Will a Trip into Uncharted Waters Make a “Splash” for the School District?Or is $10,000 just a “Drop In the Bucket”?

About a year ago, as the City was ramping up for the Fall 2007 election, we ran a post showing how Geneva City politicians were attacking NoStrings, but incorporating a great deal of its content into their political platforms. We didn’t mind all that much, since we agree that the ideas we post are in Geneva’s best interests, but it was a bit hypocritical on their part to trash our site while stealing our content.

That’s why we read with interest the Geneva City School Board’s decision to hire “Splash,” Phil Beckley’s (and Charlie Wilson’s) new public relations firm. The Finger Lakes Times was apparently more interested in providing cover rather than context to this decision, since they did not disclose in their story that Splash is the latest endeavor of the former Finger Lakes Times newspaper reporter, editor, and publisher turned failed 2007 mayoral candidate. They did, however, give him a nice write up when he launched his venture.

When we read the article we thought we’d missed the Request for Proposals (RFP) for these services and the presentation that public relations firms usually make when trying to woo a new client. We contacted District officials to find out the details.

As it turns out, the District never put out an RFP for a public relations firm. The School Board never interviewed Beckley or had him give a presentation to the Board on his ideas, as would be common for virtually any board hiring any firm for any sort of public relations. And there was no public discussion of Beckley’s firm’s track record. Who else has “Splash” worked for? What media do they specialize in? What kind of content portfolio have they developed? What deliverables are they promising the district? After all, if you are venturing into public relations-- getting into ‘spin’, you ought to know what the spin doctor’s diagnosis and treatment plan are.

It seems the only public details of the proposal are that Beckley’s firm will earn $150 per hour working for the School District. How was this rate set? Did the District survey public information efforts by its counterparts to calculate an acceptable ‘going rate’? Did the District look at statewide best practices for acquiring these services and determine an acceptable budget? We don’t know the answers to this, because the decision to hire “Splash” was merely ratified in public by the School Board with virtually no discussion. That indicates that the details had been worked out beforehand, in the ‘back room,’ kind of reminds us of past City Council decisions.

We do believe the Geneva City Schools have a positive message to share. We’re on record about that. On a personal note, we each have had a positive experience with our own children, respectively, in the District. But the money that’s been set aside for Beckley is for, as yet, unspecified work, so we’re not convinced that this is the best investment of public funds.

Last year, Augustine attended a meeting with School District officials, organized by Councilor Jan Nyrop, to discuss the many ways the city might promote the school district’s offerings, and vice versa, as a means of encouraging new businesses and new residents to the City. Among the ideas presented was the development of a joint city-school district web portal, similar to this site hosted by the City of Elmira. Such a site could be designed by a joint city-school committee and programming done through an internship agreement with one of our regional colleges.

Another suggestion was to create a promotional handout featuring a list of colleges and universities where Geneva High graduates have been accepted (many of them Ivy League or other Tier I schools) as well as a list of accelerated and unique course offerings and statistics on Advanced Placement testing. These are areas in which the Geneva City Schools demonstrate superiority to our regional counterparts. That would entail the collection of existing data, not all that much effort and virtually no cost. This approach would be a collaborative, volunteer effort bringing city and school staff together with community members for a common purpose. That is, in itself, a worthy endeavor, and we bet it would also yield a more useful end product because the messengers would really be committed to the message!

Perhaps district officials believe that the newspaper experience of Beckley and his partner, Charlie Wilson, are enough. But it’s one thing to write for a paper that has a set distribution network. It’s quite another to write content and select media to reach a non-captive audience. It’s one thing to be able to connect with Geneva people and explain why the school their children already attend is a nice place, but it’s quite another thing to be able to outreach to prospective parents and prospective business owners and explain why this district is tops in the area. To do that will require a ‘Splash’ in a bigger pond.