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Board hears Capital Region BOCES pitch; district retains one-day-a-week communications support
Summary
Capital Region BOCES presented a range of communications services to the Salem Central School District; the district has Tier 1 Enhanced service with Hannah Hurley onsite one day a week and is considering increasing coverage to two days to support website, newsletters and recruitment work.
The Salem Central School District board received a presentation from Capital Region BOCES on the agency’s communications services, which include brand development, reputation management, communications audits, web design and social/digital strategy. Jody, an assistant director with Capital Region BOCES, described how the service helps districts with strategic planning, crisis communications templates and community engagement.
“This is all of the work that we do under our communications service,” Jody said, describing services from graphic design and photography to web accessibility audits. She noted the team conducts WCAG 2 accessibility reviews and that some services include a suite of 150 hours per year of on-site and specialty services under a Tier 1 Enhanced package.
The district currently has Hannah Hurley assigned one day per week under a Tier 1 Enhanced arrangement. The superintendent told the board that Hannah typically is onsite on Wednesdays but will flex her schedule as needed. Administration said the district is starting with one day per week because of prior budget decisions and could expand to two days if the board supports additional funding during budget deliberations.
Board members asked how communications impact is measured. Jody said communications specialists set measurable objectives (surveys, digital analytics and engagement metrics) and align outputs to district priorities. The superintendent said the district is activating Parentsquare and noted that roughly 98% of families are contactable through the system; about 35% have downloaded the Parentsquare app so far.
What’s next: staff will post handouts and slides on the district website and continue to work with Capital Region BOCES on the communications plan and rollout of a budget newsletter template.
