Today’s school board members find themselves facing a changing context that includes:
- Increased diversity in the community,
- External pressure from state and federal policies,
- A factionalized public.
How can school board members more effectively communicate with the public in these chaotic times? One way is to move from Communication 1.0, where you communicate to the public, to Communication 2.0, where you communicate with the public. School boards are used to one-way communication where they provide information to the public. However, Communication 2.0 requires dialogue, which requires the development of new skills and tools.
This list includes basic tools you can use to more effectively engage in community conversations.
Community Engagement in Wisconsin School Districts
Let WASB know when your district has engaged in your community. We'd like to include links to district web sites so that others around the state can learn from your experiences. Cashton Public Schools
The Cashton Public School District is in the process of updating its mission to reflect the needs of 21st century learners. The initial stage of the process brought community members together in a Visioning Team to learn more about how our changing world is affecting education. Phase 2 invited even more citizens to talk about Cashton in a World Café activity where citizens considered important questions. Their responses will be used by the Visioning Team to craft the new mission statement. This link takes you to Capzles, a Web 2.0 tool, that allows you to create a visual timeline.
Linking to Others Who are Interested in Community Engagement
Board Governance Consultant, Deb Gurke, presented at the Minnesota School Board Association annual conference in January 2009. The preconference session was collaboratively developed by the Minnesota School Boards Association, Minnesota Association of School Administrators, and Parent United Network. A list of community engagement resources was developed by the group to augment the preconference activities: Resources/Leading Community Conversations An article from the Minnesota Association of School Boards monthly publication, MSBA Journal recaps the meeting. Read Article (.pdf 315.08 KB)
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Board Governance 
