![\"unpic\"](\"http:\/\/michaelclara.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/unpic.jpg\")
<\/a>(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Parents and children come and go at Uintah Elementary School about noon Thursday Jan. 30, 2014<\/p><\/div>\n
School board will decide
\non March 4 whether to pay Vox Creative
\nto improve SLC district\u2019s image.<\/h2>\nBy Lisa Schencker| The Salt Lake Tribune\r\nFirst Published Feb 19 2014 01:13 pm \u2022 Last Updated Feb 19 2014 10:43 pm<\/pre>\nAs fallout continues over news that dozens of kids\u2019 lunches were dumped last month because of overdue payments, Salt Lake City School District leaders have quietly decided to try to hire a public relations firm.<\/p>\n
The district issued a request for proposals from public relations firms for up to $49,999 \u2014 $1 shy of what\u2019s required for full board approval, according to the district\u2019s administrative procedures.<\/p>\n
However, the board will decide at its March 4 meeting whether to approve payments to Vox Creative, the agency selected by a district committee, if there is a bill for services at that time, said Jason Olsen, district spokesman.<\/p>\n
The deadline for companies to submit proposals was Friday. The request was not posted on the district\u2019s website but was sent to seven potential vendors, Olsen said.<\/p>\n
Heather Bennett, board vice president, said she, board president Kristi Swett and Superintendent McKell Withers made the decision to seek public relations help. It was not mentioned at a board meeting earlier this month or a board study session Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
“Many districts in the state have multiple people in public information, and we\u2019ve only got one,” Bennett said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
She said the board had considered hiring a firm years ago but decided against it. In light of the recent lunch issue as well as other questions, she, Swett and Withers decided it was time to look into it, Bennett said.<\/p>\n
“We wanted some advice fairly quickly,” she said.<\/p>\n
The district made national and international news when dozens of kids had their cafeteria lunches taken from them and\u00a0thrown away at Uintah Elementary<\/a>\u00a0last month because their parents were behind on payments. The kids were given fruit and milk instead.<\/p>\nSince then, the district has apologized and changed its procedures, pledging to only serve kids full lunches from now on and no longer talk with kids about their parents\u2019 debt. Still, the situation continues to make news as parents demand more answers about who was responsible and as district leaders continue to take action every few days.<\/p>\n
District leaders have said they\u2019re still investigating what happened, and announced this week they\u2019ll have anindependent auditor<\/a>\u00a0look into it as well.<\/p>\nUintah parent Jessica Guynn, whose daughter had her lunch thrown away, said Wednesday she wonders why the district needs to hire a PR firm.<\/p>\n
“I obviously wish the money could go toward actual education for children rather than repairing the reputation of the district,” Guynn said.<\/p>\n
Board member Michael Clara also said he feels it\u2019s not a good use of tax dollars.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re here to educate children, not worry about our image, and that could have been solved had they dealt with this honestly in the beginning,” Clara said.<\/p>\n
He called it “devious” for the district to put out a request for proposals for $1 less than what\u2019s required for full board approval. He said he wasn\u2019t aware of the request until he heard about it unofficially, not from the district.<\/p>\n
Bennett, however, said she doesn\u2019t see any significance to the $49,999 amount, and she doesn\u2019t know why that amount was chosen specifically. Plus, she noted that the board does get a list of invoices to be paid at meetings, regardless of the amount of those invoices.<\/p>\n
“If you tried to bring every RFP [request for proposal] before the board for discussion, the business of the school district would grind to a halt,” Bennett said.<\/p>\n
As for spending money on a public relations firm, she said, “We spend money on what we think we need in order to improve the overall operation of the district and sometimes that means you have to spend on things that are not directly involved in the classroom.”<\/p>\n
Olsen, the district\u2019s spokesman, makes a little more than $75,000 a year.<\/p>\n
The request for proposals seeks “public relations and information management and consultation services” to consist of tasks including crisis communication<\/p>\n
management. The request also asks proposing agencies to, “Present a detailed analysis of the most recent incident involving the Uintah lunch room incident at Uintah Elementary School.”<\/p>\n
Cheryl Snapp Conner, founder of Snapp Conner PR in South Jordan and a columnist forForbes.com,<\/a>\u00a0called the district\u2019s handling of the situation so far a “case study in horrific PR.”<\/p>\nCheryl Snapp Conner, founder of Snapp Conner PR in South Jordan and a columnist forForbes.com,<\/a>\u00a0called the district\u2019s handling of the situation so far a “case study in horrific PR.”<\/p>\nShe said the district should have apologized immediately and worked to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
Olsen did not apologize for the incident during an initial interview with the Tribune a day after it occurred, but he did apologize in a statement later that evening, saying the district had learned more since that first conversation. Then, more than a week later, the district announced it would formally change its procedures, only serving full lunches and no longer discussing debt with kids.<\/p>\n
The district and its board made news several other times as well, putting employees on leave, returning those employees from leave and announcing Tuesday night the board would arrange an independent audit.<\/p>\n
“The longer a situation winds on, the more it spirals out of control, and now even the attempts to amend the situation become part of the news,” Snapp Conner said. “It feeds on itself like a snowball.”<\/p>\n
Olsen said that\u2019s part of the reason the district wants to hire a PR firm, to see what the district did well, did poorly and where changes can be made in the future.<\/p>\n
Link to Article<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
School board will decide on March 4 whether to pay Vox Creative to improve SLC district\u2019s image. By Lisa Schencker| The Salt Lake Tribune First Published Feb 19 2014 01:13 pm \u2022 Last Updated Feb 19 2014 10:43 pm As fallout continues over news that dozens of kids\u2019 lunches were dumped last month because of overdue payments, Salt Lake City School District leaders have quietly decided to try to hire a public relations firm. The … Continue reading
As fallout continues over news that dozens of kids\u2019 lunches were dumped last month because of overdue payments, Salt Lake City School District leaders have quietly decided to try to hire a public relations firm.<\/p>\n
The district issued a request for proposals from public relations firms for up to $49,999 \u2014 $1 shy of what\u2019s required for full board approval, according to the district\u2019s administrative procedures.<\/p>\n
However, the board will decide at its March 4 meeting whether to approve payments to Vox Creative, the agency selected by a district committee, if there is a bill for services at that time, said Jason Olsen, district spokesman.<\/p>\n
The deadline for companies to submit proposals was Friday. The request was not posted on the district\u2019s website but was sent to seven potential vendors, Olsen said.<\/p>\n
Heather Bennett, board vice president, said she, board president Kristi Swett and Superintendent McKell Withers made the decision to seek public relations help. It was not mentioned at a board meeting earlier this month or a board study session Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
“Many districts in the state have multiple people in public information, and we\u2019ve only got one,” Bennett said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
She said the board had considered hiring a firm years ago but decided against it. In light of the recent lunch issue as well as other questions, she, Swett and Withers decided it was time to look into it, Bennett said.<\/p>\n
“We wanted some advice fairly quickly,” she said.<\/p>\n
The district made national and international news when dozens of kids had their cafeteria lunches taken from them and\u00a0thrown away at Uintah Elementary<\/a>\u00a0last month because their parents were behind on payments. The kids were given fruit and milk instead.<\/p>\n Since then, the district has apologized and changed its procedures, pledging to only serve kids full lunches from now on and no longer talk with kids about their parents\u2019 debt. Still, the situation continues to make news as parents demand more answers about who was responsible and as district leaders continue to take action every few days.<\/p>\n District leaders have said they\u2019re still investigating what happened, and announced this week they\u2019ll have anindependent auditor<\/a>\u00a0look into it as well.<\/p>\n Uintah parent Jessica Guynn, whose daughter had her lunch thrown away, said Wednesday she wonders why the district needs to hire a PR firm.<\/p>\n “I obviously wish the money could go toward actual education for children rather than repairing the reputation of the district,” Guynn said.<\/p>\n Board member Michael Clara also said he feels it\u2019s not a good use of tax dollars.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re here to educate children, not worry about our image, and that could have been solved had they dealt with this honestly in the beginning,” Clara said.<\/p>\n He called it “devious” for the district to put out a request for proposals for $1 less than what\u2019s required for full board approval. He said he wasn\u2019t aware of the request until he heard about it unofficially, not from the district.<\/p>\n Bennett, however, said she doesn\u2019t see any significance to the $49,999 amount, and she doesn\u2019t know why that amount was chosen specifically. Plus, she noted that the board does get a list of invoices to be paid at meetings, regardless of the amount of those invoices.<\/p>\n “If you tried to bring every RFP [request for proposal] before the board for discussion, the business of the school district would grind to a halt,” Bennett said.<\/p>\n As for spending money on a public relations firm, she said, “We spend money on what we think we need in order to improve the overall operation of the district and sometimes that means you have to spend on things that are not directly involved in the classroom.”<\/p>\n Olsen, the district\u2019s spokesman, makes a little more than $75,000 a year.<\/p>\n The request for proposals seeks “public relations and information management and consultation services” to consist of tasks including crisis communication<\/p>\n management. The request also asks proposing agencies to, “Present a detailed analysis of the most recent incident involving the Uintah lunch room incident at Uintah Elementary School.”<\/p>\n Cheryl Snapp Conner, founder of Snapp Conner PR in South Jordan and a columnist forForbes.com,<\/a>\u00a0called the district\u2019s handling of the situation so far a “case study in horrific PR.”<\/p>\n Cheryl Snapp Conner, founder of Snapp Conner PR in South Jordan and a columnist forForbes.com,<\/a>\u00a0called the district\u2019s handling of the situation so far a “case study in horrific PR.”<\/p>\n She said the district should have apologized immediately and worked to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n Olsen did not apologize for the incident during an initial interview with the Tribune a day after it occurred, but he did apologize in a statement later that evening, saying the district had learned more since that first conversation. Then, more than a week later, the district announced it would formally change its procedures, only serving full lunches and no longer discussing debt with kids.<\/p>\n The district and its board made news several other times as well, putting employees on leave, returning those employees from leave and announcing Tuesday night the board would arrange an independent audit.<\/p>\n “The longer a situation winds on, the more it spirals out of control, and now even the attempts to amend the situation become part of the news,” Snapp Conner said. “It feeds on itself like a snowball.”<\/p>\n Olsen said that\u2019s part of the reason the district wants to hire a PR firm, to see what the district did well, did poorly and where changes can be made in the future.<\/p>\n Link to Article<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" School board will decide on March 4 whether to pay Vox Creative to improve SLC district\u2019s image. By Lisa Schencker| The Salt Lake Tribune First Published Feb 19 2014 01:13 pm \u2022 Last Updated Feb 19 2014 10:43 pm As fallout continues over news that dozens of kids\u2019 lunches were dumped last month because of overdue payments, Salt Lake City School District leaders have quietly decided to try to hire a public relations firm. The … Continue reading