The Macomb Board of Education agreed to hire a company to produce a quarterly magazine, a monthly podcast, and a promotional video for the district, despite some concerns from community members.
The board voted 4 to 1 to approve a two-year contract with Journey12, which will be paid $90,000 per year.
Vice president Emily Sutton, Jim LaPrad, Robin Severs, and Kishor Kapale voted in favor of the agreement.
Larry Adams voted against the contract, saying he liked the idea but had to vote with his constituents.
Sutton said it could be a good morale booster and a chance for the entire school district community to hear about “the great things happening in the district.” She said it could also prove to be a good economic development tool.
Audience members at the meeting raised concerns about the cost and wondered whether the magazine could be produced in-house or locally.
Sutton acknowledged those concerns, but said the district couldn’t afford to hire a person to do the work. She said it’s a two-year commitment – if the district isn’t satisfied, it can drop the company at the end of the contract.
Kapale said he hopes Journey12 will have students work on the magazine in some capacity if there’s interest, and LaPrad said this will be an opportunity to feature students who don’t normally get the spotlight.
Board President Jill Myers and Kristin Terry were absent from the meeting.
Superintendent Patrick Twomey anticipates the first magazine issue will come out this fall, and like LaPrad, he said it will feature a variety of students.
“They find those interesting things that kids are doing, and they report on them. Things you might not expect to see necessarily,” Twomey said.
He believes the cost can be covered through local sponsorships and with money from federal ESSER and Title I grants and the Teacher Vacancy Grant program. He said the grants include community engagement components.
The superintendent said technology and local media are currently ways of reaching out to the public, but those might not reach everybody.
“And that’s why this is just one other layer that the district said, is there anything out there that maybe we can reach others who we currently aren’t reaching? And that’s really the attempt,” Twomey said.
Journey12 deals exclusively with rural school districts. Twomey said that makes them more appealing because rural districts have struggled for years to get their stories out.
He said he has followed Journey12 for quite some time, and hears from other superintendents whose communities enjoy the magazines.
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