10 Communication Challenges We’re Hearing from School Leaders

Introduction

We’ve had a wonderful late spring connecting with school leaders, communication directors, and family engagement program specialists to discuss school communication. We’ve met leaders from both public and private schools, some representing K-12 schools and others leading middle and high schools.

Each leader brings a unique perspective on the most outstanding issues and key areas of school communication in their school. Collectively, we can map the common issues many schools face. Here is the list of common school communication issues leaders are sharing with us.

#1. No Communication Oversight

The lack of oversight of communication is perhaps the most striking theme in our discussions with school leaders. Many leaders describe a scattered landscape in which school communication has branched out into various apps and systems, initiated by teachers, coaches, and parents. It is apparent that these communication systems have been beneficial for message sending and keeping parties informed, yet school leaders struggle to know where communication occurs and how to oversee it.

Communication has become uncoordinated and unofficial, making required oversight difficult, and in some instances, nearly impossible. Yet school leaders are under increased pressure to oversee all communication, some of which is guided by local guidelines and policies.

School leaders are turning to unified school communication providers such as School Signals to request a single platform for all communication and the ability to oversee it. Oversight depends on the school; some schools want to retain all messages, including deleted ones, and limit parent communication to a professional context only, with the teacher or administrator included in the messaging group.

#2. District Communication is Separated from School Communications

Parents get school communication from the school district and from their child’s school, but this communication is not always coordinated. District announcements, important events, and dates are often published on the district-level website, but are not referenced or reminded in everyday school communication.

School leaders are looking for unified systems that keep district and school calendar events in sync, without additional workload for school administrators, and that maintain a cohesive experience for families.

#3 Isolated Communication Experience by Teachers

Traditionally, teachers have had to organize communication methods and systems for teacher-parent communication. Whether downloading a messaging app, relying on TPT-purchased paper templates, or simply using email and phone, teachers have options, but many are semi-official and not recorded in school policies and communication plans.

When school leaders encounter unified school communication platforms, they recognize the scattered landscape of teacher-parent communication and how designated communication hubs help bridge the gap between school and home by inviting families into the shared communication space. And, this spring, we have noticed that when teachers are also included in the demos of unified school communication platforms such as School Signals, they quickly recognize the value of classroom communication for parents, where all information lives in one place, whether a form, document, curriculum update, or classroom events and volunteering.

While teachers are not typically the buyers of school communication platforms, getting their feedback is invaluable to ensure all stakeholders feel the platform helps them, rather than burdens them with an additional chore.

#4. Scattered Athletics Communication

After-school clubs and athletics programs are a fabric of American school life. Whether at a tight-knit K12 private school or a large high school, athletic programs are part of school life, and parent involvement is needed to coordinate pickups, game schedules, volunteer needs, uniform requirements, and required athletics forms.

The athletics landscape in schools is all over the place. Athletic directors and coaches handle most of the communication, often resorting to additional apps and systems outside school communication networks. This results in a lack of oversight for school leaders, greater difficulty for school administrators in supporting communication, and an increased burden on parents to register and use another communication app.

School leaders are requesting oversight of all communication, including athletics, while athletics directors prefer to use a system parents already use. In high schools, both school leaders and athletic directors express the need for students to receive at least some communication on their phones, even though students’ mobile phone use may be limited during instructional time.

#5. Uncoordinated Volunteering Opportunities

Most schools run some volunteer opportunities for parents and families. The formality of these opportunities may range from a quick request to contribute to an official step-by-step process that requires a background check, attending training, and signing up officially.

School leaders do not have clear systems in place for facilitating volunteering. From replacing third-party, hard-to-find sign-up links to systemizing background check management, school leaders want to unify processes under a single system. When a volunteer listing is created, a smart system can check if the parent has submitted an adequate background check before approving the sign-up. This level of usability is not possible when outsourcing system sign-up to third-party providers.

#6. Isolated PTO Communication

Involved and engaged parents are an integral part of fostering positive school cultures. Most schools have an active PTO, but how parents communicate about PTO meetings and events, and where PTO documents are posted, is often left to the PTA/PTO leaders to figure out. Sure, the school website may host some information and links, but it is hardly a place for all PTO information, volunteer sign-up links, online forms, and donation requests.

The culture of having parents just to handle their teacher appreciation work and fundraising, with limited support from the school organization, is a common theme.

When school leaders see integrated parent group tools for PTOs and PTAs, they recognize the added value of unified communication extended to parent groups. We do not see school leaders seeking tools for PTOs; however, we do see PTO leaders recognizing the value of unified communication and referring school leaders to systems like ours.

#7. Challenges Managing School Forms and Parent Responses

Managing various online forms and systematically collecting information is an ongoing challenge for schools. Third-party forms, such as Google Forms, are often accessible via a public link, allowing anyone to access questions intended only for the school community. If you Google school feedback form, elective forms, or volunteer forms, you will see search engines picking these forms for anyone on the Internet to access.

Another commonly mentioned problem is the lack of sharability of form results. School leaders do not have oversight to view all school forms, view submissions, automate reminders, or download reports. Unified school communication systems that include built-in online form-building and publishing tools help leaders manage and oversee all forms and follow up when needed.

#8. The Limits of Social Media-Based School Communication

The extent to which school leaders are concerned about the lack of privacy on social media varies from school to school. Some leaders are keen on the lack of privacy, while others still see social media as a valuable forum for sharing updates. Most leaders see social media as a carefully curated platform for school outreach, and closed school communication platforms as a safer place to share pictures and videos while carefully limiting the audience.

Additionally, school leaders lack delivery reports for content posted on social media, making social media a supplemental way to communicate, often because there are no other ways to share social information and pictures.

#9. Targeted Absenteeism Reduction

School leaders bring up that absenteeism is a real issue affecting many school districts, especially middle schools and high schools. Absenteeism reduction strategies are many, one being a tighter communication between school and home. When a student has an unexcused absence, school leaders need to have a system in place to notify parents quickly and effectively. All communication must be transcribed and recorded. Over time, schools can analyze how improved communication has helped reduce absenteeism.

#10. Needs for Translated School Communication

Most school leaders recognize that providing translated communication is a requirement to establish inclusive school communication and a building block for positive school cultures. School leaders share the pain points of managing multilingual communication, especially when it includes documents and forms. They are looking for digital platforms that make it easy to translate and share school communication in parents’ home languages, without extra workload for teachers and administrators.

In school districts where a majority of families’ home language is Spanish, the need to serve families in their native language is urgent. School communication platforms that provide not just language translation but also the entire user experience, such as navigation and interfaces, in Spanish, are necessary to get parent buy-in.

Conclusion: Unified School Communication Platforms Must Solve Real Issues

We’ve shared 10 outstanding topics that school leaders raise when they share their experiences of how their schools communicate and engage with parents, and where there may be space for improved systems and processes.

The decision to move to a new platform or change existing practices is not a quick process. Even the most complex or scattered aspects of school communication have become learned processes, and changing to a new system requires buy-in and commitment from all stakeholders.

At School Signals, we offer a flexible transition to a new system, such as a quick way to sync or export accounts via SIS, and take measured steps to bring the platform district-wide. We are committed to supporting schools in adapting to communication practices that provide oversight for school leaders, convenience and clarity for teachers, and everyday ease of use for busy families who already have a lot on their plates.