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Board allows continued exploration of AT&T tower site; communications audit recommends multi‑year strategy
Summary
Board members authorized staff to pursue AT&T’s exploratory work on a potential cell‑tower lease near JB Martin, and the National School Public Relations Association presented a communications audit recommending strategic planning, targeted outreach, alumni engagement and internal workflow improvements.
District staff presented an AT&T cell‑tower lease exploration that would locate a candidate tower in a zone behind the JB Martin/RJ Vial campus footprint. Staff said AT&T offered an exploratory site study (geotechnical and survey work) and provided a sample lease that included an exploratory fee and a sample starting rent of roughly $850 per month with 10% escalators every five years; staff emphasized the sample figure is negotiable and that any actual lease would require legal and risk‑management review and board approval.
The proposed red‑outlined candidate on staff maps was presented as set back from active campus areas and largely within a district‑owned buffer space west of the fields. Board members raised safety, public‑information and timeline questions; staff said the carrier would undertake geotechnical and viability checks before committing and that any final lease would return to the board for approval.
Immediately afterward, Tim Carroll of the National School Public Relations Association summarized a communications audit built from surveys, focus groups and document reviews. Carroll reported high trust and a strong district reputation in surveys of parents and staff but identified areas for improvement: (1) a strategic communications plan tied to district goals; (2) clearer finance communications for community audiences; (3) more consistent internal communications flow so campus staff receive relevant information before it posts externally; (4) a formalized liaison/secretary communications group; (5) alumni and district history initiatives to build engagement; and (6) a prioritized, multi‑year implementation roadmap.
Regina and the public‑information team told the board they have already implemented several audit recommendations: hiring a community‑engagement coordinator, convening an alumni steering committee (two chapters planned), adding a historical timeline to the website and shifting social media toward more classroom‑and‑academic content. Staff said they will follow up with a district communications plan developed in partnership with an external firm indicated during the presentation.
The board authorized staff to continue exploratory talks with AT&T and to proceed with technical site work if the carrier requests it; no lease was signed and no final procurement action was presented at the workshop.
