Be prepared for the media to call and/or arrive at your school during a crisis. Consider:
- Every crisis has a “window of opportunity” in which its negative impact can be lessened. This may be as few as 12 or as many as 48 hours, depending on the emergency. Early on, it is vital that the school and/or school board address the issues, offer sensitive and thoughtful responses to staff, students, families AND media that addresses the crisis or emergency response.
- Provide information to staff and students first, when possible. Reporters/journalists will often be aggressive during a crisis and persistent with their requests. Relationships with your school community will be maintained most effectively during and after a crisis if you communicate with them before doing media interviews or sharing information with reporters/journalists.
- Identify a media spokesperson immediately. Anticipate reporters’ questions and establish a protocol for how to handle media inquiries and access to the school.
- Never speak before you know what you want to say and how much you can say. This sounds obvious, but announcing inaccurate information during a crisis is a common mistake because of the urgency to “get information out there.”
- Rely on template materials that you can easily adapt when a crisis hits. For example, a frequently used communication vehicle in a crisis situation is the Dear Families letter. This is typically sent home the first day to inform parents of the situation and to ensure that all are receiving the same information. However, developing a letter when you are trying to manage a crisis is difficult. Many school boards have existing templates that you can rely on. Contact your Communications Officer to find out if these are available at your school board.
(Source: National School Public Relations Association Resource: Principals in the Public: Engaging Community Support)