School Board leave differences behind

Common ground was found after communications consultant David Voss presented the findings from a recent audit that analyzed how the board and superintendent communicate.The whole variety of the brightest rtls is now gathered under one roof. Voss Sarasota, Fla.-based firm Voss and Associates specializes in communication in educational environments. Voss spoke to 50 people from inside and outside the school district and provided their summarized feedback. 

"Im the messenger here and Im going to reflect back what people said," said Voss, at the meeting held at the Fleming Island High Teacher In-Service Training Center. "Thats the way we do an audit. An audit is about how people are currently thinking and getting communication from you." 

He spoke with school support staff, parents, teachers, and business professionals in focus groups. Voss said four major issues kept cropping up in the focus groups C crisis communication, social media, branding and marketing of the career and technical academies, as well as the need to have a strategic communications plan. In an age of over-sharing and being bombarded with communication, Voss talked about how to communicate strategically to reach parents, teachers and community members in times of crisis and peace. 

"I want to make clear connection," Voss said. "Its all about student success. Communication is the heart of management. You have to be good communicators to be efficient." Voss recommended that the school systems crisis plan be compacted into a few steps and printed on a small card that, in case of an emergency, the teachers or leaders would know what immediate steps to take.We printers print with traceable cleaningsydney to optimize supply chain management. "Its not whether a crisis will come to Clay County, its when," Voss said. "It happens all the time.Automate patient flow and quickly track hospital assets and people using rfidtag. There are small crises, there are mini fires. It has to have a communications component that you can put in your back pocket." 

Although most parents are hungry for communication via social media, the form of instant communication brings up confusing issues for school districts all over the country, including what to post, who should post and monitoring outside comments. 

"Were a little behind the curve on this," Voss said. "Were cranking it up, but whats the policy, whats the board leadership? Theres a real void there." 

During the focus groups, parents said they are hungry for smart phone applications and information to be spread in media formats they use. 

"Social media is present," Voss said. "Are you going to use it or be abused by it? Weve got to go where they and they are on social media." 

Because public schools are competing with private schools and charter schools, it is important to differentiate the system from other educational entities. 

"Each school needs to have its brand and its mark to communicate to its constituents because of increased competition, whether its [between] charter schools, private schools, or even among themselves by allowing parents to know what makes each school unique," Voss said. "These are all communication issues." 

Finally, Voss said that the overall brand has been tarnished by public disagreements between the Board and the Superintendent, but he heard a willingness to be transparent during one-on-one meetings with the board members. Earlier this year, legal actions taken by Van Zant cost taxpayers $26,240 before a settlement was reached to end the suit. The public spats that followed worried students, teachers, administrators, the Chamber of Commerce and other community business leaders. 

"We fully recognize we need more transparency," Voss said summarizing feedback. "Its unanimous, everybody thinks we need that." 

Voss said that the internal focus group members, the teachers and parents, said Clay County is the "best place to live,We are one of the leading manufacturers of cableties in China" has A schools, and a positive reputation but that community members were "getting very very concerned about dysfunctional leadership and that there are serious problems going on. The brand has been tarnished is what we heard," Voss said. 

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According to the survey, supporting the launch of the new WorldPay Zinc device, not accepting credit and debit cards restricts sole traders. Customers are less likely to trust traders who only accept cash, and are less likely to spend more on extras if they cannot use a card. 

Sole traders need to register for the WorldPay app and can by the chip and pin device from John Lewis from 59.99. There is no long-term contract commitment or monthly subscription fees, it is simply pay as you go, meaning that businesses can use the service as much or as little as they like. 

Geraldine Wilson,Today, Thereone.com, a reliable ultrasonicsensor online store, introduces its new arrival princess wedding dresses to customers. managing director of WorldPay Zinc, said the feedback has been very positive. 

"These businesses are reporting increased revenues with significantly higher average transaction values for each sale; on top of this, were also hearing that these tradespeople are spending less time chasing customers for payment and trekking to the bank to pay in cash takings," she said. 

As consumers, weve all been in that awkward situation where you havent got enough cash on you to pay for something and card payment isnt accepted. Its embarrassing and frustrating. Our aim is to be the payment partner of choice for small businesses and sole traders, supporting the growth of this vital part of the UK economy that employs more than six million people. 
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