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School Websites
Schools seem to be rushing headlong into producing and publishing a school website. Based on the quality and substance of many of these sites, many schools would be better off waiting until a later date! The marginal sites seem to have one thing in common--lack of a purpose.

Establishing a clear reason for publishing a school website is probably the most fundamental part of the entire process that is severely neglected. When pressed, some of these responses seem shallow.

"We want to have a web presence."
"We need to get on the Internet like all the rest of our schools are doing."

      and occasionally the 'top down' version--

"The Central Office decided all of the schools needed to have a web page."
Anything that is going to demand as much time as a school webpage will require needs to be supported as meeting a clearly identified need. Examples of 'need' statements might be:

  1. We need to communicate to our parents in ways other than PTA and mailouts.
  2. We need to push our public relations efforts in non-traditional means.
  3. We need a place to publish our students' projects.
  4. We need a place where our parents and students can check on school events.
  5. We need a place to publish supplementary assignments.
  6. ...
If you have a CLEARLY identified reason or set of reasons to publish on a website, the costs in actual cash or time can be justified. Failing to have a clearly identified purpose is a recipe for modest or poor effort. In today's e-business world, people who use the Internet are accustomed to seeing web pages that look good, communicate well, and websites that are easy to navigate. A weak website is a serious blemish on the school or school district and educators can ill afford more bad public relations!

There are several considerations for producing and maintaining a website that cross all purposes schools may have for getting involved in web page construction.

  1. Who is responsible for building and maintaining the website?

    • This may be the most critical decision (after establishing a purpose) the school will make. The leadership of any project will determine whether the project will fail or be a success. Websites demand a person be orderly, focused, and committed to spending the time required to keep a website running smoothly.

    • The responsible person(s) need access to hardware and software that will allow them to efficiently complete their tasks. This means they have immediate access to the Internet, a powerful computer, and good software.

    • The responsible person(s) will need training. A 5-hour course with a self-help book is not sufficient training. If you are interested in producing a quality collection of pages, you will have to give the person sufficient help in learning how to develop those pages.

    • The individual(s) selected need to have several years of probable service in the school. Websites are too involved to invest in someone who will be gone in a short time. You will want to grow a replacement if you are in danger of losing the individual with website responsibility.

    • You may wish to contract the labor to an outside source. This can be costly. Look carefully at volunteer labor. If the labor is a parent, what will you do when their child leaves your school? Can you really afford to turn over the control to someone not on the payroll?

  2. What hardware and software products will you need?

    • The hardware is fairly simple. A new computer with sufficient RAM (64MB minimum). If your website grows beyond the storage capacity of a 3.5 diskette, you will need supplementary storage like a Zip Drive. Access to the Internet via a 56k modem is a minimum. If you plan on publishing pictures from the life of the school, you will need a digital camera. A camera that saves images to a 3.5 diskette is a 'must' with respect to efficiency! A color scanner is needed if you plan to publish student work.

    • Images: You will want to have some software that lets you edit images. There are several free programs that give you some control of images. For a small investment ($75-$100) you can have a serious image editing tool. For more ($300-$400) you can have the top of the line products. However, be careful of investing in a product that is too sophisticated. You will have serious training issues with the more advanced tools!

    • Pages: Internet pages are developed in a code called HTML. You can choose to build your pages by entering 'raw' HTML code or you may use an HTML Editor program. My experience in building pages would suggest that a blend of the two works best. A large percent of a school website can be created by an individual versed in the features of an Editor program much faster than entering HTML code directly. At some point, the person responsible for the page will need to know some HTML coding to produce the exact result that is desired for a page and the objects on that page. Good HTML editor programs range from free (Netscape Composer) to inexpensive ($30-$100). Programs to edit HTML code range from free (Notepad) to expensive ($400).

  3. What legal issues are involved?

    • Most school districts have aggressively addressed the Internet issues with respect to the use by students. Concerns for viewing of questionable material, security of networks, safety of students, and privacy have caused most school boards to create a policy for Internet rights and privileges. Lately, some school boards have addressed the issues around the publishing of school websites.

    • Should you choose to publish student names and images or student work, the issues of liability and ownership of material comes into play. Most districts that address this issue try to get a waiver of liability by asking parents and students to authorize the school to publish names and images. Some school policies require a copyright notice accompany publication of student work prior to publication on the Internet.

    • Finally there is the issue of money. If your school website is popular with enough of the parents and students, the issue of paid advertising will arise. Schools already secure advertising funds from the community on athletic signs in the outfields, short or full-page ads in the yearbook, and the school's Website may be one of the next areas of potential revenue for the school. Business partnerships with companies in the school community already exist. It is not a big leap to a banner on your home page promoting one of these companies. Would you turn down big $$ to have an inconspicuous section of your site pushing burgers or French fries? It is an issue that will arise either from the school or from some local business wishing to support the school and also get some good promotions.