Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Public Schools has a real problem with Title IX compliance. They knew about this problem for years and took no action. Recently, these problems were exposed in the press. When the District started getting bad press about their Title IX problems they began to respond - to the PR problem. I have long said that the School District only responds to three stimuli: litigation (or the threat of litigation), money, and bad press - especially bad national press. The District's senior leadership had no trouble with their Title IX failures until they were reported in the national media, in Al Jazeera America. Then they became a PR problem, and the District has responded to them as a PR problem. Here is the heart of the District's PR response: a brand new district web page on Title IX.   This page can be found by clicking on Title IX on the Districts Departments page. I was not aware that the District had a Title IX department, but, apparently, the web managers think they do. ...

Just got word that as Lesley Rogers comes in to the district as the new head of Communications, long-time Communications manager Patti Spencer-Watkins is leaving.   Her last day is tomorrow.   Here is a list, for future reference, of who handles what in Communications: Paige Hatcher, 206 252 0200, pihatcher@seattleschools.org - general inquiries about communications support Teresa Wippel, 206 252 0203, tewippel@seattleschools.org - media or communications planning advice; support for principals Robert Teodosio, 206 252 0104, roteodosio@seattleschools.org - web, publications, logo queries Bev Shanahan, 206 252 0200, bshanahan@seattleschools.org - principal communicator

Just when you think you've heard it all - this from the Seattle PI blog (and our alert readers here): The financially-struggling Seattle Public Schools has paid an outside consulting agency for public relations help since October. Patti Spencer, school district spokesman, said Seattle-based Strategies 360 was retained after the district’s executive director for Public Affairs left on leave. “We brought in Strategies 360 in to help until such time as a new person is appointed,” Spencer said Thursday. I'll interrupt here to say that is just nonsense. We live in a major metropolitan center full of smart PR people and we're in a bad economy. Bridgett Chandler (the former head of Communications) left months ago. They really couldn't find anyone? FYI, Communications, since MGJ, has been one part communications and two parts public relations for MGJ. Spencer didn’t know how much the consultants were being paid, but said their fee was coming out of private donor ...

I would like to believe that the district wants to effectively and in a timely fashion communicate information to parents. Is that what they do? No. I actually don't know whose duty it is write what shows up on the webpage. I don't know whose duty it is to put up the information on the website. Are they told "Get this up ASAP, parents need to get this information quickly." (I have the smile when I write that - who am I kidding?) Like the Superintendent, I think most of the people who work in Communications have the skills necessary for their jobs. But they get their direction from top and basically, they serve as public relations for the Superintendent. Not the district and certainly not the Board. (I've heard complaints from the Board about being able to get their own message out. What they might want to say might not always jive with what the district has to say.) The Superintendent has completely taken over Communications and she decides what we hea...