Dysart Unified School District is a massive operation: 25,000+ students across 140 square miles and 24 school sites in Arizona’s Northwest Phoenix area. When Zachery Fountain took the helm as Director of Communication, he faced a blank slate—no team, just the challenge of building a system to monitor online presence and manage the district’s reputation across this vast, diverse community.
The Challenge: Building a Comms System for 25K Students
A district of Dysart’s size requires real-time media intelligence to protect its brand and quickly address community concerns. The problem wasn’t just monitoring but speed: how to rapidly address misinformation and sensitive situations before they escalate.
By integrating Critical Mention into his new systems, Fountain achieved a highly streamlined operation. The impact is clear: DUSD can now correct false stories and misinformation in as little as 30 minutes. Since 2017, Dysart has relied on Critical Mention for its media monitoring needs. This partnership provided the essential tool for tracking mentions and understanding the narrative surrounding the district.
If your organization needs to scale communication efficiency and reduce crisis response time from hours to minutes, a dedicated media monitoring solution is essential.
Read the full case study to see the exact strategies Dysart used to build this responsive comms function!
“The CM platform doesn’t require any management. We can let it run itself and rest assured that we’re not missing anything.”
– Zachery Fountain
Director of Communication & Public Relations
