A good time to start a key communicator system is in the fall. While key communicators are most helpful in a time of trouble or turmoil, you need to establish mutual trust and credibility before you can depend on them to call you when they hear a rumor or to set someone straight who’s spreading misinformation about the schools.
Once the key communicators are identified, it is critical to communicate with them regularly on a personal, one-to-one basis. Their phone calls to school officials should be returned immediately, and their requests for information answered promptly. If they are expected to share good news about the schools, they must have that information in a timely and understandable fashion.
In addition, school officials should contact key communicators whenever there is a need to get information out quickly in order to counteract rumors or to defuse a potential crisis. The key communicators can then make a point of getting the information to the people they meet in the course of their normal activities.
Key communicators should, in turn, contact school officials when they hear
rumblings, rumors, questions or ideas from people in the community. They
provide a quick, informal reading of the pulse of the community when a major
decision must be made or when a sensitive issue is about to erupt.
Adapted from:
Oregon School Boards Association
1201 Court Street NE, Suite 400, Salem, Oregon 97301
(503) 588-2800 | 1-800-578-OSBA | FAX (503) 588-2813
E-mail: info@osba.org
© Copyright 2009
(Used with thanks and permission)