Vision 20/20
2/18/15 Committee Meeting Notes
Welcome
Permanent Improvement Levy
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Allows us to protect our investment without sacrificing our program.
This group’s parallel function is to find what that elementary instruction will look like in the next 50
years.
We’ll have a levy campaign going on for the PI. We also need to have a parallel informational campaign
to educate the community about the options on the table. We’re looking at a 1 building PK-4 or two
buildings.
Renovating 4 buildings and staying on those sites would be a 4-5 year project and displacing kids in the
process. It’s one of the most expensive and longest.
Providing similar educational experiences to our children no matter which part of the community they
come from is our goal.
The CAC is working on its report regarding the best options educationally.
What tools do we use to educate our community?
Voters need to know why we are considering a change, they need to be heard.
While this PI campaign is going on, there needs to be groundwork and initial steps of this Phase II plan
and what it becomes. How do we get our community on board with what’s going on?
Themes
HOW
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Have students go door-to-door (community service hours)
Bells outside grocery store
Preschool open house
Doctor’s offices (where babies are)
Community newspapers
Free tickets to school sporting/performance events for senior citizens
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Speak to city clubs, rotary, chamber
Select key influencers in community to be part of/lead discussion
Get teachers/support staff to be communicators
Get local government to support us
Have a social session between the community and the students
Inform teachers
Slick marketing piece that shows proposed campus configuration mail dropped to all
Community survey
Something concrete
Market Day pickup – curbside discussion with big poster. Neighboring elderly frequent
Market Day at Hilliard & Bassett
Offer free breakfast/lunch to seniors to educate them on issues
Partner with city to host/educate info sessions at Rec Center
Hold an event for kids and have superintendent speak to adults while kids play
Ruby Payne approach: we want to work with you … let us help you
Monthly Q&A with the superintendent
Visit library during story times
Rob calls to community with information
Use social media
Build email blast list
Bullet point mailings
WHO
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Seniors
Recent alums
Grandfriends day at elementary schools
Reach out to citywide (private) preschools
Strong emphasis/communication to early childhood
Expand the number of members on 20/20
Clearly inform staff
Get local business involved
Real estate professionals presentation
Speak to neighborhood groups
Committee presence at community events
Educate private school families
Clague Park July 4h presentation
Visit elderly at retirement facilities
WHERE
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Neighborhood coffees
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Community outreach with small stakeholders (Kiwanis, Rotary)
Senior center luncheons and/or assisted living facilities
Sporting events
Porter library
Church
Local papers
School website
FAQ page on site
Several meetings at the PAC
Community forums
Discussion
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Continually push our yes votes. Hitting the same group of people. Whatever we do, we need
to strategize to contact people who aren’t involved in our schools every day.
We need to change the message. These are your community schools. This decision will
directly impact your neighborhood. Who do you want making these decisions?
How many opportunities do people have to shape what the schools will look like in the
future? Vast majority of schools already set up. You have the opportunity to decide what
the future will hold. Awesome chance to be a part of something special.
Confusing about what we want to go out to the community with. Not sure how we’re asking
and trying to obtain their opinion. How are we gathering information at this stage? People
want to be heard, but don’t know how to do that.
Wait until after the bond issue to bring this up.
o If you wait until May, in the same boat a year ago. Tough to get things done over the
summer. If we are going to be on the ballot, there are lots of decisions to be made.
Seems this is a huge decision. To say we can’t wait three months or a year seems like you
are rushing.
We’ve been working on this for well over a year.
What’s being said is not the community. You can’t rush the community at large into this
decision.
o You need 9 months of sharing information. There are phases of getting the word
and awareness out about what’s being considered. There will be a campaign. If we
wait until after May to get the information and education piece out there, it’s a
crunch and not feasible. Trying to shape into something wonderful.
Education piece requires objectivity. We have to imply we need to get better. Very hard for
us to get up publicly and say we’re not as good as we can possibly be. We don’t want to say
we are broken to get a better option. As an excellent school district, hard to get up and say
we can be better.
A lot of people come into early childhood PTA for a number of reasons. There are people
not choosing Westlake or making it their 3rd choice. They are hearing the schools are in
trouble. If we don’t continue this drive.
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o Whenever a community has organized opposition, that message tends to creep.
People are tying levy failure to core teaching. They think we’re having a problem
everywhere.
Little choices we make along the way affect the big picture. I know people who are choosing
places to live because we don’t have full-day kindergarten. You can go to other places in the
area and not pay for it and be guaranteed a spot. We just assume we have a great school,
but when we compare to other local schools, they are offering programs starting to nudge
us out. We’re one amongst a bunch of shining stars, not the biggest. Not all districts have
pay-to-play. When listing out pros and cons, that matters.
People are touring the schools and ask me why are we better? My answer is always if you go
to WCSD, you are going to provide your child with a tremendous education. My message is
my staff wants to be better. They want your kids to be the best you can be. That’s
tremendous that we’re working to try to get better. Other communities gave two options or
said here’s what we’re building.
o Concerns for Westlake Schools are systematic problems all of us are falling victim to.
Variety of initiatives coming at us. Those changes and movement is causing
everyone to look at their schools differently. Because of our ballot issues, we’ve had
more opportunity to put ourselves out there and be questioned. This process won’t
be easy. Some involves us being willing to say we’re not perfect, but when you look
at the totality of the package, especially if we can address our elementary issues,
what we have is as good as any.
Talking to people with no kids or seniors, got the sense they didn’t care if we pick option A,
B or C. They will either vote yes or no if they have a moral opposition to schools. We need to
focus options on early childhood and those in the schools.
This is like an onion. Put the first layer out there, then move on and strategically come out
with different layers as we go.
Majority of people don’t care about the schools. Most couldn’t’ tell you who their
councilperson is. You need to start getting information out to people and they do vote with
their wallets.
High school athletic activities – parents can use literature as a conversation starter
NEXT STEPS
Find some way to communicate these thoughts in a semi-coherent manner. Come back to another
discussion about who/where/how/when. I will pull these comments into the four categories, share
those out and come back and try to massage these, see what makes sense and polish themselves out.
We need to keep moving. I can see subcommittees taking shape moving forward.
Bring a friend to the next meeting.
Future meeting dates = March 12, April 16, May 14, June 11