Navigating through multiple crises with effective communications

1. Navigating through multiple crises with effective communications Clear, consistent and timely communications delivered through multiple channels works

2. 30,000 Foot Level • District & School Board issues, events and situations mostly happen at the flight levels • School Board discord, test cheating allegations, administration transitions are background noise for most audiences • Politics, flavor of the month programs, vendor contract issues hardly resonate at the local community and school level

3. Ground Level • Educating Today’s Students For Tomorrow’s World • Teaching & Learning environment is where the rubber hits the road in schools and classrooms • Board rooms and CEO/Superintendent’s corner offices are mostly off the radar • If students and teachers are not clearly in the picture, do most people really care about it?

4. The Perfect Storm • ‘The Perfect Storm’ only had a couple of elements – a hurricane, a low pressure area and a cold front • APS experienced ‘The Perfect Storm Plus’ - International Test Cheating Scandal, Transitioning Administration, Accreditation Threat and Budget issues/Reduction in Force • Atlanta media market turned its full attention on APS during the summer news drought

5. Keeping the Ship Level • Reacted immediately to test cheating scandal. Placed all accused on immediate leave • Stressed the importance of ethics over attaining goals and targets • Emphasized that leadership assumes responsibility for the cheating and the remedy • Reminded all of the new APS leadership and that the sins of the past will not be repeated.

6. Multiple Channels • Use established channels to inform employees of the district’s reaction and response • Email messages, Web site postings, Social Media, Employee meetings • Communications presentations at annual leadership meeting, professional development • Superintendent video presentations reacting strongly, stressing culture change and ethics • Put the Superintendent before the media often as the new captain in the midst of the storm

7. Be honest about condition of ship • Curriculum and H-R divisions were leaderless • Test cheating report and superintendent transition happened simultaneously • Honeymoon lasted for only a few days • Major issues: placing new leadership in almost half of the schools, getting ready for new school year starting in a month. • Assessing condition of district after a dozen years under the previous administration

8. Take on emergent elements • Nearly half of district’s principals were teachers a month before opening of schools • Communications issues often arose because of inexperience • Leveling effort continued for months with major staffing issues impacting schools • Unanticipated budget gap prompted belt-tightening, administration reorganization

9. What worked • Putting a credible, experienced, media savvy leader out front often - but not too much • Incorporating social media, including APS blog, Twitter and FaceBook into the mix • Avoiding news conferences, responding to media inquiries as they arose • Distancing APS from past leadership without trashing them

10. What didn’t work • Trying to redirect the public’s and media’s attention from cheating scandal • Trying to minimize dysfunction associated with new administration • Minimizing the cumulative impact of multiple crises happening almost simultaneously • Protecting the accused educators from the presumption of guilt

11. Unanticipated Consequences • Everyone knew the test cheating scandal would be big. No one guessed how big • Evidence collected during the year-long, $1 million state investigation wasn’t available • Tenured educators in Georgia cannot be unilaterally fired; charge letters/tribunals • Placing 178 educators on leave cost APS $1 million a month, not including replacements

12. Apparent Repercussions • APS’ reputation was deeply tainted, but the public and media embraced superintendent • Crises continued to arise, but the public and media gave him the benefit of the doubt • Teaching & learning continued amidst the turmoil • Issues continually arose at individual schools due to inexperienced leaders

13. Lessons Learned • Stay the course through the storm • Use the superintendent’s honeymoon period to its greatest advantage • At the least do no further harm. Don’t gaff, cover up, hide things or redirect attention • Don’t trash the prior leadership, but make it clear the issues are rooted in the past • Try to focus attention on the majority of employees who are ethical and working hard

14. How Did We Do? • APS experienced too many crises at once to obtain an accurate gauge of audience perceptions of the district • We knew we were off the charts during the height of the storm in negative perceptions • Engaged supporters were our best allies; they added perspective when needed the most • Our social media outlets came into their own – TalkUp APS blog, Twitter and FaceBook

15. Where do we presently stand? • Continued daily coverage of test cheating tribunals, anticipation of criminal charges • Budget, redistricting and other global district challenges • A still transitioning administration, new cabinet and sub-cabinet administrators • An uncertain and insecure employee base, many still ‘seasick’ from all these events

16. Where do we go from here? • Implementing the redistricting plan with school closures and new school clusters • Living within a leaner budget with fewer resources and prospect of more layoffs • Continuing to forge the culture change with an emphasis on ethics and excellence • Preparing for another leadership change at the end of the 2012-13 school year

17. Communications Challenges • Breaking through the storm wall with programs and initiatives tied to the classroom • Putting the cheating scandal in perspective as the tribunal process decimates perpetrators • Promoting stellar teachers, principals and teachers to begin to erase the scandal taint • Affirming that the culture has indeed changed and that ethics surpasses goals and targets

18. Cut to the Chase • QUESTIONS?