When the News Trucks Show Up — Crisis Communications That Earn Trust

I’ve been in the room when the news trucks show up. I’ve watched board presidents walk into a press conference with no script, no preparation, and no idea what they’re about to say. I’ve watched superintendents take questions without the board’s authorization. I’ve watched school board members go on live television and contradict each other in real time.

Every one of those situations made the crisis worse. Not because the district did something wrong. Because the district didn’t have a crisis communications protocol.

Here’s what I’ve learned: a crisis reveals your board’s communication habits. If you communicate poorly in normal times, you will communicate disastrously in a crisis. The protocol you build before the crisis is the only protocol that works during it.

Single Board Voice.

In a crisis, the board speaks through exactly one person. That person is designated in advance. It is not the loudest board member. It is not the one who’s been on television before. It is the person the board has agreed will speak for them.

The superintendent speaks for the administration. The board president or designee speaks for the board. Those are the only two voices. Every other board member directs inquiries to the designee. Every staff member directs inquiries to the superintendent’s office.

I worked with a district where a board member gave an interview to a local television station during a budget crisis — without the board’s knowledge, without coordination with the superintendent, and without the communications director present. The story was accurate. But it contradicted the message the board president had given the same station the day before. The headline wasn’t about the budget. It was about board disunity.

The Message Triangle.

Every crisis communication should fit on a napkin. Three points.

Point one: What happened. In plain English. No jargon. No “we’re committed to providing a safe and equitable learning environment.” Just the facts.

Point two: What we’re doing about it. Specific actions. Timelines. Who’s responsible.

Point three: What the community can expect next. Next communication date. Next board meeting. Next milestone.

A board in Ohio taught me this. When a bus accident made national news, the board president went on camera within four hours. She said: “At 7:14 this morning, a bus carrying 42 elementary students was involved in an accident on Route 42. All students have been taken to area hospitals. We have activated our emergency response team. The superintendent will provide an update at 6 PM tonight. We will hold a special board meeting at 7 PM tomorrow. All updates will be posted at the district website. That’s what I know. That’s what we’re doing. That’s what you can expect.”

Forty-two seconds. Everything the community needed to know.

Predictable Schedule.

The worst thing you can do in a crisis is go silent. The second worst thing is to communicate randomly. Both create the same signal: we don’t know what’s happening.

Commit to a schedule. “We will provide an update every day at 4 PM until this situation is resolved.” Then do it. Even if the update is “We have no new information.” Especially if the update is “We have no new information.”

One board I worked with after a superintendent resignation sent out a daily email for fourteen days. Most days the update was three sentences. But the community knew when to expect it. By the end, the community trusted the board’s communication more than the local news coverage. That’s the goal.

The Hardest Part.

The hardest part of crisis communications is telling the truth when the truth looks bad. I’ve watched boards try to spin their way through a crisis. I’ve never seen it work. The community knows more than you think they know. And they will forgive a bad situation that’s honestly communicated far faster than a manageable situation that’s mishandled.

Reply Crisis for a free Crisis Communications One-Page Guide — a template for your board’s designated spokesperson protocol, message triangle worksheet, and crisis communication schedule.

Part of the Community Engagement & Trust Strategic Communications Week. Start the series at effectiveschoolboards.com/newsletter.