After the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors told WPCNR, one of the two agencies would definitely be in place by mid-November, and a resolution would be on the November  8 Board of Education Agenda to engage one of the firms.

Asked how decisions would be made about the selected agency's work for the district, Connors said he would review the agency's submissions, suggestions, and strategies for implementing the School Board's goals, and, if on target, they would be presented to the Board.

Presently, the City School Budget allots $25,000 for production of the City School District Newsletter in the 2004-05 $143.8 Million School Budget.  The newsletter, formerly published four times a year, is the only district wide communication with parents and residents. This year only one newsletter was circulated (in promotion of the City School Budget in the spring). Since that time, to this reporter's knowledge,  no formal newsletter communications have been published to parents other than PTA flyers and communications from individual schools.  There is also the district-wide calendar that goes out every year.

Each member of the Board indicated they felt there was a need for the district to be more aggressive in telling the story of the school district, its successes and strengths, and indicated they  would be willing to spend considerably more than the $25,000 to do that. Terrence Schruers, Assistant Superintendent for Business said any retainer required to hire an agency could be defrayed by 30% through an arrangement with BOCES services of southern Westchester.

The District has not decided on what their overall budget for public relations materials might be in the projected $150 Million budget for 2005-06, about to begin its preparation. Connors indicated to WPCNR that the scope of the public relations effort would be shaped after the agency is hired. During the meeting, he expressed the advantage of having one of the firms interviewed on board at the district-wide goal setting meeting with national author Ron Evans, author of Family Matters, who will be conducting a goal-setting workshop for the district in November.

During the course of the meeting, the Board appeared to desire more of an identifying "brand-name" look to all district publications, while retaining an individual school flavor for the eight schools in the district. The Board also asked the agencies about the district website content presently on http://www.wpcsd.k12.ny.us. During those discussions, it was disclosed that the City School District has not updated the webstite substantially since last spring.

Discussion with Ron Edelson, principal of Zimmerman Edelson, centered on getting more favorable publicity and less damaging reporting on the City School District. Edelson said it was the district's responsibility to "get out there" and be proactive in telling their story, and to establish relationships with the media. Syntax, echoed this theme, saying the district needed to tell its story first and be preemptive on a regular basis, rather than reacting when a negative story appeared in the media. This was their response to the District's concern about the recent Westchester Magazine story on Westchester area school districts that the Board felt was unfair to White Plains. Zimmerman Edelston has a website at http://www.zimmed.com, they currently handle public relations for 20 School Districts throughout the metropolitan area.

Zimmerman Edelson would assign an account executive, create all work in-house, and advise the School District on how to handle sensitive incidents and decisions, prepare crisis reaction statements on fast-breaking events, but felt strongly that all statements should come from a high-placed official in the district, rather than conflicting statements coming from principals, board members, or administration executives who did not have all the facts. Ron Edelson said it was essential the media be kept at bay, until the School District spokesperson had the facts that were appropriate to furnish to the media.

The discussion with Syntax's Mary Brisbane and Kathy Beatty, centered primarily on preparation of materials and vehicles for accentuating the positive achievements of the school district with residents of White Plains and prospective residents. Syntax said they would hire a person to concentrate on White Plains needs exclusively, conduct complimentary focus groups, and expressed suggestions for improvements in district communications from frequent newsletters, story placements, and complete redesign of the district website, with frequent refreshing of content.  The Syntax website is at http://www.syntaxcom.com.