Faced with a 鈥減erfect storm鈥� of factors contributing to plummeting enrollment, the Des Moines school district a few years ago decided to do something new: hire a marketing firm to devise a campaign aimed at wooing students to return to its schools or enroll for the first time.
In recent years, the district has watched its enrollment drop by hundreds of students each year. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the school system in Iowa鈥檚 capital enrolled nearly 33,000 students. Now, that number is closer to 30,000.
District leaders have attributed the decline to a 鈥渧ery cautious鈥� approach to reopening buildings after COVID-19-related closures, that drove some families to consider other school options for their kids. In addition, the district operates in an environment that has grown more competitive in recent years with , that allows parents more latitude to choose districts other than their home district, and the more recent introduction of education savings accounts that provide families with state money to enroll in private schools or home-school.
鈥淭he combination of the losses we faced as a result of the pandemic, with just a much more wide, open, and competitive education market just means it鈥檚 time for our school district to do more to tell a story about what we have to offer,鈥� district spokesperson Phil Roeder said.
In 2021, the Des Moines district issued its first RFP seeking a marketing firm to develop a campaign, including billboards, print advertising, social media, television, and radio spots, designed to entice families to choose to enroll their children there.
It鈥檚 a decision multiple districts鈥攊ncluding , and 鈥攈ave made in recent years to best position themselves to enroll more students and offset losses, largely in places where public schools are no longer the only option for families. (Newark is home to a number of charter schools; Indianapolis schools face competition from charter schools as well as a newly expanded, statewide school voucher program.)
The marketing campaigns come as districts across the country confront historic enrollment declines that often lead to dramatic drops in funding, since state funding formulas take into account either district enrollment or attendance.
Hiring marketing firms could be a strategic investment that yields long-term results if paired with other initiatives that improve and set public schools apart, say two experts who study public school enrollment and the impact of school choice policies.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an effective use of district funds, but it also demonstrates that districts are not in denial about the fact that families have choices,鈥� said Patrick Wolf, head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas鈥� College of Education and Health Professions. 鈥淚t signals that public schools want to be the schools of choice in a choice environment.鈥�
Marketing is an investment could lead to more money for school districts
Using marketing to promote a business or organization isn鈥檛 new鈥攋ust turn on the TV or scroll through social media for a few minutes and you鈥檒l see dozens of ads. Marketing also isn鈥檛 a novel endeavor for charter and private schools that are used to competing for students. But it鈥檚 less common for traditional public schools that face many urgent and conflicting academic, staffing, and safety needs, and where spending money on anything not directly tied to classroom instruction can be met with resistance.
The logic is that the money spent on advertising would be better spent on teacher salaries or services for students, like tutoring. But Roeder and Wolf argued that thinking may be flawed.
In Des Moines鈥� case, a fraction of its $600 million annual budget is spent on the effort, about $300,000. Plus, the money comes from a grant awarded by a local company that was intended to fund such efforts, meaning the money isn鈥檛 being pulled from another portion of the budget. And, ultimately, the more students in Des Moines schools鈥� seats, the more money the district pulls in from the state.
鈥淭he Iowa per-pupil spending is roughly $8,000 now, so if we can pull in 40 kids, that translates to $320,000, which makes a pretty big difference,鈥� Roeder said.
Districts can narrow the focus of their marketing over time
When Des Moines district leaders began working with the local marketing firm Strategic America in 2022, they started with a broad campaign, developing a fairly simple and straightforward brand:
The line serves as the district鈥檚 tagline in internal and external communications.
Now, two years in and on a second contract, the team working on the campaign is narrowing its focus.
Project leaders with the district and firm pored over enrollment data and trends, and one thing jumped out: Des Moines was hemorrhaging students as they transitioned from elementary to middle school.
So, now, much of the marketing campaign is aimed at students and families in the middle grades, with short videos on social media highlighting the Des Moines district鈥檚 programs and opportunities, as well as targeted TV and radio ads, Roeder said. The goal is to both keep families enrolled past elementary school, and bring back students for high school who left to try another option for middle school.
鈥淚 think it made sense for us to start somewhat broad and then, as time has gone on, to try to adjust based on where we鈥檙e seeing the greatest need,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen that work for us.鈥�
Success requires more than advertising
Des Moines leaders are confident their marketing efforts have been successful, but it鈥檚 difficult to prove outright.
The year before the district launched its marketing campaign, enrollment dropped by about 900 students. The first year after the launch, in 2022, enrollment loss slowed, dropping by just 400 students.
The district can鈥檛 prove that the slower loss is tied directly to the marketing, rather than other initiatives the district has started or invested in, the fact that the pandemic鈥攁nd the district鈥檚 response to it鈥攊s further in the rearview mirror, or simply chance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible to prove the negative,鈥� Roeder said. 鈥淏ut, if you were to ask if the numbers would have been the same had we done nothing, I would argue not.鈥�
Regardless, Wolf said, what the district did was one desired outcome of school choice programs: cultivating a competitive school landscape that forces everyone to improve. Des Moines responded and tried to better itself, in this case by better communicating its value to families.
Marketing isn鈥檛 a silver bullet for districts鈥� enrollment woes, Wolf said, but it could be part of a toolbox of approaches that, together, make a big difference.
鈥淎n effective marketing campaign is sort of the first step in a public school committing to the idea that the effective education of children is a team sport, and that it鈥檚 most successful when schools and families work together in a partnership,鈥� Wolf said. 鈥淗opefully, that鈥檚 just the first step in establishing a collaborative relationship.鈥�
Competition from charter or private schools has either had no effect on the academic performance of students remaining at district schools, or a positive effect, .
Districts should routinely evaluate what programs, classes, and extracurriculars they offer, and respond to students鈥� and families鈥� wants and needs, said Aaron Smith, director of education reform at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank that favors more school competition. Ideally, they鈥檒l have something special that sets it apart, Smith said. In Des Moines, for example, the school system is home to a top marine biology program despite its location more than 1,000 miles away from an ocean.
鈥淚 really do hope they look critically at what they鈥檙e offering parents and ask why some parents would want to leave for other choices and find creative ways to address their concerns,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to think deeply about how schools are positioning themselves in a competitive education environment.鈥�
