Kansas City, Missouri School District « Sturges Word Communications

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Client:	Kansas City, Missouri School District
Program:	Stakeholder engagement and community relations

Challenge
The Kansas City, Missouri School District is an urban district with a national reputation for organizational challenges, high leadership turnover and low test scores. In 2008, the district parted ways with another superintendent, and began its search for a new leader. Many political and community leaders believed that this would be the district’s last chance to turn things around before a state takeover. This turnaround would take place as the recession began, tax revenues plummeted and enrollment continued to decline.

Solution
Sturges Word was engaged to help the district with several public involvement programs, including:

Developing and supporting the communications program surrounding the superintendent search and selection process.

Helping to organize, promote and manage the community stakeholder meetings with the two finalists for superintendent.

Helping to organize, promote and manage the community stakeholder meetings held in fall 2009 to gather initial input for the district’s “Right-Sizing” plan to close nearly half of its schools.

Designing visual aids and informational materials used for the winter 2010 public forums on the district’s Right-Sizing initiative.

Results
In May 2009, Dr. John Covington was selected as the district’s next superintendent. Both his selection and the process through which he was chosen were met with overwhelmingly positive responses from the public and media. The superintendent’s painful but necessary proposal to “Right-Size” the district by closing nearly half of its schools was adopted by the school board, and the data-driven, transparent way in which he executed the program was applauded by the community and media.