District communications staff credit outreach as levy passes; postmark issues likely cost ballots
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Summary
Communications director Evan Conwell said the district's outreach and website work coincided with approval of the safety and infrastructure levy; he also warned that postal postmarking delays led to hundreds of ballots being marked too late this election, affecting turnout statistics.
The San Joaquino School Board heard a report March 3 from Director of Communications Evan Conwell on the district's outreach efforts and the recent safety and infrastructure levy results.
Conwell said the levy passed and reported a figure shown in district materials as "52.63" for the levy rate in summary materials. He highlighted low turnout in some precincts and said postmarking problems at the county level likely caused many ballots to be disqualified. "This time, we had 268 [ballots] that were marked too late," Conwell said when comparing the district's experience with a prior election. He contrasted that with county-wide numbers: "If you look at Snohomish County as a whole, in 2024, there were 67 ballots that were marked too late. And this year, 3,970." Conwell said the district will emphasize drop boxes and early voting in future messaging to reduce that risk.
Conwell also reviewed the district's web and messaging work, including a consolidated content management approach, a district newsletter reaching about 18,000 people weekly, and a website AI assistant the district calls "Sparty". "We've got, you know, more than 2,300 questions asked since it got turned on in, I think, it was November," he said, and described how the chatbot helped staff identify missing public information (for example, adding an SRO page after user questions revealed the gap).
Board members discussed records-retention and policy implications for two-way messaging pilots planned for staff use next school year; Conwell and other staff said retention and public-record rules guided system design.
What happens next: the communications office will use survey and usage data to refine outreach and will incorporate lessons from the levy campaign (emphasizing drop boxes and early voting guidance).