Schools see value in comms work

Increasingly, districts budget for consultant services

BY KRIS OLSON

Towards the end of the Dec. 15 School Committee meeting, Chair Sarah Fox dug up an old bone of contention with some of her colleagues and Superintendent John Buckey.

Fox noted that she had recently learned that Buckey had resumed his practice of paying $2,000 a month for the services of Milton-based Horan Communications, founded by the first chief communications officer for the Boston Public Schools, Chris Horan. Marblehead is one of dozens of districts in Massachusetts and beyond with whom the firm has worked, according to Horan Communications’ website.

Invoices Horan has submitted — $26,000 worth dating back to August 2021 — describe the firm’s