K-8 School: Crisis Communications
At the recommendation of a local reporter for a national media network, JWC was hired by a San Diego K-8 school to mitigate potential negative press surrounding the departure of the school’s superintendent.
Following sexual harassment and misconduct allegations from a colleague and a subsequent investigation, the superintendent was terminated and quickly sued the school for wrongful termination. The superintendent then went to a local investigative news outlet to discuss his termination and the circumstances surrounding it.
The school hired JWC for a broad scope of services to be refined as the project began, since the school did not know the level of public or media scrutiny it would face. Services included research; media and public protocol formation; media management; and message development/crises responses for multiple audiences, including media, staff, faculty, parents, students and the general public.
JWC worked in close concert with the board president, interim superintendent and attorney of record to gather the facts, determine public responses and reactive messaging, as needed. The agency developed policies for who and when were allowed to comment on behalf of the school and how public and media queries would be routed, as well as phone, email and in-persons scripts.
JWC’s work focused on emphasizing the safety and security of students and staff, and limiting further comment due to pending litigation. Internal messaging ensured staff knew the expertise and dedication of the leadership team and were aware of who they could contact with questions or concerns.
This careful planning resulted in only one media article that was picked up by a few local outlets, minimizing the negative impact on the school and its operations. The piece did not lead to further public or media attention, despite the investigative journalist’s continued attempts to do so.
JWC was subsequently hired several months later to announce the hiring of the new superintendent and avoid any negative media about the school, including providing media relations and communications to staff and parents, with positive results.
Some details of this project have been modified for client confidentiality.
