Confronting the growing challenge of Florida’s “school choice” marketplace, Superintendent David Moore has implemented a new game plan to improve the School District’s communications and engagement with the community.

The most noticeable aspect of the change in strategy is the school district’s push to be more proactive with its messaging, going beyond the usual press releases issued in response to specific incidents or concerns.

Moore also wants to ensure that the district is more aggressive in connecting with parents of school-age children.

“We have a really solid product, and we need to do everything in our power to make sure as many as people in our community as possible know about it – especially parents of school-age children, and particularly parents of younger children who haven’t entered school yet,” Moore said in an interview Saturday.

“Gone are the days when we just share information,” he continued. “We’re going to places where parents and prospective parents are, whether it’s communicating with them through social media or engaging with them at events.

“We must be more proactive in the pre-K space,” he added. “If we’re not engaging with those parents and making sure they know what we have to offer, they’ll go to what they know, which in many cases is a church-based or private school.”

Heading the district’s messaging efforts is Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing Kyra Schafte, who previously served as the director of systems improvement & innovation.

Her position was created as part of a comprehensive reorganization plan that is expected to save the district approximately $1.2 million in administrative salaries for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Cristen Maddux, the district’s former public information officer, has been reassigned to a marketing position in the Food & Nutrition Services department.

Schafte’s department includes: Chris Hiser, digital asset specialist; Daniella Hodge, strategic market and media specialist; and Brooke Flood, strategic administrator of early learning.

“I’ve got a fantastic team,” she said, adding that her staff will work to make more of the community aware of the district’s successes and offerings.

Despite the school district earning “A” grades from the Florida Department of Education and top-10 state rankings the past two years, Schafter said, too many people in the community still aren’t aware of the significant improvements made under Moore’s leadership.

“We need to be less reactive and do a better job of telling our own stories,” Schafte said. “We’ve struggled with connecting with the community. Parents didn’t know what was happening. District leaders didn’t always know.

“So we’ll definitely be leveraging press releases a lot more – not just when there’s an issue,” she added. “We’re now sharing our positive news through the content we’re providing, especially on social media, where we can have two-way communication.

“We’re proud to tell our story, and we’re going to use the tools we have available to us to connect with families and keep the community informed on what the district is doing.”

Among those tools are video reels, such as those found on Facebook and Instagram, where Schafte said the district’s social-media connection has increased dramatically.

She said last week’s video introducing the district’s new principals attracted more than 10,000 views.

“You’ve got to be current,” Moore said. “You’ve got to communicate in ways that people want to be communicated with, and social media is a big part of that. People’s attention spans are much shorter than they used to be.

“A photograph speaks a thousand words,” he added. “A video speaks a gazillion.”

Schafte said she has received compliments from St. Edward’s School officials on the district’s new communications and messaging efforts, which will continue with “branding.”

She said her team will be promoting a “My SDIRC” – School District of Indian River County – brand. In addition, each school will have its own community, such as Beachland Elementary establishing a “My BES” brand.

The goal, Moore said, is to embrace both the district as a whole and each school as a contributor to its community.

“The stronger we can connect parents with other parents who have children of the same age in the same schools,” he added, “the greater connection they’ll have to the district.”

Moore said the district can also build connections through “very strategic community-wide events,” such as “Dads For Doughnuts” or “Take Your Kid To Work Day.”

Instead of each individual school conducting these events, however, he said the district should coordinate them to occur at all schools on the same days.

Such events will be easier to organize shortly after Labor Day, when the district rolls out its much-needed, new-and-improved website, which Moore said will contain “all the information parents and students need” during the school year.

“Not only will everything be on the site, but it will be updated daily and be significantly easier to navigate than what we’ve had,” Moore said. “We’ll also have an app that’s designed for mobile phones and offers a one-stop shop, taking you to all the information available on the website.”

School Board Chair Teri Barenborg welcomed Moore’s new messaging and marketing efforts, saying, “The superintendent is moving in a different direction to align with the transformation that he is focused on for the district.”

The way Moore sees it: With more than 1,850 full-time students in this county receiving state vouchers that can be used to attend private, religious or at-home schools, there’s no other option.

The number of private schools in the county has increased from 12 in 2023 to 18 in 2025, and Moore said most of the competition is coming from institutions offering only early education – from kindergarten through the second grade.

Meanwhile, the full-time student enrollment in public schools here has dropped from 15,173 in 2017-18 to 13,895 in 2024-25.

“We’re in a school-choice marketplace, and I accept that,” Moore said. “If some parents don’t choose us, that’s fine. But I want to make sure we’re giving them all the information they need to make a knowledgeable decision.”

Moore was named Florida’s “Superintendent of the Year” in December and was among four finalists for the national award. He’s making a strong case for similar recognition next year.

As the week began, the state education department hadn’t yet released its report, but Moore – who, fittingly, was attending the 33rd Model Schools Conference in Washington, D.C. – said he expected the district to earn its third consecutive  “A” grade, increase the number of “A” schools, and not have any “C” schools.

“Our successes are getting recognition all around the state and even across the nation,” he said. “If people all across America know about us, there’s no reason people in our community shouldn’t.”