Trustees authorize 6-month contract with Sacramento PR firm to assist with communication to public
Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado recommended that the school board hire a Sacramento public relations firm. “When we speak about public relations it is not meant to hide or lie,” she says. “It is quite the opposite.” (Joshua Molina / Noozhawk photo) By Joshua Molina, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @JECMolina
January 31, 2021
| 7:25 p.m.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District has hired a Sacramento public relations company to help with reputation management, communications and district leadership.
The district’s $50,000 contract with Nichols Strategies LLC runs from January to June.
A critical shortage of substitute teachers during the pandemic may make it difficult for some California school districts to reopen campuses or to keep open schools already offering in-person instruction.
A sharp decline in applications for substitute teaching credentials since January, as well an exodus of already credentialed substitutes, have left some districts unable to keep classrooms open, especially as more teachers are quarantined after potential exposure to Covid-19.
Substitute pools at school districts are being drained, in part, because temporary teachers are tired of waiting to be called for the scarce jobs available during distance learning or are uncomfortable with the technology required. Some substitutes in districts that have reopened campuses fear returning to the classroom during the pandemic or can’t find child care for children who are home half the week in hybrid instruction.