Description

In 2017, Torrance Unified followed the 7/11 process to declare one of our 32 school sites surplus so that the property could be repurposed to better help the District's long-term finances. 

As a complication, the school has housed two community ball leagues for several decades. The District's previous resistance to transparency resulted in a massive public outcry, with thousands signing online petitions, negative news coverage, misinformation online, and community outcry, which tabled the whole project. 

This past year, a leadership team of new Board members, a new Superintendent, a new CBO, and a new Communications Director raised the issue again. This time we leaned in and stepped outside the District's previous comfort zone to set aside old rule books and use the RPIE model to pursue a strategic community engagement process to help try to change public opinion. Our strategy, which was used as an APR presentation project, prioritized the community's input and focused on finding win-win solutions. 

Attendees will receive a Community Input Process template for similar complex issues. They will discover specific strategies and tools that were used in Torrance to commit to active listening and how public input changed the process and affected the outcome this time around. 

Presenters: Keith Butler and Sara Baillie, Torrance USD