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Employing student influencers is the latest strategy in the Detroit school district’s ongoing efforts to grow enrollment in city schools.
District officials unveiled a plan last week to hire 23 students to share positive messages about their schools in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The high schoolers will create and share social media content aimed at winning over prospective students and parents, as well as engaging their peers.
The initiative is one of several new ideas the district is considering to reverse a 20-year trend of dwindling enrollment.
“Our students are at the center of everything that we do,” said Sharlonda Buckman, assistant superintendent of Family and Community Engagement, during last week’s meeting. “They have real stories, real accomplishments, real growth.”
When families hear students’ stories and see possibilities for their children, their perceptions about the district may shift, Buckman added.
Applications for the student influencers have already opened. One student from each of the district’s high schools will be selected to take on the task. If approved by the board, the influencers will be assigned content and events to promote each month on rotating schedules, earning $250 each month they post.
Many factors have contributed to enrollment declines, including a shrinking population in Detroit, lower birthrates, state emergency management of the district, and COVID. The district also competes with charter schools, which enroll about half of kids in the city, as well as suburban districts that heavily recruit Detroit students.
Traditional strategies to attract students – including canvassing neighborhoods, hosting Summer on the Block events, expanding prekindergarten, focusing on reenrollment rates, and putting up billboards – have produced modest results, according to the district.
The district estimates it currently has more than 49,200 students – an increase of about 400 compared to the official count at the end of last school year.
Last summer, board members asked the district to come up with innovative, cost-efficient ways to drive enrollment more rapidly.
Board member Monique Bryant said during a July committee meeting she wanted to see students tell the stories of their own schools.
“I think we have an opportunity to use our students more, and I think we get more bang for our buck than what we’re spending now,” she said.
Students and parents would be ‘brand ambassadors’ for their schools
Overall, the district’s plan to boost enrollment is to shape the public’s perception of DPSCD to be more positive, increasing awareness of its schools with targeted advertising and connecting with more families in the city.
Marketing research supports the board’s idea to center student voices to reach those goals, district officials said.
In a survey of about 300 people conducted by the district, about 30% said they wanted to see student success stories, said Deputy Executive Marketing Director Jessica Byrd.
In addition to winning over parents, students also want to see themselves in district messaging, Byrd said. By partnering with high schoolers who are gifted at reaching peers on social media, the district will reach more potential students, she added.
“They bring their audience to our platforms, and that’s essentially what we want,” Byrd said.
The influencers will participate in monthly content creation workshops with the marketing team. They will post both on the district’s social media and their own.
DPSCD also proposes hiring 10 to 15 parent and community ambassadors to “counter negative perceptions and amplify enrollment messaging.” The presentation did not include how much the ambassadors would be paid.
The ambassadors may be people who are trusted by their communities, such as church leaders, block club presidents, and parents of students in the district. They will have monthly themes for their messaging, including safety, the district’s gains in literacy achievement, and career and technical education programs.
The district has relied on volunteer ambassadors in previous years, with slightly different roles. In the past, ambassadors represented the district at community and school events.
This year, the district proposes spending nearly $42,000 on both the student influencers and the community ambassadors.
In total, the marketing plan, including other new initiatives such as web content managers, would cost around $1.4 million, according to the district’s presentation.
The district will continue its traditional enrollment campaigns, including canvassing, yard signs, and events.
Board members at last week’s meeting said they were pleased with the new plans, which would be funded in the district’s budget for the next fiscal year. The board must approve a budget by June 30.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.