Crisis Communications for Charter Schools

Charter schools sit at the intersection of three crisis genres: school-incident communications, family communications during school disruptions, and political crises around charter authorization. The playbooks for each are different. Most charters have none.

The crisis genres charter schools face

• School-incident crises. A student injury, a staff resignation under cause, a security incident.
• Operational crises. Building closures, weather, transportation disruptions, staffing shortages.
• Political crises. Authorization renewal disputes, board controversy, district-level fights over charter expansion.
• Family-trust crises. A pattern of incidents that erodes the family relationship, often slow-burn and harder to reverse than a single event.

What I deliver

• Crisis playbooks tailored to your school or network. One playbook per crisis genre, with pre-approved family communications, board talking points, and press templates.
• Bilingual templates from day one. If your school serves Spanish-speaking families, your crisis comms must be bilingual at the brief stage.
• Spokesperson preparation for school leaders, board chairs, and authorizer-facing roles.
• On-the-ground coordination during active crises — working alongside legal, operations, and program leadership.

Where the work connects to my career

I currently lead marketing and communications at School in the Square, a PreK–12 dual-language public charter network in Washington Heights and Inwood. The crisis playbooks I use day-to-day were built for a charter with 800+ students and bilingual families — exactly the audience and operating context most charter schools share.

"Charter schools sit at the intersection of three crisis genres. The playbooks for each are different. Most charters have none."