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Kennett committee hears CCIU communications-audit proposal, debates timing amid website rollout
Summary
A Chester County Intermediate Unit consultant outlined a communications audit for Kennett Consolidated School District emphasizing focus groups, surveys and a rubric-based review; board members urged coordination with the superintendent's entry plan and the district's website launch to avoid "survey fatigue."
Christa Fazio of the Chester County Intermediate Unit told the Kennett Consolidated School District curriculum committee on Sept. 30 that a proposed communications audit will assess current efforts, collect stakeholder perceptions and produce a framework to guide future messaging.
"We're gonna collect that knowledge," Fazio said, summarizing one of four pillars of the audit: what audiences know, how the district wants to be perceived, and what calls to action should follow. The audit would use focus groups, surveys, a review of publications and social-media analysis and apply a rubric recommended by the National School Public Relations Association.
The audit team plans leadership "ideals" sessions and stakeholder meetings this fall to shape survey and focus-group questions. Fazio said the team would try to avoid duplicating other engagement and to limit "focus group fatigue," but recommended a separate communications engagement stream because the audit focuses on specific messaging and brand issues.
Board members raised timing and coordination questions. Several members said the audit could either (a) proceed now to capture baseline perceptions or (b) wait until the district's communications changes'notably a new website'are implemented and then measure their effect. "It might make more sense to allow, for instance, the website which is in a process of being updated ... to finish that and get us to a point where we're implementing a lot of what Lisa is describing before we then assess whether that we get a picture," one board member said.
Lisa, the district's communications director, described a parallel website and communications schedule: intake forms for the vendor were finalized Sept. 17, design themes will be loaded Oct. 8, content work with schools is planned between Oct. 8 and Nov. 12, and the goal is to launch the district's sites on Nov. 22. She said the district has an existing contract with the vendor that runs through 2026, plans to integrate Google calendars and a database-driven staff directory, and will develop a communications plan to support the launch.
Board members suggested the audit team, the communications director and Superintendent Dr. Rizzo Saunders meet to coordinate scope and timing and return with a proposed, possibly phased, timeline. No formal vote was taken; committee members agreed to allow the presenters and administration to work together and report back.
Next steps: the CCIU audit team, Lisa and Dr. Saunders will coordinate and present a recommended timeline and scope to the committee for approval.
