What is Public Relations?

School public relations used to be about getting positive messages out; it was a one-way communication street designed to showcase the best of a school or district to gain community support. But because people today are bombarded with information about schools, this model is not as effective as it once was. Today, school public relations is less about conveying information than it is about establishing and promoting partnerships within the community. An effective school public relations plan provides value by giving people information they can use, not just information that the school needs to convey about process. Effective public relations means schools ask for and receive information just as much as they transmit it. Of course, even with a school/public partnership paradigm, many adults are not "partners" of public schools by choice. Older people often vote against school funding measures, economically disadvantaged adults may feel they have no stake in the process, and private school parents may not want to support a public institution. The fact is, however, every voting citizen has the ability to have a positive impact on student achievement, and the overall good of their community. A good public relations program can show them the reciprocal value from their support.

The functions of school public relations

With the overall goal of forging partnerships and providing value to parents, employees, and the public, the following functions describe the roles played by school public relations (National School Public Relations Association [NSPRA], n.d./d:)

• Promoting community input
• Anticipating image problems; providing solutions
• Handling all aspects of district publications, e.g., external newspaper and internal newsletter, Web site
• Acting as the key contact for the media: writing news releases; working to get media coverage of district news
• Designing objective, informational materials for budget/bond issue campaigns
• Designing all levels of communications, including writing a crisis communication plan
• Conducting public relations research, surveys, and polls; interpreting results for management
• Creating avenues for student/staff recognition
• Training employees in the importance of public relations