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Committee presses for clearer, measurable strategies as Platteville School District reviews communications plan
Summary
At a 25-minute meeting, the Platteville School District Community Outreach and Policy Committee reviewed a revised comprehensive communications plan and urged staff to tie tactics directly to numeric goals (for example, a 5% attendance increase), add non-digital outreach for families without internet access, and return a tightened plan to the full board Aug. 27.
The Community Outreach and Policy Committee of the Platteville School District met to review a revised comprehensive communications plan and an annual social-media report, pressing staff to make objectives more specific and measurable.
The committee’s chair opened the meeting and asked members to focus on pages 4–6 of the updated plan, which cover goals and monitoring. A committee member questioned whether the plan’s targets — such as increasing activity-complex attendance by 5% or adding five more kids to events per year — are linked to concrete strategies and measurement plans. “How are you gonna have good communication? How are we making digital methods accessible to all?” the member asked, urging staff to explain exactly how outreach will reach families without reliable internet access.
A staff member said the district had launched a new website intended to meet upcoming accessibility requirements and described coordination among staff and coaching personnel to keep social feeds consistent. “We launched a new… a platform activities new website,” the staff member said, describing the site change and efforts to keep Facebook pages and athletic communications aligned.
Committee members cautioned that the plan leans heavily on digital channels and recommended adding alternative channels — occasional mailers, flyers sent home with students, and selective newspaper placements — to reach households that do not use social media or have limited internet access. One member suggested testing newspaper ads or targeted mailers for a subset of events and tracking whether those tactics produce measurable upticks in attendance.
Members repeatedly recommended tightening the plan’s language so tactics map directly to stated goals. The committee discussed using baseline surveys and post-event metrics (for example, adding a ‘‘how did you hear about us’’ question to applications or event surveys) to establish whether a tactic produced a targeted change. Staff and members discussed that some goals, such as improving community sentiment about the district, will be harder to quantify and may first require a baseline climate or satisfaction survey before meaningful year-to-year comparison.
On the social-media review, members noted that raw follower or view counts lack context without peer comparison and longitudinal baselines. Committee discussion referenced reported metrics — an average daily livestream reach of roughly 1,900 and cumulative event views approaching 10,000 for some broadcasts — and recommended the department begin compiling a multi-year table and, where appropriate, benchmark against similar-sized districts.
The chair proposed retooling the plan with the committee’s suggested edits and returning a revised document to the full school board on Aug. 27 for further consideration. The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
The committee did not take any formal votes during the session and directed staff to revise the plan and incorporate clearer, measurable strategies and alternative outreach methods for community members without digital access.
