Although all the separate pieces have been in place for some time, the Warren County R-III School District now has a centralized, uniform communications policy.

At the October school board meeting, the board unanimously approved Plan KB.

“Policy KB is a specific outline for a new communications plan,” Klinginsmith said. “Most of those policies are outlined in other policies. Most of the language for the plan (brings it together). This will end up on our website.”

The five-point plan is laid out in detail concerning how the district will communicate with the media and its constituents.

In the document, it lists the district’s governing policy as: “The superintendent, board president, or designee will serve as official spokespersons for the district. All employees and board members will direct public or media requests for official statements about district business to the district's spokespersons. Board members should emphasize to the media and members of the public that they may speak only as individual board members unless empowered by the board to speak on its behalf. All coaches/sponsors will be allowed to communicate with the media regarding the team or players on their teams without needing consent from the superintendent.”

Other highlights of the document include district communications during emergencies, in-crisis communication, use of the district’s website and social media, and sharing information within the district and with the public.

Before the vote, Board Secretary Carolyn Spraggs asked Klinginsmith and the assembled board for clarification on the release of information.

“What defines a timely manner?” Spraggs asked.

Klinginsmith said that the document’s language could be looked at further, but that “timely manner” would depend on the type of communication necessary.

“With Sunshine (Law) requirements, we have three days,” Klinginsmith said. “We always try to work faster than that. Realistically, the expectation is 24 hours. There is no law that says 24 hours; that’s just the expectation. There really is no hard number on it as far as enforcement.”

Spraggs also questioned the wording on a portion of the social media section of the policy.

The passage reads: “The district discourages staff members from communicating with students electronically for reasons other than educational purposes. When an electronic communication is not for educational purposes, the section of this policy titled ‘Exceptions to This Policy’ applies, and if concerns are raised, the staff member must be prepared to demonstrate that the communications are appropriate. This policy does not limit staff members from communicating with their children, stepchildren or other persons living within the staff member’s home who happen to be students of the district.”

“Can we possibly get stronger wording on that?” she asked.

“We can make adjustments,” Klinginsmith said.