Lakeville Schools Launching New Communication Initiatives

are poised to make good on a promise of increasing communication avenues with the community as well as improving the district’s internal communications.

Linda Swanson, the district’s communications coordinator, addressed the School Board on Tuesday with plans that included multiple initiatives suggested by well as developed by Swanson and new communications coordinator Katie Kaehler.

Kaehler’s role is a new full-time position funded with a reallocation of monies within the already approved communications budget. Kaehler has a degree in journalism and marketing from the University of Minnesota and was hired by the district last week.

“It’s made an amazing difference just in the week that she’s been here,” said Swanson.

Snyder had promised a more focused approach to improving communication and Swanson’s presentation highlighted some of the pieces the district is using to make good on that promise.

Highlights of the new initiatives include:

Quarterly District Newsletter: The first issue is scheduled to come out in November and will be available online as well as in hard-copy format at the schools for those without access to the internet. Officials want to reach out to community members district-wide, including the 48 percent of residents who don’t have children in the schools, and better inform them of what’s happening within the district.

Internal Quarterly Newsletter: Again, the first issue is scheduled for November and will focus on informing the individual building leadership teams with happenings at the district offices.

“This came about during conversations I had with administrators in the buildings,” said Snyder. “They said they didn’t always know what was happening at the district offices.”

“Believe it or not, we haven’t been doing this yet,” said Swanson. “There’s no reason administrators should be surprised with what’s happening at the district offices.”

Website Improvements: Continued improvements will be made to the district’s website to better inform parents, teachers and students of district happenings and make it easier to navigate and find pertinent information.

“The website is one of the most dynamic pieces that have to communicate and it is changing almost daily,” said Swanson.

Recent improvements include indexed videos of board meetings so users can search by topic or item rather than just by date.

Board members also discussed making school board packets available online in advance of meeting start times. Currently full information packets with supporting documents aren’t available until the meetings officially begin. Agendas are published in advance, but some board members feel publishing the full supporting documents in advance would give stakeholders more of an opportunity to comment on agenda items.

“I think there’s benefit to having those documents out in advance for both public and internal consumption,” said board member Jim Skelly.

“If the information is going to be public anyway, what’s the difference when it’s published?” asked board member Roz Peterson.

If the board found no legal reason for holding publishing supporting agenda documents, that policy may soon change.

Superintendent’s Listening Hour: This will be a series of town hall-type meetings with Snyder who will gather with different stakeholder and community groups for an informal conversation about relevant topics.

The first meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14 and details will be available on the district’s website. Snyder is also taking part in a Chamber-sponsored ‘State of the Schools’ event on Sept. 21 to help engage the Lakeville business community.