LM Summer 2025

aren’t spending time on the internet or school websites. Mailers are tangible — they can open them, see pictures, diagrams, charts. We started this two years ago and sent four mailers for the referendum - one postcard, larger trifold and quad folds with multiple pages. We’ll do annual mailings with construction updates. We do community coffees but don’t see much non-parent attendance. I did 65 referendum sessions over 10 weeks and saw less than half a percent of taxpayers. But mailers reach almost half our taxpayers and all registered voters. You get way more reach from mailings and social media than in-person settings. IASA: Are mailers something districts can fund themselves? BC: Mailers are actually pretty inexpensive. I was pleasantly surprised by the cost. If you’re thinking about annual community mailers, it’s money well spent and well invested in long-term communication strategies. You’re guaranteed to reach people in ways you’re not guaranteed online, particularly certain generations of taxpayers not as engaged with social media and district websites. IASA: How much community response do you get from these updates? BC: It was huge. When we put out that first referendum video on Facebook and YouTube, I couldn’t go anywhere. I’d walk into Starbucks and people would say “I saw the video, I can’t believe it. You should do that referendum vote tomorrow.” It was really impactful. I think we’ll get the same viral response when we do before-and-after comparisons of completed spaces. IASA: Do you frame things as taxpayer investment and good stewardship? BC: Yes, that’s key. These are their buildings they’ve paid for with hard-earned dollars through property taxes. You have to understand what percentage of taxpayers pay what percentage of your budget. Our community is mostly homes with very little industrial and commercial base. We bring real estate agents together yearly to discuss what’s happening and what they hear from prospective buyers. People want to move here partly because there’s no industrial park or factory nearby. It’s a quiet homeowner community close to Chicago. The downside is homeowners bear a larger percentage of school district costs than in communities with industrial/commercial bases. We frame everything transparently: maintaining this community has costs. You can maintain schools at a great level or cut corners, which costs more later. Emergency

repairs from burst pipes or failed AC systems are way more costly than preventative maintenance. When you frame it as “pay now or pay much more later,” taxpayers understand and it resonates. IASA: Who handles documentation and photos? Any advice for districts without communications staff? BC: Chris Lilly handles our communications but, honestly, I can walk into a school with my cell phone, take pictures, and post to Instagram. Don’t worry about perfect quality, cameras, or shots. The community wants raw footage of what’s happening. We also get valuable support from our construction partners. Ameresco did an energy study for us showing the amount of money and energy we’re putting toward electrical systems in some schools. When we upgrade to modern, more efficient systems, they showed us exactly how our bills would change. We used that communication all the time when people wanted specifics about cost savings. Same thing with plumbing. Ameresco and our other partners do a great job running studies for us. They know the systems best and how expensive these systems are for energy usage and other public utilities. Getting that information out to the public is a big deal when we’re talking about transparency of communication. IASA: Any final thoughts on communication importance for building projects? BC: If I could give myself advice, I should have started communicating two years before the referendum with the same intensity I had 10 weeks before. You can’t take your foot off the gas with district communication. Moving forward, every year we revise our facilities plan, I want to do better bringing that to the community in every way possible. For any superintendent thinking about a referendum in a couple years, there are about 15 things you should start doing tomorrow. You have to constantly stay in communication mode, letting everyone know the exact state of buildings they own so they feel good about tax dollars they’re giving us. IASA: Thank you for sharing your story. Check out D64. org/protect-D64 for pictures and updates - a good blueprint for any superintendent with this work underway.

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14 LM Summer 2025