s listed location, so a board member or central-office employee cannot be assigned to multiple schools in JCampus; staff said email can still be used for invitations and volunteer coordination. The district reviewed a third-party tool (Classroom Intercom) but said expanding that vendor to all campuses would cost about $40,000 a year and was not judged worth the return on investment at this time.

Staff also described the district’s "media tracker," which compiles stories about schools and is shared weekly with the superintendent; they reported that more than half of recent coverage has been positive or neutral. The communications team highlighted recurring social campaigns and "franchises" — examples include "Future Fridays," staff shout-outs and local segments such as a student weather report — as ways to keep steady content flowing.

Board members asked how the district ensures school websites and social pages remain current. Tracy said district staff are auditing pages, making them more uniform and training liaisons; she asked board members to report any "egregious" errors they spot. The communications team also said it will share the office calendar with board members so they can receive invites and know when staff will request their attendance at school events.

No formal board votes or motions were taken during the communications briefing. Staff listed the actions they plan to pursue and asked for board awareness and participation in upcoming campaigns.

The district expects to roll out stronger kindergarten and pre-K recruitment efforts, continue the website cleanup and keep school liaisons coordinated with the central communications calendar in the months ahead.