"It's None Of Your Business" Communication Disaster

Written October 4, 2011

Recently while doing research on two Ohio HS athletic conferences we discovered that public school administrators did not think it was there responsibility to answer questions about possible changes in their membership.

The reason we asked for information was due to an article that was written by a local newspaper. Here is why we wrote them:

XXXXXXXX City Schools Superintendent XXXXX XXXXXXX, like the AD, said never say never when it comes to a change. “We’re concerned and we think we have to be proactive,” Superintendent said. “Our No. 1 goal is to stay in Conference 1. But we feel we have to bring in some schools more comparable to our size. We have been in Conference 1 a long time and I don’t want to see Conference 1 go by the wayside, but I don’t want to see XXXXX XXXXXX, XXXXX and XXXXXX right now. We are in the state in inquiry to find out what our options are right now.

“We have a meeting scheduled with Conference 2. They would like to talk to us and we would like to listen. We are not making any commitments right now.”

First email went out to all Superintendents, Principals and Athletic Directors and we also sent it to the Conference Commissioner in both conferences. No reply on the first two emails sent out, finally on the third one conference AD said to ask the Commissioner. We at least got a reply from someone. Again no reply from the Commissioner, not even a "leave us alone" note.

Finally I sent another email and asked for some type of reply and I did probably upset them when I asked, "how would you feel if you asked a student question and they did not reply after so many times being asked?".

This time I get one email from each conference involved in the article above -

Our initial Question - (Conference 1)

I understand that Conference 1 had a meeting on the future of the conference. I would appreciate an update and a statement.
We would like to confirm the information we have been told.

Email reply -

There is nothing to tell you. When we have information we will share it from our commissioner. We do not see the need to fill you in on our monthly meetings. Again, when there is something to report we will distribute the information to various news organizations through our commissioner.

Our initial Question - (Conference 2)

We would appreciate information on the story from the XXXXXX XXXXXX that talks about Conference 2 discussing XXXX's membership for the future. Plus, we have also been told that XXXXXX has also expressed an interest in joining Conference 2 as well.
If possible can you tell us if this meeting has taken placed or is it scheduled for a future date. How many schools are being considered and if a vote will take place at that time or in the future. We have heard that a 75% vote is needed to accept any new member. Any details would be appreciated.

Email reply from a Conference AD -

I feel that it would be within my realm to let you know that the reason you have not received an "update" is that there is nothing to update. For the Conference to be expected to respond to every rumor and innuendo posted on some random blog or overheard in the bleachers would be both time-consuming and ineffective for each of us, who often hold multiple positions within our Districts.

At this point, that affiliation structure has not changed, nor has the Conference announced any potential change to the affiliation. If any change were to be made in regard to Conference structure, rest assured that the NCC will appropriately announce it as we always have. In the future, I would appreciate you not dispersing false accusations about our schools.

I work with a lot of High Schools and Colleges on conference issues facing them. I will say many don't like it when you ask about details that you are trying to verify, why I don't know. If I was asking about a change in the English program at the school and the advantages of it, I know I would get a quick reply to that. So why in the world do schools and conferences not want to talk about changes facing them in the future. Is it a secret? If so, public schools be aware you are bordering on some legal issues. The State of Ohio says that emails sent from a school email address may constitute a public record, and therefore may be available upon request in accordance with Ohio public records law. (ORC 149.43) This is how the media was given access to Ohio State's records on possible expansion.

All of the issues that come from this including the reply I received above -

For the Conference to be expected to respond to every rumor and innuendo posted on some random blog or overheard in the bleachers would be both time-consuming and ineffective for each of us, who often hold multiple positions within our Districts.

A simple statement from the conference or commissioner would put out the "fire" on any question about the process. It is rather amusing that part of the statement says...

to respond to every rumor and innuendo posted on some random blog or overheard in the bleachers would be both time-consuming and ineffective for each of us

...just the statement above tells me there is a problem, how many requests do they receive on this? The main reason they are getting questions? Lack of communication, during this entire process on possible changes was only a local newspaper article that quoted both the Superintendent and AD's saying they were looking at a possible move. Again...the solution would have been to send out a statement to the media and not avoid the issue. In this case "silence" is not golden.

The school who was quoted in the newspaper article is to blame in part, this information should have come out at a school board meeting or in a forum controlled by the conference or school, not in a newspaper article. To backside those you are working with can cause some "trust" issues in the future. In this case two conferences were effected.

I also work with many other conferences who do a great job of keeping you updated on events and also find time to answer your questions. Communications works and helps to kill rumors and makes it easier for the schools to move forward without constant issues and rumors arising.

It takes a lot less time to be open on these issues then to try to keep them as a secret.

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