Tuba PR

Not very often do you see a school district’s PR person calling for the resignation of the district superintendent, and threatening to launch a recall of school board members if they don’t fire the superintendent.   All while creating quite a media circus in the process.

That’s what’s happening within the Tuba City Unified School District (www.tcusd.k12.az.us), a client of ours. 

Public relations people are often called upon to speak on behalf of the organizations or individuals they work for or represent.  They often serve as the face of their respective organizations – in good times and in bad times.

Rarely do you see the PR person actually create those “bad times” and then comment on them quite freely in the press.  The media is powerful – even when it is “misused.”

Not sure I’ve ever seen such a role reversal as I have on this particular case.  

Seems odd to me that a district employee who’s essentially responsible for guarding and maintaining the image of the district, would proactively go to the media, behind her bosses’ backs, and make serious accusations about the superintendent and members of the school board.   Then to compound the situation, the reporter made but one unsuccessful attempt to “get the other side of the story” before going to print with such an inflammatory article that may result in a defamation law suit.

There are some serious low blows being thrown:  A spokesperson representing a school district — an educational entity — publicly calling the university where the superintendent earned his doctorate a “diploma mill?”   So much for promoting education.  Then telling the press she is investigating the procedure for having the superintendent “banned from the Navajo Reservation by the tribe?”  So much for constitutional rights.

Sounds like a personal attack to me. 

And the presidential elections aren’t until November.