CalSPRA - Newsletter

Volume 4:: April/May 2004

Rosemary Gladden, Placentia-Yorba Linda USD’s Public Information Officer, shared information on her district’s budget communications with CalSPRA colleagues on the Listserv. Read on to hear what her district did to communicate during budget reductions.

Budget process

Rather than having leadership make reductions, we went to staff to ask for suggestions
Those suggestions were compiled and were what we used to make recommendations to the Board
Our approach: Not necessarily decimate programs, but see where we can trim back significantly
Staff greatly appreciates being involved

Our Sound Bites:

It’s a state budget crisis and we’re not alone
Even more difficult task on top of the three previous years’ cuts
Let staff and community know that these decisions are not easy, and not something we enjoy
Reiterate how impressed we are with everyone’s “What can I do to contribute,” attitude

Communication Strategies

Newspapers- monthly news article
Web site
Staff Newsletters
E-mails to all staff from Superintendent
Parent Newsletters
Personal communication, including presentations to civic groups
State of the District Address- televised
Talking points to principals for staff meetings

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This year’s Communications Contest Awards and Skill-building Workshop will be held in sunny San Diego on May 13 & 14. For those arriving Thursday, there will be a presentation on the APR (Accreditation in Public Relations) from 4:00-6:00 pm. Rick de la Torre, APR and Gary Leatherman, APR are leading the effort to help CalSPRA members pursue this professional designation. For more information about the process and what it means, check out http://www.prsa.org/_Advance/apr/index.asp?ident=apr1

If you miss the afternoon activity, make sure you stop by later at the Networking Reception at 6:30. President Cindy Sabato invites everyone to her suite to “graze” and chat—this is your chance to introduce yourself, catch up with colleagues and find out how everyone else is doing.

Friday morning a hot breakfast buffet will be waiting for you—just enough to whet your appetite for our skill-building presentations. Borrowing from this year’s NSPRA theme of “one, clear voice” our presenters will give you some tried and true tips to get everyone talking from the same page, or at least making the page look like it came from the same place!

And finally, after lunch, the winners of our communication contest will be honored at our afternoon awards ceremony. This is your chance to get new ideas to take back home and adapt to your district’s needs. All this for $70—that’s cheaper than getting a new outfit and haircut to look good!

For more information, including the registration form and flyer, please click here.

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CalSPRA's e-connection is published quarterly. Do you have a story idea? If so, contact Kelly Avants, Clovis USD at 559.327.9092 or kellyavants@cusd.com