Is Web site a bargain or boondoggle for Duluth schools?

• Howie Hanson

Howie Hanson

Talk about it

At a time when the Duluth school district is looking at a $4.5 million budget deficit, the School Board is facing questions about spending $19,000 to beef up the district’s online presence.

In a 6-1 vote Tuesday, board members hired local blogger Howie Hanson to generate information for the district’s new Web site, www.goduluthschools.com. Hanson is also charged with driving readers to the Web site through Facebook and Twitter. The roughly nine-month contract stipulates that Hanson spend at least 30 hours a week on the endeavor.

The decision has drawn criticism in the blogosphere, with some alleging the district paid too much for a job any kid could do. Gary Glass, the only School Board member who voted against the contract, said at the very least it could have been done by any number of district employees.

“To me it doesn’t make any sense to have some outside person do the work we already have full-time staff on board to do,” Glass said. “It doesn’t strike me as a wise expenditure of our funds.”

The $19,000 comes from the district’s $50,000 annual communications budget, said Katie Kaufman, public relations director. Kaufman acknowledged that the district could have used the money for something else but said there are some investments that are worth the money.

The district wants Hanson to promote sports and classroom activities in Duluth schools. “The accomplishments of our students, staff and schools. It is something we haven’t been able to do to any great degree, and we are looking to Howie to help expand it.”

Kaufman said the work is time-consuming and would be difficult to lump on top of a staff member’s current responsibilities.

“I could certainly set up a Facebook page, but I would not be able to provide the fresh content for it every day, and for a project like this, that is key. You need to have that fresh content.”

Facebook is actually only a small part of the job, Hanson said.

“I am out talking to various activities people, coaches, music teachers, gathering content for feature stories on Duluth public schools,” Hanson said. “I am working 30 hours a week at a minimum.”

Hanson then posts the information on the new Web site along with school lunch menus, School Board meeting notices and various links to other Web sites that have information on the school district. He also updates the district’s new Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Glass and others also took issue with the $19,000 price tag, particularly because the district waived its policy and did not put the work out for competitive bids. Kaufman said the district privately agreed on the contract price with Hanson.

“You have no clue what the cost effectiveness is if you don’t go out for bids,” Glass said.

The district did not get a bad deal, according to Mike Seyfer, an account manager at local marketing agency H.T. Klatsky & Associates.

“If someone is generating content for a Web site on a daily basis, that is a labor-intensive business,” Seyfer said.

He said he knows of some local Web developers that will set up a site for as little as $3,000, but the time it takes to actually generate content on a regular basis tends to increase the cost substantially. “I think $19,000 for nine months is a bargain.”

Tags: school board, news, education, duluth, money