Survey shows strong conference satisfaction but limited awareness of school‑committee website; subcommittee proposes reorganization and email push

The communication subcommittee reported survey findings and a proposed site redesign aimed at increasing public engagement and making meeting materials easier to find.

Bridget Hannigan, the district communications specialist, summarized fall 2025 conference survey results and said districtwide satisfaction with conferences was “overwhelmingly positive,” with reported satisfaction levels between 91% and 100% across the six schools. Subcommittee chair Amy Cohen presented data from a June 2025 survey of 119 respondents that found 64 respondents had not visited the school‑committee website; common requests included meeting agendas, minutes, a planning calendar and meeting recordings.

The subcommittee recommended a two‑pronged approach: push strategies (an email subscription or a 'school committee corner' in superintendent communications and leveraging town channels) and pull strategies (reorganizing the website by topic buckets such as meetings, budget, policies, curriculum and a widget for submitting questions to the full committee). Cohen said the proposed site would link to existing pages rather than replicate content.

Committee members praised the work and suggested attention to mobile usability. Communications staff committed to return with draft page designs for the Jan. 28 meeting and said they will consult subcommittee members and town liaisons as they finalize the approach.

Quotes and statistics are drawn from the Dec. 17 meeting transcript and included survey materials linked in the superintendent’s report.