24 THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR MAY 2006 S chool technology concerns for the past two decades have rightly focused on the classroom. But since the debut of the World Wide Web in 1989, little serious debate has focused on the purpose of a school’s presence in cyberspace. School and school district websites began to mushroom in the mid-1990s in what looked like a rush to stake a cyber- claim in a new frontier. As a byproduct, these early experiments also seemed like a good place to let parents know what’s going on in the local school district. Today, it is all too easy to find district websites that are little more than elec- tronic bulletin boards presenting informa- tion in random, sometimes bizarre fash- ion. One school district’s home page provided prominent links to information about a 3 rd grade teacher’s state park field trip and the wrestling team’s season sched- ule from last year without any mention of other grade-level news or sports teams. Even more common than randomness is information overload: school website home pages “on steroids” with hundreds of text links, flashing text and photos. Now that many district websites are approaching adolescence, it is time to consider or reconsider what an online presence can do — beyond displaying an exciting design and the latest technolog- ical bells and whistles. From a public and community relations perspective, school system leaders might examine how their district might commit limited resources to maintain an effective website to achieve important organizational goals. Building Reputations Public relations is more than the sum of its visible parts: district newsletters, brochures on the proposed budget, school calendars, news releases and special events. Public relations is about building and maintaining strategic relationships with key publics on whom the survival of the organization depends. These rela- tionships are based on how an organiza- tion’s actions are perceived by its key publics and its reputation. Such relation- ships are often enhanced through effec- tive communication. School districts are interested in maintaining good relationships with a variety of key publics, including parents, students, school employees, taxpayers, volunteers and government officials. Any of these stakeholders’ actions — a teacher strike, student protests or a defeated referendum — can limit and even severely hamper a district’s opera- tions. The most common school com- munication efforts revolve around (1) support for school budgets and (2) repu- tation-boosting activities in academics and extracurricular ventures. Just like businesses operating on a financial bottom line, schools act delib- erately to achieve their bottom lines by producing well-rounded, academically superior graduates. To do so, schools need adequate budgets and progressive programs supported by qualified employ- ees and involved parents who value edu- cation. Schools with good reputations can attract both through solid public relations efforts. Reputations are built based on what a person or organization says and does and how its publics perceive those actions, real or not. Simply put, according to Dennis Wilcox and Glen Cameron in their book Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics, “it is the track record of an organization in the public’s mind.” As such, a reputation is not something that an organization can produce because it’s created in the public mind. But it can be managed. Positive reputations can be strength- ened, according to Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice, through trust- building activities including: l Openness and honesty. The public will think more positively about an organization that is forthright in provid- ing information accurately about its goals and how it operates. l Consistent actions. Do what you say. Don’t say one thing, and do another. Got Web? INVESTING IN A District Website An effective site can help you reach your organizational goals BY PATRICIA A. SWANN