By Aiden ArmstrongCharter schools depend on their students, families, staff and communities to offer support for their educational missions. When something unexpected occurs that could potentially damage their reputation or image, it can feel like a crisis for everyone involved, especially those who know that the school is truly not to blame. When this happens, charter school crisis communications become important. Let’s look at what this means, and how you can support your local charter schools in their ongoing efforts to improve education and the lives of students everywhere.
What is Crisis Communication
Crisis communication is, simply put, communications that help to pull an organization or entity out of crisis. To expand, this means that a business, organization or in this case a school has faced an occurrence or circumstance that has led to a potential backlash or outcry from the community or supporting backers, and needs protection to continue functioning. This protection can range from anti-defamation legal action to communication with lenders, backers and shareholders to public relations campaigns to return focus to the positive aspects of the organization. For schools under charter agreements, this is handled by charter school crisis communication specialists.
How Can I Help Protect My Local Charter School?
If you are interested in supporting and protecting your local charter school from situations like these, the best thing to do is get involved early and stay active in your involvement as often as possible. Do this by donating to activities and fundraisers, supporting athletic and academic events, helping with community outreach programs or simply embracing charter school families in your community. If you feel there is more that can be done, contact a charter school communications organization and inquire. Yours just might be the voice that needs to be heard to protect your local school and its students!
