Woodland district hires PR firm
Woodland Elementary District has hired a politically connected public relations firm to handle its latest community survey.
Jasculca/Terman and Associates Inc. of Chicago will receive not more than $22,500 for its work. Board members at Woodland District 50 in Gurnee approved the Jasculca/Terman contract last week.
Woodland board members voted 4-0 in favor of hiring Jasculca/Terman, long known for its Democratic Party ties. Board member Carla Little abstained from voting but voiced her uneasiness with the deal's cost.
"It is a lot of money at a bad time in the economy," Little said. "It seems a little frivolous."
In an effort to gather feedback for District 50, Jasculca/Terman plans to host at least three focus groups and pose questions to residents over the telephone. Woodland last conducted a community survey in 2003.
Jasculca/Terman would include district residents without children at Woodland in the survey, which board member Larry Gregorash deemed important.
"It's very difficult to touch that group and get their opinion without a survey and getting them in the mix," Gregorash said.
About 75 percent of Woodland residents don't have children attending district schools, he said.
Woodland is the latest Lake County school district to hire Jasculca/Terman. In August, Lincolnshire-Prairie View Elementary District 103 tapped the company to perform what was called a communications audit for not more than $35,000.
Jasculca/Terman's political connections are evident in state campaign disclosure reports. The PR firm has provided $116,047 in money and in-kind contributions to Illinois candidates and political action committees since 2003.
Democrats are mostly the recipients of Jasculca/Terman donations, including Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Jasculca/Terman coordinated Blagojevich's inaugural ceremonies in 2005.
Jasculca/Terman also has been the recipient of state contracts and was hired by the AFL-CIO to stage the union's Democratic presidential forum at Soldier Field last year.