By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
The Michigan School Public Relations Association recently presented Otsego Public Schools with its Gold Medallion Award.
The award, which recognizes outstanding programs or projects that advance education through responsible communication, was in response to OPS’s successful Propelling Otsego Forward initiative. The goal of this initiative was to pass a bond proposal through strategic outreach and communication with key stakeholders.
Only four school districts in Michigan received a Gold Medallion Award this year.
OPS director of communications Holly McCaw, who played a pivotal role in the successful passage of the bond proposal, accepted the award on behalf of the district.
“It’s an honor and extremely gratifying to receive this award through the Michigan School Public Relations Association,” McCaw said. “This award recognizes the importance of effective, strategic communication, in this case to ensure all registered voters were provided accurate information to make an informed decision before voting.”
In presenting the award to McCaw, MSPRA board member Tom Scheidel noted that OPS successfully passed the bond despite a challenging situation.
“Not only did voters pass the bond proposal, but Otsego succeeded in its campaign despite having to shift its strategies during the peak of the campaign due to the statewide shutdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The bond, which provided funds for a new aquatics facility that is being build at the high school, replaced a Building & Site Sinking Fund that voters approved in 2017. That sinking fund provided a set amount collected through taxes each year, with the projects having been outlined in a facilities assessment completed in 2015.
“Looking ahead at the projects, and faced with the need to replace our 50-year-old pool, we switched gears and looked at the possibility of replacing that sinking fund with a bond,” McCaw said. “This would allow us to use bonds to fund the needed repairs and new facilities in a shorter amount of time.
“Because it took the place of the sinking fund, we were able to receive $22.9 million without increasing the debt levy.”
The original strategy of the Propelling Otsego Forward initiative was to reach various stakeholder groups in order to provide information about the bond. And while that strategy remained unchanged, the means by which the district reached out to these groups had to be altered due to COVID.
“We had hoped to physically meet with different groups and host in-person informational events, but when COVID hit and everything shut down, we had to look at different ways to connect with potential voters,” McCaw said.
One way the district reached out to voters was through social media.
“We increased our informational posts and hosted our community forum as a Facebook Live,” McCaw said. “If we couldn’t host it in person, this was one way we could reach others. It turned out to be a great part of the campaign and we were still able to answer questions in real time.
“The Vote Yes Committee also increased its social media presence and posts to reach more people.”
The district also added advertising to the plan and added a mailing to all district residents. This mailing not only stated the facts of the bond proposal, but also included information on how absentee ballots/voting worked given that the state had mailed an absentee ballot request to all registered voters in the wake of the pandemic.
“With the voting process shifting to almost entirely absentee we also realized we likely had a larger voter potential,” McCaw said. “We also knew that was new for some people, so we wanted to be sure they understood that process, as well.”
McCaw said the successful passage of the bond proposal resulted from the hard work of many individuals.
“This was truly a group effort and we were very pleased that so many people wanted to step forward and be a part of it,” she said. “We had representatives from all stakeholder groups, from young professionals to parents to staff to senior citizens who are dedicated supporters of our district. We wanted to be sure to get the information out to as many people as possible to emphasize the benefits and importance of this proposal to our school and community.”
The entries for the Golden Medallion Award are judged on the clarity of concept, good writing and evidence of using the four-step public relations process known as RPIE: Research, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation.
