Committee presses staff for concrete marketing metrics while approving production contracts with conditions
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Summary
Trustees on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Academic Curriculum Committee pushed staff to replace vague contract 'outcomes' with measurable marketing metrics, approved Atwater Media with a requirement to update deliverables, and discussed hiring a marketing director and whether to fund a $200,000to $250,000 third-party poll.
Trustees on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Academic Curriculum Committee on Aug. 20 pressed district staff for specific, numeric marketing metrics and approved several vendor contracts with conditions.
The committee considered a follow-up to a marketing SWOT and a proposed set of performance indicators presented by Superintendent Dr. Nicolai Vidi, including year-over-year net new enrollment (fall-to-fall), family conversion after major events, ZIP-code-targeted social reach and continued net-promoter indicators through the Panorama survey. Dr. Vidi told the committee an independent comprehensive poll would cost about "$200 to $250,000," a figure some trustees said was too high to fund from the general fund without outside partners.
Several trustees said the district should shift some marketing effort and dollars from broad, districtwide campaigns to school-level, feeder-pattern outreach and materials. "We have 106 schools," one trustee said, arguing that marketing and outreach should be tailored by school type (exam/application schools versus neighborhood schools). Dr. Vidi responded that the current contracts and staff structure are not yet set up to produce individualized campaigns for every school and that the district will need to shift budgeting and staffing to deliver that work.
The committee also debated the roles of existing contractors. Staff said firms such as Versa/Hook provide strategy and creative direction while Atwater handles production and media buys (radio, TV, billboards) to reduce transactional costs. "If you're asking a production company to increase districtwide enrollment, that's a misalignment," a trustee said, describing the contract outcomes as "statements" rather than measurable metrics. Dr. Vidi agreed to refine the expected outcomes in contract language and circulate updated metrics to the academic committee before the board meeting.
On motions, the committee approved the Atwater Media contract (item 4.04) with the contingency that staff provide updated, contract-specific outcomes before final board consideration. The committee also moved grouped items (4.06to04.09) for approval together; the committee voted to carry the motion. Earlier in the meeting the committee approved an international trip for marching bands to Paris (item 4.01) and a contract recommendation for EFC staff augmentation (item 4.02).
Several trustees urged the district to advertise director-level openings and broaden outreach for the posted marketing director role, noting the position was posted on Aug. 6 and expected to move to interviews in late August or early September. Staff said they would continue to recruit, bring candidates forward and, if hired, position a director to refine metrics rather than delay action this school year.
The committee asked staff to provide samples of contractor-produced materials: staff said videos for targeted schools (for example, footage for Davis and Crockett) are in final production and will be shared with trustees for feedback in the coming weeks.
Next steps: staff will revise contract outcomes and proposed metrics based on the committeefeedback and circulate those revisions to the academic committee before the full-board meeting.