AUBURN — As part of a resolve to do a better job communicating with citizens, a new cable television show begins Tuesday, Dec. 31, to show what’s going on in Auburn schools.

The first episode of “Glimpse into the Auburn School Department,” which will air Tuesdays in January, will begin with two airings, 11 a.m. and 9 p.m., on Great Falls Cable TV’s channel 11.

The first episode will show what mass customized learning looks like in an algebra I class at Edward Little High School. School Superintendent Katy Grondin will interview teachers Lisa Whitman, Shannon Reed and student Isabella Earle, who will share their experiences with customized learning.

After Grondin appeared as a guest on another cable show, she mentioned to Great Falls station manager Philip Larlee an interest in using the cable channel to show what’s going on in schools and provide information about the upcoming budget, Larlee said Monday.

“I suggested this resource is available to start your own show,” Larlee said Monday. “She liked the idea.”

The first episode will show how in algebra class teachers no longer lecture at the front of the room all period. They may gather students in small groups, and they use technology to create lessons that meet the needs of individual students, Grondin said.

In customized learning, teachers give students goals on what they need to learn. Students take more ownership, more active roles, in meeting those goals, Grondin said. In some ways, teachers act like facilitators, helping students learn what they need.

In an upcoming episode the show will focus on how customized learning is used at elementary schools. Three Edward Little students who study film, Meggie Wise, Matt Larimer and Cameron Cormier, have filmed students at Fairview, Sherwood Heights and Walton elementary schools.

Later episodes will focus on the Auburn school budget ahead of the upcoming budget season.

AUBURN – School Superintendent Katy Grondin tweets. The School Department has a Web page, a Facebook page.

In addition to building a new cable television show, Grondin and other school officials have participated in community “conversation” meetings.

The Auburn Adult Education is launching workshops to help explain the school budget, what happens inside classrooms, how students use technology.

A new brochure about Auburn schools is being sent to public locations.

The traditional ways of communicating – letters sent home to parents, stories in the newspaper sometimes picked up by television and radio – continue.

A big reason for the stepped-up communication in Auburn and other districts across Maine is the state law that says voters must approve school budgets, said David Silvernail, director of the Center for Education Policy, Applied Research and Evaluation at University of Southern Maine.

The law mandates more transparency for taxpayers before they vote on budgets.

It’s easy for the public to understand fuel costs. But justifying growing costs to help struggling students while enrollment numbers are down is less easy, Silvernail said.

Across the state superintendents are feeling pressure to educate residents about budgets and what schools are doing. “Most are spending more time now to educate citizens,” Silvernail said.

Last year, Auburn’s school budget had to go to referendum three times to get approved. The rejections happened after the School Committee directed Grondin to give voters a bigger budget. Critics said School Committee members were out of touch with what residents could pay, while School Committee members said a new state law will mandate Auburn spend more on education.

This year, school officials want the budget process to go smoother.

More communication “is absolutely needed,” City Councilor Mary LaFontaine, the mayor’s representative on the School Committee, said.

Concerns have risen from citizens who aren’t able to attend School Committee meetings. “They don’t know or have the facts needed to make decisions. Anything the city can do to increase visibility and data is important.”

Just as schools have to engage students, they need to engage the public, said Maine Department of Education spokeswoman Samantha Warren.

It’s not enough to drop a letter in student backpacks, hope that residents attend or watch the School Committee.

But communicating is getting more complicated, since some people use social media exclusively, others print and television, still others either or both.

School leaders can directly speak to the public through Twitter, Facebook, regular posts on the school’s Web page, YouTube and emailed newsletters, Warren said.

It’s not enough, she said, to set up a Twitter account, “blast a few tweets then expect the public to fall in line. Districts need to use these tools day in and day out to foster an interactive dialogue, establish school leaders as experts, build public trust and confidence and increase transparency.”

The traditional ways of communicating can’t be ignored, since not everyone has access to technology.

Schools can’t expect communities to understand what they do if they’re not taking the above steps, Warren said. “That’s a huge opportunity if it’s done right.”

Warren shares tips with school departments on how to communicate better. Her tips to educators include don’t use education jargon, be student focused, always respond to residents, and consider who is the most effective messenger in the district and what their voice should be.

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