Mobilizing in-house support

 

April 2017

 

By Madelynn Coldiron

Staff writer

 

Henderson County Schools’ employees were briefed on the district’s nickel tax in the spring and again when school started in the fall before the November 2015 election. They were given the main three talking points about the need “because people were starting to ask them questions,” Superintendent Marganna Stanley said.

Henderson County board members pitched in during the run-up to the referendum after receiving some training. “They spent weekends campaigning in their districts, knocking door to door,” paired with principals and staff members, Stanley said.

The core district group in Marion County encompassed Superintendent Taylora Schlosser, a handful of administrators and two school board members in particular. Schlosser briefly talked to staff on both closing day of 2015-16 and opening day of the following school year. “Then I made sure I educated all of my principals and my supervisors and central office staff so they knew how to answer questions out in the community,” she said. Principals also began tucking nickel tax messages into their weekly staff emails.

In Lewis County, the then-superintendent held a series of town hall meetings at each of the district’s four elementary schools, accompanied by the board members who represented those areas. The district also set up informational booths at fall parent-teacher conference nights in the run-up to the district’s referendum.