Comments on: More information about The Concordian plan

By: Alma (MGParent)

Alma (MGParent) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:27:32 +0000

Lots of information I didn’t have yet, good comparison. Thanks!

By: tharrington

tharrington — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:03:17 +0000

Yes, usually the date is included in a Public Records Act request, along with any other address information (such as cc’s).
I don’t know if there was a written response, but some district officials did meet regarding the plan.

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:51:52 +0000

Isn’t the date important ? How about who the email was cc to ? Was there a response to the email ?

By: tharrington

tharrington — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:03:47 +0000

I agree that it looks like an e-mail. However, the subject line, date and return address were left off in the copy I received.

I am not saying that it is a “big deal” or a “problem.” I initially blogged about it because I was surprised the superintendent didn’t include any information about it in his written staff report, before engaging trustees in a discussion about it. Since the letter was only sent to Trustee Gary Eberhart, it’s unclear whether the other trustees knew about it.

By: anon

anon — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:49:07 +0000

not that it matters, but that “letter” looks like it was probably an email. I don’t have a problem with it. In fact when my kids were in elementary we got the Times home…. (this was years ago). SO what’s the big deal? What’s the Times (or your) problem with this?

By: tharrington

tharrington — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 01:37:33 +0000

Here is the original letter from The Concordian outlining its plan, which I received after submitting a Public Records Act request to the district.

It is undated, but notes that it was sent only to Trustee Gary Eberhart, rather than to the entire board, before the newly elected trustees were sworn in.

It requests a January 2011 start date and estimates district revenues would total $5,000 per year, paid in monthly increments, but notes that the ad quantity or ad rates could increase, since advertisers “would want to reach families directly.” It places no conditions on how the district would spend the revenues.

“Hi Gary,
I’ve been meaning to fire this off your way for some time but things keep getting in the way. I wanted to know whether this idea (below) is something you think would be worthy to present to the Board, and if so the best way to get this going.
The idea is simple:
1) Generate positive PR for the MDUSD
2) Generate revenue for some MDUSD programs
1) For me the benefit is reaching a wider audience
2) Having some solid content.
Basically the plan is to have 4 pages (minimum) in each issue of The Concordian that is devoted to the MDUSD (public education). The content of the 4 pages (minimum one color page) would cover elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and what is happening at sites; featured students; recap of the Board Meetings, articles on things happening such as Solar Implementation, Budget issues etc, as well as listing any school or district fundraisers and commentaries. The content would be worked out ahead between us. you’ve had enough experience with me to know where I stand and my thoughts.
I would sell advertising on each of the 4 (or more) pages that would not dominate more than a quarter page per page of content – likely small ad boxes. Of the advertising I would donate 20% of the revenue from those pages to the district – no conditions although it seems appropriate to direct it at certain programs in need of funds. The rest offsets the cost of added printing and layout design, payroll etc.
There would be NO COST and NO WORKLOAD for the district. In return I would ask permission to have a copy of The Concordian sent home with each elementary school student (monthly) – we would deliver to the sites with district authorization to have teachers send home), and we would leave a stack at each middle and high school (since sending home would be less practical to enforce.)
Any advertising would be in standard with decency, which we would do anyway. Certainly I am okay with having school district approval of those ads ahead of time if needed.
I anticipate that the revenue from the ad on those 4 pages to be approximately $2500, so the district share at 20% would be about $500 per issue times ten issues a year, or $5000 per school year. This number can increase as the ad quantity or ad pages or ad rates increase – I forsee that advertisers would want to reach families directly. Each month The Concordian would cut a check to the district for the percentage amount generated. Easy enough to track that. I would like to build on this to get the cash amount higher, however I anticipate it taking a few months to get people familiar with the concept.
Since The Concordian is very popular among readers, it seems to be an excellent vehicle to get information home. It would help promote the district in ways that the CCTimes cannot or won’t do, while also helping The Concordian directly reach many readers.
I’d like to know if you think this to be a valid idea, and if so how you suggest that I proceed to get this approved? I would like to get things in motion if this is a valid suggestion. If so I would aim for a January 2011 start.
Let me know your thoughts, questions, ideas and opinions when you get a chance. I have only sent this to you rather than across the board as a whole. It seems to be me that presenting it before the change over might make more sense, that is if you consider it worthwhile.
I hope all is well with you. How’s the job coming along?
Regards,
Andre’”

By: tharrington

tharrington — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:49:10 +0000

In response to a January editorial by The Concordian, I would like to point out that I did not write that the newspaper would receive subscription revenues. I wrote that The Concordian would receive the value of subscription revenues, without actually having to sell subscriptions, because students would deliver the papers.
Also, it is our policy to correct inaccurate information online. I clearly informed readers that changes were made in my original post for this reason.

By: tharrington

tharrington — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:40:42 +0000

The editor of The Concordian states: “What I did was submit a letter with an offer for discussion to see whether there was any interest and what the obstacles would be in order to make a formal proposal.” He did not disclose the recipient of the letter.
Since Lawrence brought the issue up at the board meeting, I assumed he had the letter. His secretary told me she asked Lawrence about this, but that Lawrence said he did not have any letter from The Concordian. She said she would try to find out if Eberhart had it.
I don’t know if any trustees had it. I also don’t know who participated in the discussion between the district and The Concordian.
If the district has such a letter, it should have been included in the staff report so that all trustees, as well as the public, would have a clearer idea of what is being proposed.

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:31:03 +0000

Do I have this straight ? The Concordian Editor says he sent a letter to MDUSD about revenue sharing and Lawrence denied getting the letter ? Was a copy of the letter shared with the Trustees ? Here we go again — who knew what and when did they know it ? Concordiangate. Maybe the new trustee’s will tell us the truth.