School district looking for new director of communications

Sarasota County Schools will not immediately seek to hire a new public relations firm following the termination of its contract with Three Six Oh PR in September.

Instead, the district is seeking to hire a communications director to oversee all communication efforts. The position has been vacant since June, when longtime director Gary Leatherman retired.

Earlier this year, Sarasota County School approved a $225,000, two-year contract with the PR firm, which was meant to help the district improve its community outreach. However, four days after it began in October, the contract was cancelled after allegations surfaced that Three Six Oh owner Candice McElyea posted comments on a local newspaper’s website on articles about Superintendent Toff Bowden, the district and the firm’s other clients.

Bowden asked McElyea to resign as the district’s PR firm after looking into the allegations.

“As a public entity I just don’t believe that those are the types of PR tools that we should be employing,” he told the Observer, adding that he believes a private firm could still provide the needed services to the district.

At an October workshop, Bowden presented three options for the district: hiring an outside communications firm that is supported by district staff, hiring a director of communications who is supported by an outside firm and district staff or hiring a director who is supported by district staff.

Board members raised concerns about having an outside firm in a leadership role, citing confidentiality issues.

“There are things in our district that are confidential, and there were things that we were asking an outside firm to do for us that were a real stretch for them,” said board member Jane Goodwin. “These people who generally do a good job in marketing, communications, public relations do not always have that understanding of education.”

Joe Binswanger, the district’s acting director of communications, agreed.

“You need a captain of that ship,” he said, adding that he supports the idea of hiring a director and then using a PR firm as needed for support services.

On Nov. 7, the school board approved a new job description for the director of communications. The updated version includes additional expectations, such as experience in electronic communication strategies and “knowledge of district, state, and federal policies, guidelines, laws, and rules related to communications.”

The position was posted to the district's website Nov. 10, and will close Nov. 27, with interviews following. The salary range for the position is $84,891 to $114,683 and is based on experience, according to a district spokesperson.

Bowden said at the October workshop after the position is filled, the new director could do research and recommend whether to hire additional internal staff or contract with another PR firm.