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Jamestown Public Schools District board members learned more about the district's efforts to spread the word about what happens in the district's classrooms.
An update on the school’s Strategic Communications Plan, led by the district's Cameron Hurst, public relations specialist, and Katie Russo, executive director of information and student services, was presented. Hurst outlined a road map for updating the plan, which he says began in the spring of 2025.
Throughout the development of the plan, there were many areas of research including school safety, student successes, district goals, leadership decisions, and finances. A School Communication Performance and Evaluation survey was conducted in October 2025 to assess the district’s practices in the eyes of staff, parents and students throughout the district.
"In 2025, we really measured ourselves up against the rubrics of suggested practice by the National School Public Relations Association," Hurst said. "We did an internal communications audit, and once we did that, we kind of measured up where we were. Then in October of last year, we assessed our practices through stakeholder feedback that was gathered through NYSPRA's School Communication Performance and Evaluation, otherwise known as the scope survey... approximately 49% rated JPS as having as having an excellent or above average perception, while 36% rated us as average, and 15% below average or very poor. "
Some areas identified for improvement included timeliness, transparency, and explaining district goals and decisions.
Russo discussed how they looked at the objectives from their data, and what some of the following steps were that were performed from the time the survey was completed to now.
"So from those four, we formed a principal communication work group of principals, assistant principals, and we had all three levels represent elementary, middle, and high school," Russo said. "We then developed a building communication survey that was given. The principals give this out to all their staff, and from that came really a couple of things. Staff want practical information. They want predictable updates and they want easy to access resources ... It’s really to just offer options and resources to each building, and take from one building something that might be working really well, and to offer it to another building that might need some improvement in that area."
Hurst continued on to say how important all of this is for not only the board, but also for the students, staff, and parents as well.
"What we’re working on now is a system that really allows for this to be a conducive and supportive strategy for us, but also continuing to reinforce the stories of students and staff who are applying their learning, contributing to their communities, and preparing for lives of consequence that we prepare them for by already demonstrating how portrait of a graduate already exists within our schools."
Other updates from Tuesday's meeting include the approval of capital project change orders and allowance draws, awarding bids for salting/snow removal, musical instruments, a school bus wash pump, as well as a renewal of a shared boys swimming agreement with Frewsburg, Falconer and Southwestern, plus the creation of Art Club at Love Elementary school.
Members of the board heard from student representatives Olivia Anderson and Alyvia Remington as they presented their ex-officio student board members’ report. Both students, along with other members of the school board, had an opportunity to attend the New York State School Boards Association's 2026 Annual Convention and Education Expo at the Buffalo-Niagara Convention Center in downtown Buffalo. They described different conference sessions that they attended, and how they showed them different ways that students can strengthen communities.
Board member Christine Schnars called the convention informative, citing presentations on creativity, as well as school law and governance, and student safety.
"They talked about letting kids be more creative," Schnars stated. "I thought it was very interesting, because I think sometimes we start to put them in little boxes and nooks and crannies, and we don’t allow the creativity to move forward."