CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS - RECOMMENDATION LETTER
On March 22, 2018, the Liberty Elementary School District faced the difficult news of a teacher allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student(s).
News2JB Creative Services was called in to help the school and the district accommodate media throughout the day.
Knowing transparency is a desire of parents and the community, we were able to put a plan in place to communicate the allegation while not impeding the investigation.
We worked closely with the Goodyear Police Department and were able to publish our press release at the same minute as local law enforcement. An auto dialer was called to parents. And a letter was sent home with students.
Most important, News2JB Creative Services assisted the principal of the school in notifying school staff, privately and personally, as soon as possible.
As media arrived, News2JB Creative Services greeted crews and arranged for interviews around the interim superintendent's schedule. One photographer told us in all of his years on the job, this was the soonest a school came out to address the media. He said, while not intended, not approaching the media implies there's something to hide. Liberty Elementary School District was not portrayed in this way due to our willingness to work with journalists as quickly and transparently as possible.
While an incredibly unfortunate allegation, the Liberty Elementary School District conveyed three things; Student/staff priority is the number one priority, transparency is equally important, and collaboration with local law enforcement is the high standard.
Our background as a television news journalist and as a parent with a child in the district allowed us to view this story from a variety of angles and to help the district handle the pubic relations as best as could be possibly done. We understand privacy law and delicately balanced the desire for information against the legal restrictions in place for providing additional details.
It was an honor for us to assist and we are able to help in your time of crisis, as well.
News2JB Creative Services was called in to help the school and the district accommodate media throughout the day.
Knowing transparency is a desire of parents and the community, we were able to put a plan in place to communicate the allegation while not impeding the investigation.
We worked closely with the Goodyear Police Department and were able to publish our press release at the same minute as local law enforcement. An auto dialer was called to parents. And a letter was sent home with students.
Most important, News2JB Creative Services assisted the principal of the school in notifying school staff, privately and personally, as soon as possible.
As media arrived, News2JB Creative Services greeted crews and arranged for interviews around the interim superintendent's schedule. One photographer told us in all of his years on the job, this was the soonest a school came out to address the media. He said, while not intended, not approaching the media implies there's something to hide. Liberty Elementary School District was not portrayed in this way due to our willingness to work with journalists as quickly and transparently as possible.
While an incredibly unfortunate allegation, the Liberty Elementary School District conveyed three things; Student/staff priority is the number one priority, transparency is equally important, and collaboration with local law enforcement is the high standard.
Our background as a television news journalist and as a parent with a child in the district allowed us to view this story from a variety of angles and to help the district handle the pubic relations as best as could be possibly done. We understand privacy law and delicately balanced the desire for information against the legal restrictions in place for providing additional details.
It was an honor for us to assist and we are able to help in your time of crisis, as well.
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