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The High Cost of PR at CISD

by Micki Nellis

Cleburne ISD employs a public relations person, Lisa Magers, at a salary of $63,940 per year, plus $100 per month for in-district travel, plus expenses for out of district travel, plus equipment such as an expensive camera, office and computer.

Lisa Magers receives 14% more money than last year, compared to around a 4% raises for teachers. (An anonymous emailer said that Lisa received around a 4.5% raise, but is now paid for 226 days instead of 207 days. Her in-district travel allowance was raised from $90 per month to $100 per month. Lisa Magers is paid $282.92 per day, plus travel plus expenses.)

What does Lisa Magers do? She writes articles for the Cleburne Times Review. The PR Department's description of activities is posted on CIDS's website at http://www.cleburne.k12.tx.us/inside_cisd/departments/community_relations/index.htm

We at CleburnePolitics.com have asked Lisa at least five times to also include us on her news release list. She has ignored all our requests. The last two times we routed our requests through Sally Smith, who forwarded them to Lisa, so we know she received them. Don Rice, publisher of the Cleburne Eagle, has told us in the past that he has also requested news releases and never received them. If her articles were really “community service” she would add all the media outlets to her list, not just the Times Review.

Therefore, we can say that Lisa Magers is paid $63,940 plus expenses per year to write exclusively for the Times Review. She should be paid by the Times Review, not by taxpayers.

During May, June, July and August to date, 22 of her articles have appeared in the Times Review with the byline “by Lisa Magers / CISD Community Services”. Titles and dates of these articles are listed below (Sidebar). Let’s round it up to 6 articles per month. At that rate of production, each one of the articles Lisa Magers writes for the Times Review costs the taxpayers $875.00 plus overhead.

According to information from www.PeytonWolcott.com, CISD’s budget for support of the PR department is $21,000 per year, plus overhead such as clerical support, cell phone, furniture, fixtures, equipment and office space which could easily bring the cost of CISD’s PR department to $100,000 per year. That brings the cost of 6 articles per month to $1,389 each. Let’s average it to $1,000 per story for discussion purposes.

We are not against students receiving recognition for their accomplishments. We are against the spindoctor writing misleading articles about the causes and results of the TEA investigation and the puff pieces she does on favored administrators and personnel.

Lisa Magers also apparently has time to come up with names like “CAVE People” to ridicule those questioning school expenditures.

What comes to mind here? We can suggest at least four solutions that would allow CISD to eliminate the PR position and still let the students have publicity:

(1) Let the high school journalism students write the articles about student achievements and submit them to area media and /or post them on the school website.

(2) Let the sponsors of the activities give a call to area media, and let area media write their own stories.

(3) Let each campus or department write their own articles. These are all educated people and fluent in the English language.

(4) Let the Times Review hire their own reporters and do their own reporting.

Another point to consider is how widespread the Times Review articles are circulated. Not that well, actually. According to Kay Helms, publisher, paid and rack sales in January averaged 6200. The newspaper is required to publish their circulation numbers and breakdown in September or October of each year. The last time we saw these numbers, in-county circulation was only 3600. If you read the Times Review, watch for the circulation figures soon.

Since the number of registered voters in the CISD school district is around 19,000, and the total population in the CISD district is around 40,000, the Times Review makes hardly a dent in citizen awareness.

Some may say that CleburnePolitics.com is not a “real” media outlet because it is electronic, and therefore should not get news release. Not so. Our daily hits have included as many as 3,000 separate visitors. Publishers Alden and Micki Nellis are both members of the Texas Press Association, and were publishers of printed media for 8 years, including two newspapers and a regional magazine. Electronic media can be published instantly without waiting for typesetting, layout, printing presses, the mail or newspaper carriers. CleburnePolitics.com is free and anyone can access it at any time.

And remember that CleburnePolitics.com and the Cleburne Eagle told the truth about the situation at CISD while the Times Review was publishing feel-good articles by CISD’s PR department denying all allegations. It seems that CleburnePolitics.com and the Eagle were more astute than the Times Review about what was really happening at CISD.

Why does Cleburne ISD need a PR department at all? It’s not that they’re competing for students. If a student lives in the district, he attends a CISD school. It’s not that CISD is selling a product which will enhance their revenue. Their revenue stream is guaranteed by your taxes and state and federal funds.

Encouraging people to move to Cleburne and bring their children would better be done by lower tax rates, job opportunities, better streets, better business opportunities, etc. I have a hard time believing anyone would move to Cleburne based on Lisa Magers’ stories in the Times Review.
Every time you see a story in the Times Review with a byline “By Lisa Magers” consider that it is costing you, the taxpayers, about $1,000.00 per story.

Sidebar:
A search at http://www.cleburnetimesreview.com shows the following articles by Lisa Magers published in the Cleburne Times Review from May through August 22, 2008 with the byline “by Lisa Magers / CISD Community Service”. Were these articles worth $1,000 each?

August 22 – Teacher tours holocaust sites
August 18 – Convocation motivates staff for a new year
August 4 – 3 Schools attain Recognized status
July 30 – Back to school information provided for new students
July 11 – Students to compete at national leadership conference
July 8 – Refit of performing arts center almost complete
July 7 – Elementary school children score high on state fitness test
July 1 – New scholarship honors CHS alumna
June 25 – Carter Blood Care recognizes seniors
June 19 – Birthday gift benefits other children
June 18 – District honors volunteers
June 16 – Fathers Day: Bittersweet
June 3 – Cleburne High students cook up gastronomical guide
May 31 – Top CHS graduates announced
May 16 – Lewis named outstanding principal
May 16 – Alumni band to perform
May 16 – Cleburne ISD set to name 08 teacher
May 12 – CISD kindergarten registration Thursday
May 8 – Academic Team brings home wealth of medals
May 8 – Smith students compete at UIL
May 8 – Wheat students compete
May 2 – Scholarship honors teacher