Bainbridge Island School District is committed to open, honest and ongoing communication with staff, families and the greater community. Effective two-way communication helps establish and strengthen relationships -- and positive relationships are essential for a strong school system.

In the Fall of 2022, the National School Public Relations Association implemented a communications audit for BISD. The audit examined BISD's communication efforts, assessed their effectiveness, and provided customized recommendations to enhance BISD communication practices. The final report included eight recommendations and corresponding action steps.

Recognizing that implementing the recommendations takes time, effort and financial resources, BISD will focus on three goals for the 2023-24 school year.

Goal 1 - Internal Communications: Strengthen internal communications between District Office and employees. Employees will feel informed, engaged, valued and understand the role they play in helping BISD achieve its mission.

Goal 2 - External Connections: Strengthen the connection between BISD and families/community partners. External stakeholders will help celebrate BISD’s successes and partner with BISD to help mitigate our challenges.

Goal 3 - Expand and enhance the Board of Directors' communications: The public will view the board as leaders committed to achieving BISD’s mission. This plan is a working document and provides BISD with a framework for its communication efforts.

It is important to note that these goals and refinements are in addition to current communication practices and are not replacements. The success of the plan will be measured using data from the Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) Survey and results from the School Communication Performance Evaluation (SCoPE) Survey.

Considerations to note: 1) parent/guardian participation in the CEE survey decreased by 61% from 2022 to 2023 2) SCoPE provides a scorecard to compare BISD to other districts. However, comparisons are not provided for all questions.

If you have questions about this plan, please contact BISD Public Relations Officer Erin Bischoff at ebischoff@bisd303.org.

2023-24 Strategic Communication Plan – Approved by the BISD School Board July 2023