I value you …
The idea of community relations may be familiar to most school boards. But these same school boards often underestimate or overlook the most important outcome of community relations work: Building trust with your broader community. Community relations are about building trust with your broader community. Over the years, when talking with school boards, we discuss the necessity of nurturing a working relationship with the community. This relationship is critical to the sharing of information and receiving feedback in a timely fashion. Too often, I have seen school boards only ramp up their community relations when they want something from their community, i.e., bond issues. Done right, community relations are ongoing and must be continually improved and adapted to shifting community dynamics and issues that impact the broader community.
Community relationships are defined as a relationship that a company or organization has with the people who live in the area in which that company or organization operates. We know that school board members are elected from their community and entrusted to bring the community's values and beliefs back to the board. Board members then advocate for all students in alignment with the community’s values. Throughout a board member's service, processes must be in place to stay in tune with the beliefs of the broader community. As we know, issues or topics often come before the board that the community has not experienced. How is a board member to understand the community's desires if there are no processes in place to receive feedback and share information? If board members only hear a few vocal community voices, the school board may falsely believe the school district aligns with the broad community values and beliefs. Meanwhile, if there is no relationship between the school board and community, members of the community are left to create their own interpretations of work happening in the district or go uninformed. Exchange of information must occur for both successes and failures. How would the average community member know your accomplishments and struggles if the district doesn’t share them?
Every community is unique. Building a relationship with the community must be done strategically and thoughtfully. Many school districts use structures as an excellent start for creating a solid relationship with the community. Some of these are:
— Building site councils
— District advisory councils
— Collaborative team meetings between the teacher union representatives and administration
— Connecting several district people with community-based service clubs and organizations
Each of these provides an excellent opportunity to share district updates and information and to hear concerns or questions from stakeholders. In these settings, leaders should establish a clear expectation for stakeholders to converse with friends, neighbors, and colleagues and then return to the next meeting with the things they learned. These structures work best if the district has a consistent message and plan for communicating about successes and challenges. There should also be a cadence or process for gathering information from these channels annually to understand stakeholder perceptions of progress on district priorities or challenges impacting the broader community. Using these steps consistently, the community will better understand how to hear about the work happening in the district, as well as the channels for providing feedback to the school district.
In addition to the formal components of community relations, there is also an informal approach. One of the most effective ways to build community relations is keeping your keeping your employees and team informed of what is happening within the district. Your community relies on these individuals as credible experts about the district, whether at church, ball games, the store, or social gatherings. Some of the most respected and trusted district spokespeople are the hourly employees that have worked for your school district for decades. Think of that head custodian, building secretary, and food service worker that has been with your school district for 25 years or more. They have seen it all as it relates to your school district's performance. When leaders of the school district, superintendent and school board members, build a personal relationship with these individuals, it can be a powerful way to better understand and influence the exchange of information within the community and district. When leaders overlook these individuals as a critical connection to the community or do not invest in these relationships, these trusted voices will share their district perceptions, accurate or not, throughout the community.
As you build your community relationship, a final area of consideration is the ongoing communication of district information. Is news haphazardly posted and tweeted? Or is there an overarching strategy or plan for sharing the district’s priorities and successes that support them? Consistent communication about school district priorities, as well as progress and challenges, is the foundation of this work. The next step is informing stakeholders of the role they can play in strengthening your school community and accomplishing the priorities.
How can you communicate when, where, and how can people support your school district?
I’ve heard stories from across Kansas, where school districts have consistently shared their priorities. It results in businesses stepping up to offer support. For example, a shared interest in preparing kids for their next step in life in specific trades or industries leads to businesses helping fund facilities and equipment improvements. If the district never communicates those priorities to the community, these business owners may never realize there is a role they can play to benefit students and the business community. Traditionally, PTO groups excel at sharing when, where, and how to support the school. However, a PTO group only reaches a group of student families. Seek ways to share how you need the community to support your schools, such as:
— Participating in local civic groups
— Sharing of a district annual report with all patrons
— Student clubs or activity teams/groups at the high school reaching out to provide public service hours within the community
Community relations strengthen our schools and the community we serve. Stronger schools emerge when the public understands and trusts the work within their schools. Don’t underestimate the impact placing a high value on community relations will have on building trust in your schools. The strategies or ideas in this blog are about building a great relationship with your community, ultimately leading to high levels of trust in the public education system. If you would like to discuss ideas on building a working relationship with your unique community, contact us at KASB. We are glad to help you develop a strategy tailored to your needs and designed to strengthen your community relationship.
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