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Cheltenham SD restarts communications committee to coordinate district messaging
Summary
The Cheltenham SD school board restarted its Communications Committee, named a chair and administrative liaison, and outlined a proposed every-other-month meeting cadence to align communications work with the district strategic plan; public question raised whether board strategy fits here.
The Cheltenham SD school board convened a restarted Communications Committee on June 26, announcing the group will focus on coordinating district messaging, digital platforms and translation services and will meet about four times during the upcoming academic year.
The chair opened the meeting and said the committee, paused since early 2022, will be a smaller standing committee of roughly three to four board members rather than a committee of the whole and that "I will be chairing the committee." The chair named Mr. Kaufman as the administrative liaison and said meeting dates will be set before the fall start of the school year.
The committee’s work will align with the district’s strategic plan pillar on strategic communication, the chair said, and will provide a forum for the board and administration to review initiatives such as social media metrics and new platform or website upgrades. "There could be updates on social media, whether it's metrics or just kind of new initiatives there, platform upgrades, apps, website upgrades," the chair said.
A participant identified as Ms. Goldstein asked whether the committee is an appropriate place to discuss board communication strategy. The chair replied that the committee is not intended for internal board-only strategy but that there could be opportunity when district communications and board communications "need to be together where there could be a conversation there."
Dr. Watts expressed appreciation for creating the committee and urged collaboration between the communications and climate-and-culture efforts, calling clear, open communication that recognizes multiple perspectives "really important."
Former co-chair Ms. Loman praised district communications staff, specifically Mr. Kaufman, and said the district is already ahead of many others, adding, "for starters, our website looks like a thousand times better and is more user-friendly than many other school district websites."
The chair said the committee will evaluate other districts’ practices over the summer to identify best practices and adjust its agenda as needs arise. After a brief check for public comment and scheduling remarks, a motion to adjourn was moved and seconded; the chair declared the meeting adjourned without a formal vote.
Next steps: the district will announce committee meeting dates before the start of the school year; the committee expects to begin regular meetings in the fall to develop and coordinate communications initiatives.
