Battle Creek Public Schools outlines new communications strategy, plans ParentSquare pilot

Jose, the district communications lead, outlined a districtwide communications and marketing strategy during the Battle Creek Public Schools board meeting. He described a plan focused on shifting the district narrative through ‘‘authentic, transparent storytelling’’ that highlights student and staff growth while acknowledging challenges. He said the plan will lean on a new story-submission system, a content calendar, an ‘‘engagement score’’ dashboard and an internal messaging toolkit for principals.

Jose said the strategy will measure success with four indicators: staff submissions, community engagement on social channels, a manually assessed narrative shift, and staff reach. He cited advertising reach numbers during the presentation, saying, ‘‘361,000 impressions.’’ He said the weekly content types will include a short ‘‘StorySpark’’ post, a deeper ‘‘Growth Spotlight,’’ and a weekly ‘‘Did you know BCPS’’ item to highlight programs such as career academies.

Board members and others asked how the plan would include parents and nontraditional social platforms. In response to a question about parent engagement, Jose agreed to add prompts encouraging parents to submit positive experiences about teachers and schools and to build those parent testimonials into district posts. He said Instagram will serve as a highly visual channel distinct from Facebook and that TikTok remains under review pending district policy: ‘‘I will double check that and get back to you because, yes, TikTok would be a huge, huge asset for us,’’ Jose said.

Jose said he is exploring a messaging platform called ParentSquare and plans to pilot it in two schools (Fremont and STEM) starting in January, noting that any districtwide move would be brought to the board for approval. He also reported that the district’s back-end vendor for the staff directory, Raygun, lacks capacity to continue support and that the district intends to move to a new vendor, Sunny Byte, which will enable an automated staff directory for each school.

Several trustees praised the approach; one trustee suggested an alumni spotlight series and another encouraged an ‘‘aggressive media campaign’’ to counter negative coverage. Jose said story submissions will be optional for staff and that content guidance and light editorial feedback will be provided when needed.

Jose said the first 90 days of execution will emphasize launching the submission system and toolkit and setting an initial cadence for posts, with September and October used to expand outreach and share early engagement data. He framed the work as intended to support enrollment, boost staff morale and shift community perception by increasing visibility of positive work in district schools.

The board did not take a formal vote on the communications plan during the meeting; Jose asked for feedback and said he will return with updates on the pilot and system adoption.