Schools
Written Correspondence Versus Phone Calls for Public Officials
Opinion: should public officials do business primarily through phone calls, or is email the way to go? Is there value in a written record?
In my time on the Board of Education at Dexter Community Schools, I have been counseled fairly consistently by colleagues to make phone calls in preference to sending written communication. I have failed to see the institutional wisdom in that.
The advice to swap calls for written records is not a good fit for government officials.
I have no interest in obscuring my thoughts or perspectives from anyone. If I say it on the phone, I might just as easily say it on the record. I consider a public duty to maintain a record of communication for public inspection.
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Last summer, during a lengthy conversation with a board officer, I was told that the most influential DCS board member rarely uses email. And he still wields the most authority.
The implied message during our conversation was that staying away from written communication and calling people directly contributed to his power and influence, and that if I likewise wanted power and influence, I should stop writing and start calling. But that's not a model I choose to emulate.
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I was elected to the Dexter Community Schools Board of Education in 2012. I have served as the chair of the Communications Committee and the Policy Committee. My husband David and I have five children. Amy (2012 DHS Grad) entered a Ph.D. program at Princeton last year, Charlotte (2015 Grad) competes on the BYU track team as a pole vaulter and majors in physics, in that order, Sarah (2018 Grad) recently returned from a nine-month mission trip to Vietnam and is heading to Anaheim, CA, for another six months of service before going back to BYU to study international relations and economics, Seth (2020 Grad) heads to BYU on an academic scholarship where he will study applied physics with a focus on business, and Matt (DHS sophomore) has been busy taking AP tests and riding his bike. In our spare time, David and I enjoy the company of our "his and hers" rescue dogs, Molly and Ruby. I would be honored to serve on the board for another term.