The Newsletter for School Communicators - July, 2025

Volume 2: Superintendent Resigns Following News Report ⎮Evaluating the Social Media Posts of 18 Districts in One PA County⎮The Crisis Communications "Brew"-haha⎮ When to Stop Talking During an Interview ⎮Going Above and Beyond

Author

Brad Sattin
July 07, 2025

Welcome School Communicators

We’re off and running! Welcome to the second edition of The Warning Bell, a free monthly online newsletter for school superintendents, administrators, and communications specialists across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and beyond.

We’re thrilled to say that not only will we have a booth at the National School Public Relations Annual Seminar in Washington, D.C. this month, we’ll also be assisting with media training for several dozen teams of school superintendents and their public relations professionals at the Leadership in School Communication Program. If you’re attending this year’s event, please stop by our booth and say hi!

In the meantime, our subscriber list is growing, so please share our subscription link to your fellow communicators. It’s free! Thanks for reading, and if you have story ideas, let us know!

ANALYSIS: One Week. Eighteen School Districts. 172 Social Media Posts.

An analysis of how school districts in one Pennsylvania county utilized social media during one week in March.

For years, we’ve been beating the social media drum that schools and government agencies have access to their own dedicated “newsrooms” to showcase achievements, communicate information and build public trust. Many are doing an amazzzzzing job. (Others? Well ...) We randomly chose a county in Pennsylvania and ran the social media numbers for one week on all eighteen school districts. And one district really stood out.

 CASE STUDY: The Starbucks “Brew”haha. A short webinar on effective crisis communications. 

In 2018, a Starbucks manager in Philadelphia called the police on two black men because they were sitting in the store without ordering anything. The event sparked a week of crisis communications cleanup by top leaders of the coffee chain, and their response offers key insights into what and what not to do when your organization’s reputation is on the line.

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: Superintendent Resigns One Day After News Report

We’d been following the case of a California school superintendent who was under fire for the amount of cross-country traveling she did to professional development conferences. We even created a short social media video about it (see below). Turns out, the day after the news report aired, she announced her resignation. Now the school district is in cleanup mode.

VIDEO BOOT CAMP: Nervous? Stop Talking!

As the saying goes, silence is golden. This also applies when you’re being interviewed on TV! Want to make your on-camera insights more meaningful? Then stop talking. (What?!) See what we mean in this month’s 2-minute Video Spotlight.

THE SOFTER SIDE: Going Above and Beyond

Good things happen in schools every day. Here’s one:

As a high school principal was mowing his lawn one day, he thought about the teachers who made impressions on him as a child.

Then it hit him. He knew what he had to do for his 443 graduating seniors. A local tv reporter caught wind of it, and before long, the principal was sitting on the set of “The Today Show”. 

Coming Next Month

With so many ways to get information, is local tv news still relevant? Do I really need to call that local reporter back? In an era of “fake news”, can I even trust what’s reported? The latest local news survey might surprise you. (Hint: local news has changed, but it’s still very much alive.)

HOW CAN WE HELP?

We offer a variety of in-person and virtual school district training curriculums for the 2025-2026 school year that work with your schedule and budget. 

Topics include:

▷ The Case for Media & Crisis Communications Training in Schools

▷ Controlling Your Narrative: Getting Positive Publicity

▷ Managing the Media (and Your Expectations)

▷ Preparing Effective Messaging and Talking Points

▷ Building a Crisis Communications Plan Before You Need It

▷ Navigating a Crisis When It Hits

▷ Video Performance: Looking & Sounding Your Best

▷ On-Camera Media Training: One-on-One with Veteran Reporters

Our Media and Crisis Communications training may count toward professional development hours with the PA Department of Education and in other states.

Focus Media Services has been awarded a contract with PCA, the Purchasing Cooperative of America. If your school district is a PCA member, we already have a contract with you.

Focus Media Services, LLC
24 Veterans Square
Media, PA 19063
o (610) 269-0278

Need immediate assistance? Email [email protected]