Granite board hears plan to centralize parent concerns, beef up crisis communications

The Granite School District Board of Education on April 14 received a presentation from the district’s Communications and Community Outreach team outlining steps to streamline parent concerns and expand outreach.

Parent Advocate Tayler Khater told the board the district has been working to route parent concerns through a single point of contact at the district office to "minimiz[e] delay and confusion in the process," and that the district provides customer-service coaching for school secretaries. "It always starts with the secretary," Khater said, summarizing the office’s people-first approach to front-line interactions.

Luke Allen of Communications reviewed the department’s organizational chart and daily responsibilities, saying the office handles "sensitive and emergency messages, crisis responses and news media responses," and assists with GRAMA requests, board meetings, videos, event planning, the calendar committee and surveys. The update framed those duties as central to both routine parent engagement and urgent communications during incidents.

Marketing Director Jen Bodell outlined recent outreach programs intended to boost community engagement and school visibility. Bodell said, "Highlights this year include Crayons to Caps, Kindergarten Kickoff, Granite Replay and other positive exposure on social media," and noted that several schools have benefited from targeted marketing to improve community perception.

Board members did not take formal action on the communications items during the study session. Materials and an audio recording of the meeting are available on the district’s public meeting pages.