Newspaper company gives OUSD its own forum

By: LOUISE ESOLA - Staff Writer | Sunday, November 20, 2005 9:05 PM PST ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- The Oceanside Unified School District has another way to let parents know what's going on.

School News Roll Call, a Seal Beach-based school newspaper company, is publishing a small newspaper for the district. It will be available at local campuses and businesses every two months at no cost to the district, officials said.

Roll Call publisher Kay Coop said the paper survives on its advertising. Coop publishes similar papers for more than a dozen school districts throughout Southern California, reaching more than 300,000 readers.

It publishes papers for the Vista and Carlsbad school districts.

The 28-page November/December issue ---- Oceanside's first ---- features articles written by Oceanside school board president Roy Youngblood, Superintendent Ken Noonan, district spokeswoman Laura Chalkley, and all the district's principals, introducing their schools to Roll Call readers and parents.

The paper also includes columns written by parents and educators. The columns ---- which include such titles as "Blue Suit Mom," "Parent to Parent," and "Home-based Working Moms" ---- are syndicated in all of Roll Call's papers.

Coop said the paper does not compete with daily newspapers.

"This is something school districts use to promote the good news in school district," she said, adding that principals and district officials are the primary contributors to the newspaper.

She started the company in 2000 after she and her husband, a high school teacher in Long Beach, could not find any good news in the newspaper regarding his school.

"I could always read about the shooting at the Burger King across the street, but never any good news," she said.

"I am a firm believer that if you keep telling someone they are bad, then they will become just that. There is so much focus on the bad, when, in fact, there are a lot of good things going on in schools."

Chalkley, whose job role includes communicating with parents on district issues, said the new addition to the district's public relations is a win-win for both Roll Call and the district. While the district already mails a newsletter home to parents several times a year, the newspaper is another way to inform parents.

"This is an opportunity for us to take advantage of free publicity," she said.

Contact staff writer Louise Esola at (760) 901-4151 or lesola@nctimes.com.

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