Firm recommends District 303 take steps to improve communication with parents, staff
A firm is recommending St. Charles Unit District 303 take several steps to improve its communication with parents and staff.
At the school board's Learning and Teaching Committee meeting on Dec. 21, Bob Noyed, vice president of Minneapolis-based CESO Communications, presented board members with the findings of a communications audit his firm conducted.
"Our changes are more tweaks than major adjustments," Noyed told school board members.
As part of the audit, CESO Communications conducted focus groups that included five parent groups and one staff group. The firm also interviewed six school board members and did an online parent survey.
According to the audit, the three areas of greatest need are communication planning, internal communication and engagement of stakeholders. One finding is that the district needs to shorten emails and present the information in a more concise format.
In addition, Noyed said there may be an information gap that is being filled by external sources.
"Facebook groups are sharing information that is sometimes contradictory or confusing to families," Noyed said.
The audit also showed there was a concern about timeliness, especially as it relates to the school board and financial decisions.
"Folks were talking about trying to have information sooner and on the front end rather than as the issue has been discussed," Noyed said. "They want to know earlier about what's going on."
Regarding communications from the schools, Noyed said a lot of parents are looking for more engagement prior to school decisions.
Parents also want the schools to highlight some of their special programs and services so they can better understand how students are being served, Noyed said. But parents did give the district high marks when it comes to conveying COVID 19-related information.
The firm makes several recommendations, including that the district develop an overall strategic communication plan and redesign the district and school e-newsletters to a digest format.
It also recommends the district create a process and plan to regularly engage staff, students, parents and community members and include their insights in the decision process. There also is a recommendation to examine the practicality of the Let's Talk platform on the district's website and consider the use of engagement tools that solicit parent insight.
It also recommends the district improve communication with staff by developing a strategy to enhance internal communication and engagement and develop a model for regularly soliciting feedback and input from staff members.
Noyed complimented the district's communications team for the work that it does, but said the district should consider adding a position to the team as an additional investment to improving communication.
In response to the findings in the communications audit, Superintendent Jason Pearson said the district plans to build a district communication plan "as well as to think about some of the strategic next steps."
"I would see that we would come back to the board with some strategies around the feedback that they have collected," Pearson said.