![\"pcsd-comunications-specialist\"](\"http:\/\/www.parkrag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pcsd-comunications-specialist.png\")
<\/p>\nWe’ll\u00a0file this one under “You get what you pay for.”<\/p>\n
I was perusing\u00a0the Park Record this weekend and\u00a0noticed an ad from the Park City School District:<\/p>\n
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A\u00a0Communications Specialist may help the district, if they use the person correctly. A person with enough experience and understanding of our community can probably\u00a0find ways to educate the public on important issues and concepts the school district\u00a0is undertaking.<\/p>\n
Yet, they’ll need someone who is really good and can find\u00a0new ways to reach the public. Members of school board or the Park City School Superintendent are on the radio almost weekly. The Park Record wants to ensure the public receives information about our schools and regularly publishes school\u00a0articles … it even has an Education\u00a0section. So, the traditional media bases are already covered.<\/p>\n
In order to add benefit, this person will need to find ways to contribute that the Superintendent and school board are not currently doing. Traditionally, this sort of role would do\u00a0the following for the school district:<\/p>\n
The new Communications Specialist will have to do these things for sure, but he or she will also need to find new ways to go above and beyond.\u00a0Given that the school district is coming out of a failed bond election, where trust was a major issue, this person will need to find a way to convince the public that the school district is trustworthy again.<\/p>\n
So what does the Park City School District need? A SUPERSTAR\u00a0that will work with the superintendent, administrators, and the school board. The Communications Specialist\u00a0needs the experience to educate the district on communications\u00a0but also the confidence to ensure that her talents are actually used. If the district\u00a0doesn’t follow the suggestions of the Communications Specialist, it will be wasted time, effort, and money.<\/p>\n
This brings us back to the school district’s job description. Did you notice two key points in the description above? First, it’s part-time (20 hours per week). Second, they are paying $11-$14 per hour. From my experience, a person in charge of messaging needs a full understanding of every issue. They need to understand the motivation for our government\u00a0making decisions. They need to understand how the people will view the decision. They\u00a0then need to direct the actions of everyone involved. \u00a0Most importantly they need to be GOOD at what they do.<\/p>\n
It appears that the school district is hoping to pay someone $12K-$15K per year to do this job. Just for reference, you can make just as much (or more)\u00a0per hour ($13\/ hour) being a cashier at Papa Murphy’s Take and Bake\u00a0Pizza.<\/a>\u00a0The issue is that a GOOD Communications Specialist costs GOOD\u00a0money. If you look at what Summit County or Park City pays for a similar position, they are full-time jobs and pay at least $50K. This is likely still below market value for an experienced individual.<\/p>\n