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Selling parents on Laguna Salada
Well, I'll be go to jello. According to last
week's Tribune, the Laguna Salada school district is hiring some folks
to "market" the district's services, because enrollment continues to decline.
Please understand. I believe in marketing, most of the time. I spent a
large amount of my working life doing my best to help businesses market
their products and services.
At some point in my early years in Pacifica there were more than 10,000
kids in Laguna Salada Schools. The biggest problems faced by the district
were double sessions, building schools, hiring teachers, and of course,
dealing with the problems of being a low wealth school district undergoing
rapid growth. I don't know, nor do I really care, how many pupils are
enrolled today. I believe the figure is well under 4000.
Marketers talk about "universes." The particular universe here is that
group of young people living in Pacifica who are of elementary and junior
high age. I think it's abbreviated as "K-8." Most are already enrolled
in LSUSD schools. Of the remainder, some are in Good Shepherd Catholic
and some are in Alma Heights Academy. These are fine schools, and the
children in them are there because, for the most part, their parents want
them to receive an education public schools in California are forbidden
to give. LSUSD cannot legally allow pupils to pray aloud, nor is the district
permitted to advocate and encourage a strong belief in the Christian God
during classroom discussions. Parents who enroll their children in religious
schools pay a heavy price. Not only do they pay large tuitions, they continue
to pay their full share of taxes for the public schools. There have even
been attempts to charge Pacifica's religious schools themselves particular
taxes especially intended solely for the benefit of nearby public schools.
I assume Laguna Salada would not spend roughly $100,000 to persuade parents
to yank their kids out of Alma Heights and Good Shepherd. These schools
give Pacifica parents a choice, and I must assume Laguna Salada trustees
are pro-choice. That leaves only children who either don't attend school
at all, are home-schooled, or attend public or private schools outside
of Pacifica. Before we make an effort to sell the parents of these children,
we need to know how many of these children there are and more importantly,
why their parents are willing to spend so much money and effort. If there
are a hundred such children, marketing will cost $1000 each. If there
are 500 such children, marketing costs will be $200 per child, but if
500 kids leave Pacifica each morning to escape Laguna Salada's net, we
need to know why. I seriously doubt parents who may be spending several
thousand dollars per child per year to escape the clutches of Laguna Salada
will be persuaded to return by advertising slogans or similar sales efforts.
If the parents of 25 such children are persuaded to enroll them in our
local public schools, the cost of acquisition will be $4000 each. If those
25 pupils spend an average of four years in Laguna Salada schools, cost
of acquiring each pupil will be about $1000 per year.
If I was a Laguna Salada trustee, I'd rather spend that $100,000 improving
curriculum or hiring librarians. Parents who currently invest as much
as five or 10 thousand dollars a year for out of town schools (plus transportation)
obviously believe strongly they are doing something important for their
children's futures. A few ads, or meeting a principal face to face, is
unlikely to change their minds.
Paul Azevedo's opinions are his own, and do not necessarily coincide
with those of this newspaper. He can be reached by e mail at Paul@thereactor.net.
Check his website at http://www.thereactor.net.
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