Millersville

University Matthew J. Monahan

EDLD 614 November 3, 2015

Media Procedures- Central York School District

Policy number 911 of the Policy Manual of the Board of Directors of the
Central York School District outlines relations between the district and the news
media. The Superintendent has final approval of all procedures governing relations
with the news media, however the Superintendent delegates much of that authority
to a chief communications representative. This representative must be available to
the media, keep the media well-informed, suggest and submit relevant stories to the
media, assist school-related groups in their contact with the news media, and assist
the School Board in its publications that will be available publicly.
Julie Randall-Romig, Director of Communications for the Central York School
District (CYSD), gave a presentation about the communication program at a town
hall meeting. She outlined the ways in which CYSD communicates with the
community that it serves. Because of the districts focus on technology, particularly
in light of the 1:1 ratio of iPads to students, most district communication is web-
based. For that reason the examples of communication that I chose to provide for
this assignment are centered around the district and school websites.
The Central York School District communicates with the community through
social media, including Twitter and Facebook, surveys, meetings, websites, e-
newsletters, and blackboard. District websites are particularly vital sources of
information. They consist of school and teacher websites, a RSS feed for news and
events, the districts calendar of activities and events, and School Board and
community information. CYSD recently began to employ a company called
Sharpschool to manage its websites in an effort to streamline them and make them
more efficient.
District Twitter and Facebook pages provide CYSD with opportunities to
communicate with the community, and to receive feedback in certain areas. The
district Twitter page has 2,701 followers, and that number has increased 1,790
since 2014. The district Facebook page has 2,701 followers, and that number has
increased 1,902 since 2013. Its highest daily reach was 2,900 in October of 2015
regarding homecoming weekend. 73% of the districts Facebook followers are
female and the average age of followers is 35-44 years. Social media is more
interactive than traditional websites, like those managed by Sharpschool, because
they provide opportunities to exchange information rather than to just disseminate
information. The Blackboard Connect service allows the district to contact the
community regarding inclement weather or emergencies. Constant contact, an e-
mail marketing company, assists in the weekly contact of families, faculty and staff.
The company also assists each district school in sending a monthly newsletter.
CYSD provides residents several opportunities to give the district feedback.
These include annual year-end surveys, public town meetings, public School Board
meetings, a Citizens Advisory Council, the Business Roundtable, the Parent-Teacher
Organization (PTO) Council, and via social media.