Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette Lisa Fischetti is the Pittsburgh school district's public relations and marketing chief of staff. Click photo for larger image.

As Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt advanced a series of academic improvement plans in the past year, he's also redoubled marketing efforts to boost the district's image and help it compete against charter and suburban schools.

The Pittsburgh Promise -- the city-school district venture announced Wednesday to provide college scholarships to graduates of city high schools -- is the most stunning example.

More than a way to reward students for hard work, school and city officials view the program as a marketing tool that could lure families to the troubled district and persuade those already here to stay.

Under Mr. Roosevelt, the district also has expanded its marketing and communications staff, convened focus groups to see what the community wants from its high schools and proposed hiring an expert in corporate call centers to develop a process for fielding the public's phone calls.

He and his chief of staff, Lisa Fischetti, have rolled out branding efforts more commonly seen in competitive corporate and college environments. The focus groups, and related telephone surveys of parents and students, may guide Mr. Roosevelt's task force on "high school reform."

"We encourage people to be aware and informed consumers who make good choices for their kids. And we want to be the choice they make for all the right reasons," said Ms. Fischetti, who formerly operated her own communications firm and worked at Ketchum and Burson-Marsteller.

If school districts traditionally haven't thought of parents and students as "consumers," they must start, Ms. Fischetti said, noting that a growing number of school districts are losing enrollment to charter schools.

The Pittsburgh district's enrollment has dropped from 39,603 in 1998 to 29,445 this year, in part because families have fled academically troubled schools. Because of the losses, the district closed 22 schools in June and eliminated 560 positions over two years.

Ms. Fischetti said the decline will continue unless the district improves academics and gives parents other incentives -- a scholarship program is one example, a reputation for professionalism another -- to choose city schools.

"What I'm trying to say is, competition does interesting things to organizations ... We have competition," she said.

Calling a comprehensive marketing program overdue, school board member Randall Taylor said the district should use billboards and commercials to promote its schools. Despite lagging test scores, he said, Pittsburgh's employees and programs rival most districts.

Pittsburgh Promise, modeled after a program in Kalamazoo, Mich., would offer post-secondary aid to city high-school students who obey rules, have regular attendance and graduate.

Early data from Kalamazoo indicate the scholarship program may have caused an enrollment bump and a jump in real estate prices. Details of the Pittsburgh Promise, including funding sources, have yet to be worked out.

"I think what he's doing is kind of classic brand marketing," Larry Werner, a communications consultant and retired Ketchum executive, said of Mr. Roosevelt. "He's establishing Pittsburgh as a leader."

Doing so isn't cheap.

Mr. Roosevelt proposed a 63 percent increase in Ms. Fischetti's budget, from $730,000 this year to $1.2 million next year, despite the district's grave financial condition. The increase will help pay for some of Ms. Fischetti's marketing initiatives, such as her proposal for a consultant to help the district standardize use of its polka-dot logo.

Some board members seemed taken aback at the idea, but it made sense to Mr. Werner, who said standardization can lead to brand recognition and loyalty. Ms. Fischetti said employees now use, or alter, the logo as they see fit.

"I'd like to go so far as to have common business-card paper and letterhead paper," Ms. Fischetti said.

At Wednesday's agenda-review meeting, Ms. Fischetti also proposed hiring a consultant to develop a uniform process for responding to the public's phone calls and logging concerns to help officials set policy. That could be the first step in improving the district's reputation for professionalism and making every employee what Ms. Fischetti called a "brand-keeper."

"It's about how we answer our phones. It's about how you first feel when you walk into one of our schools," she said.

Mr. Werner said it will take time for Pittsburgh's name to connote the academic quality of Mt. Lebanon School District or the tried-and-true reliability of the Heinz label. "But you have to start somewhere."