When Chief District Relations Officer Bernie Rhinerson began considering a redesign of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) district and school web sites, nearly a third of the district’s 180 schools had no web site at all. Another third were developed independent of the district site and used a variety of software programs.

Rhinerson knew something had to be done about the disjointed experience for site visitors.

“A big way we communicate with stakeholders is through our web site,” Rhinerson said. “We’re no longer in a world where we print things and send them home with kids and print newsletters. The best and most cost-effective way to communicate is through our site. We do push things out through e-mail as well, but a well-designed web site is just part of an overall commitment to effectively using technology in the classroom.”

After getting bids from several companies, Rhinerson and SDUSD settled on Schoolwires to help the district undertake the massive project of redesigning its web site – complete with its new logo and brand – and using templates for each of its schools’ sites.

The next step involved Rhinerson and a group from the SDUSD communications office flying to State College, Pa., for two days of heavy training on learning Schoolwires’ system. Then, working with designers and the trainers, the group hashed out the finer points of the new site.

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The resulting site is a clean, information-packed experience that allows SDUSD a variety of ways to get information out and for visitors to find the information they need. There are featured photos and videos as well as news stories on the main page, calendar and directory modules, and flexible site shortcuts on key issues (budget crisis materials, H1N1 information, etc.).

“We think it really gives visitors to the site – and parents in particular – a better experience at every level,” Rhinerson said. “We haven’t finished every directory yet, but we have a central office directory up there – which we had never had before – and a school directory.”

Getting to work

The district has transferred six schools onto the new site so far, but hopes to have the bulk of the schools’ individual pages done by the end of the summer with all schools up and running by the end of 2010 or early in 2011.

“There were thousands of pages on our old web site, so it is a huge project,” Rhinerson said. “But now that we’ve got those first few schools on there, it will go a little faster. We think our next batch will probably be about 20 or so.”

The process involves not only setting up the site and migrating the copy, but training the responsible parties at each school on the new system. That training, however, is a painless process according to Rhinerson, who estimated it takes a couple hours to get people familiar with the system.

More Flexible Than You May Think

One of the common criticisms of going the route of a web solutions company is that the templates offer less flexibility unless the district is willing to pay for customizations. But SDUSD has had no such problems.

“Their designers were really easy to work with and really flexible,” Rhinerson said. “For example, we have rotating photos on the front page and originally it was just the photos. I wanted a headline with every photo so people would know there was a story attached. That was a special design they made for us.”

Power To the People

SDUSD has set up their site so teachers can create their own pages on their school web sites. The setup is ideal for teachers who want to post relevant information (homework assignments, upcoming dates, related educational material, etc.) and connect with their students and their students’ families in another meaningful way.

The downside, of course, is that the teachers have to want to use their pages and, at least to some degree, the pages will need to be monitored by the school to make sure the material is appropriate. If one teacher has a comprehensive page loaded with information and another teacher isn’t using his or her page, it could lead to frustrated parents.

To Advertise or Not to Advertise? That is the Question

For districts interested in following SDUSD’s route to redesign, the one hurdle to clear is the cost, which will be substantial. SDUSD will be paying around $90,000 in annual maintenance costs. Not unreasonable for such a big district, but a substantial sum when combined with the cost of the redesign process.

But Rhinerson is looking into what he believes is a valid option for not only alleviating some of that cost, but for potentially creating revenue for the district.

“We get 1.3 million visitors per month to our district site,” Rhinerson said. “As we face severe budget cuts, we have to consider monetizing those visits somehow to create much-needed revenue. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that there may come a time when you see advertisements on our home page. We obviously need control of our advertising to make sure it’s not inappropriate or inconsistent with our mission, but if there is a way to generate significant revenue, we have to look into it.”