What does your PTO do?

[asktriplets]

Hi.

I always thought that elementary school PTOs had public (open to all parents) meetings every month or 2 to discuss issues going on in the school. I thought it was a public sounding board for parents to be heard and to work together to make make the school and school community better. I thought it was a place for parents to get and give support to other parents. I pictured parents discussing things like ways to get more veggies in the school lunch program, how to implement a better classroom volunteer program, or how to educate parents about bullying in the classroom.

When my kids started school, I realized that our PTO was GREAT at fundraising for school supplies and extra equipment. They help organize holiday parties and volunteers for a few school-wide activities. The board meets monthly (parents not welcome, from what I was told), and there are 2 general meetings per year.

When I did a google search on what PTOs do, I found that it seems like most school PTOs work this way these days. Is this true at your elementary child's school?

Thanks for your input,

 

[solstice621]

I am curious as to what is normal for PTOs also. I am mom to a Kindergartener, so I am brand new to this. I went to one PTO meeting but it was so informal, it didn't seem like anyhing got done. Parents were welcome at the one I went to, but it was just an informational meeting. The "real" meeting takes place once a month during the school day and the board meets to vote on things then. Parents can come, but don't have a say unless they have been elected to a position on the board.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

My kids are out of college but when I was involved in elementary and middle schools, that is pretty much the way it went. If you want to make changes, the school board is the way to go, at least in our district.

 

[castleview]

A lot of the stuff you're describing is handled by the Board of Education…and you are far from the first person to confuse the two.

Our PTO meets once a month - and only a fraction of the members make it to the meeting. That's fine because most members help out throughout the year. The PTO runs the Science Fair, Plant Sale, Book Fair, Junior Achievement, Cultural Arts programs, Field Day, Holiday Jamboree, fundraising drives (catalog and candle sales, 5K, Touch A Truck), Ice Cream Social, Family Reading Night, etc. The biggest surprise about the PTO is that they pay for the field trips (hence fundraising). Our board does meet privately some times but I wouldn't feel excluded..I'm just thankful to not have another meeting.

Parents are very welcome at Board of Ed meetings, but the protocol of Public Comment makes it quite easy to think you're not welcome. If you want changes, you need to attend regularly and bring others.

 

[asktriplets]

Very interesting info about the Board of Ed. I'm going to look into that. Thanks!

A lot of the stuff you're describing is handled by the Board of Education…and you are far from the first person to confuse the two.

Our PTO meets once a month - and only a fraction of the members make it to the meeting. That's fine because most members help out throughout the year. The PTO runs the Science Fair, Plant Sale, Book Fair, Junior Achievement, Cultural Arts programs, Field Day, Holiday Jamboree, fundraising drives (catalog and candle sales, 5K, Touch A Truck), Ice Cream Social, Family Reading Night, etc. The biggest surprise about the PTO is that they pay for the field trips (hence fundraising). Our board does meet privately some times but I wouldn't feel excluded..I'm just thankful to not have another meeting.

Parents are very welcome at Board of Ed meetings, but the protocol of Public Comment makes it quite easy to think you're not welcome. If you want changes, you need to attend regularly and bring others.

 

[asktriplets]

I am curious as to what is normal for PTOs also. I am mom to a Kindergartener, so I am brand new to this. I went to one PTO meeting but it was so informal, it didn't seem like anyhing got done. Parents were welcome at the one I went to, but it was just an informational meeting. The "real" meeting takes place once a month during the school day and the board meets to vote on things then. Parents can come, but don't have a say unless they have been elected to a position on the board.

Yep, and I don't know what they vote on or what decisions they make, other than what fundraisers to have, how to have them, and how the money raised gets spent.

I'm going to see about going to the next board meeting.

Thanks!

 

[Hannathy]

Yep, and I don't know what they vote on or what decisions they make, other than what fundraisers to have, how to have them, and how the money raised gets spent.

That and what assemblies they will have that year, what welcome back to school activities, and of course the last grade "graduation" program whether it is 5th, 6th, or 8th depending on the school ages. Run the talent show, And what charitable activities the school will participate in like a food drive or blood drive. At one school they also ran the babysitting course and a foreign language enrichment program.

this has been what they do at 3 different elementary schools my kids have been in and a middle school. this has also been a PTA and 3 PTO's.

 

[brockash]

Our elementary school doesn't have a PTO, we have a PTA, which is a little different from a PTO...I think mainly in that most PTA's have member dues (ours is $5/year) and from the private schools around us that have PTO's; they don't have any fees/dues. Our PTA meetings are held every month,and open to all members (any parent can be a member, as long as they pay.) It's really basically just about fundraisers.

 

[allison443]

Hi.

I always thought that elementary school PTOs had public (open to all parents) meetings every month or 2 to discuss issues going on in the school. I thought it was a public sounding board for parents to be heard and to work together to make make the school and school community better. I thought it was a place for parents to get and give support to other parents. I pictured parents discussing things like ways to get more veggies in the school lunch program, how to implement a better classroom volunteer program, or how to educate parents about bullying in the classroom.

When my kids started school, I realized that our PTO was GREAT at fundraising for school supplies and extra equipment. They help organize holiday parties and volunteers for a few school-wide activities. The board meets monthly (parents not welcome, from what I was told), and there are 2 general meetings per year.

When I did a google search on what PTOs do, I found that it seems like most school PTOs work this way these days. Is this true at your elementary child's school?

Thanks for your input,

Our school (not a public school) had about six meetings a year. The first one was in September, following back to school night. (Classroom visits 7-8, then the PTO meeting at 8).
Meetings were generally just giving out info (about any fundraisers, events, etc.) and they would often have a guest speaker on things like bullying, internet safety, parenting expert, etc. Sometimes they would present awards to kids who won contests, etc. One meeting coincided with the science fair, you could walk around and look at the projects all set up in the auditorium.

The type of meeting you mention, where parents could raise any issue, doesn't seem practical to me. Would all different departments have to be represented (cafeteria/food service, transportation, curriculum, etc.) just in case someone had a question about those areas? Assuming you are in a public school, these are district-wide policies and not in the total control of your principal, so the district officials would have to be there. Plus the same issues you bring up in September, could be brought up every other month by someone who missed the September meeting. Most parents I know don't want to attend an endless meeting with no set agenda. Especially on a weeknight.

Our town's board of education has regularly scheduled meetings (they are on our local tv channel) where people can go with their questions, etc. and the district officials are there so they are able to answer the public's questions for the most part. That is more of the public forum you describe.

I do think having a guest speaker about an important topic at the PTO meeting is good, and our PTO would "advertise" the speaker so people would know about it.

 

[dislaney]

A lot of the stuff you're describing is handled by the Board of Education…and you are far from the first person to confuse the two.

Our PTO meets once a month - and only a fraction of the members make it to the meeting. That's fine because most members help out throughout the year. The PTO runs the Science Fair, Plant Sale, Book Fair, Junior Achievement, Cultural Arts programs, Field Day, Holiday Jamboree, fundraising drives (catalog and candle sales, 5K, Touch A Truck), Ice Cream Social, Family Reading Night, etc. The biggest surprise about the PTO is that they pay for the field trips (hence fundraising). Our board does meet privately some times but I wouldn't feel excluded..I'm just thankful to not have another meeting.

Parents are very welcome at Board of Ed meetings, but the protocol of Public Comment makes it quite easy to think you're not welcome. If you want changes, you need to attend regularly and bring others.

Ours does most of these things as well. They also have scholarships for graduating seniors. Our school has a monthly meeting that anyone can attend and board meetings are usually held right before or after the regular meeting a couple of times a year or more if needed. Those are closed meetings.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I am a PTO president and I can tell you that a few public meetings a year is pretty much the norm. In our school we have 1 public meeting per marking period and we have "closed" meetings with just those of us that are part of the Executive Board about once a month sometimes less (basically on an as needed basis). Our meetings are somewhat informal because we want parents to feel welcome and it seems to be what works for our school. We listen to the parents ideas and complaints and try to implement as many ideas as possible.

Yes, a bulk of our meeting covers fundraising and how to spend that money because that is what our function is. The money that fundraising provides is used for not only classroom supplies/equiptment but, for class trips, assemblies/programs, parties, field day,graduation caps & gowns, etc. These things can be quite expensive and with more and more school budgets being cut (and failing) the PTO helps pick up the slack for many things that budget once provided.
Aside from fundraising our ther main purpose is being in charge of the class parents (room mothers)/volunteers and playing referee. Believe me we have to play referee quite a bit because some parents just cannot "play nice" with each other.
In our school the PTO has very little power because our Principal is very controlling. Every single thing we do must be approved by the principal. However, we do try to provide parents with info regarding safety, nutrition, parent workshops etc. This info is given to us by either the school nurse, principal and sometimes even the child study team.

I understand that many people think the PTO does very little but, I can assure you that it is alot of work and much of it goes unseen. We do not do it for a pat on the back, we do it because the children of our school benefit from the work we do. I have been the PTO president for 6 years (because no one else wants the job)my term is up again at the end of this year and I am praying that someone wants it because frankly I am burnt out. Don't get me wrong, I have a great executive board that works super hard but, they too are burnt out. We also have alot of wonderful parents that volunteer when they can but, peoples lives are getting busier and busier so they just don't have the time to invest like they used to.

Then there are the complainers. The complainers are the parents that come to every meeting and gripe about one thing or another, or they gripe about other parents, teachers etc. These complainers have a TON of suggestions about how to do things and have no problem telling us what they think we are doing wrong. The funny thing is the complainers are no where to be found when it comes time to volunteer! My personal favorite is the complainer that actually does volunteer for something like the Book Fair or Holiday Shop or Chaperone and then when their day to volunteer comes they either fail to show up (even after a reminder call ahead of time) or they call at the very last minute saying...they are sick, the kids are sick, they forgot they had a doctors appointment etc. Now, I certainly understand that these things can legitimately come up at the last minute but, many of our complainers are repeat offenders. Guess who has to cover for the complainer that doesn't show or calls out at the last minute...ME! I have to drop my plans and cover because the Book Fair, Holiday Shop, school dance etc. is still going on as scheduled so there needs to be enough coverage and in the end it's my responsibility.

Please understand I am not trying to be nasty just factual. Also, please remember that the PTO is really doing their best to help the school and don't be so quick to judge us unless you have walked in our shoes.

Without the PTO/PTA and their endless fundraising, many of the things that your children enjoy wouldn't happen because the resources just aren't there.

**OP- many of the things you were asking about are way beyond the control of the PTO, like the lunch program, education programs etc. As PP's have said that is definately a School Board matter but, they too have public meetings and are always willing to listen when a parent has a concern.

 

[castleview]

e.

...Aside from fundraising our ther main purpose is being in charge of the class parents (room mothers)/volunteers and playing referee. Believe me we have to play referee quite a bit because some parents just cannot "play nice" with each other...


Then there are the complainers. The complainers are the parents that come to every meeting and gripe about one thing or another, or they gripe about other parents, teachers etc. These complainers have a TON of suggestions about how to do things and have no problem telling us what they think we are doing wrong. The funny thing is the complainers are no where to be found when it comes time to volunteer! ...

Please understand I am not trying to be nasty just factual. Also, please remember that the PTO is really doing their best to help the school and don't be so quick to judge us unless you have walked in our shoes.

.

Oh, the empathy I feel for you. Our PTO actually did away with room mothers because it was getting so ugly. We even had one mother ask why a teacher invited all parents to a classroom party - "what's the point of being a room mother then?" Even without room moms we still have plenty of parents that only go into help their own kid's classroom and no other functions.

Most of our complainers are the ones who won't join the PTO because it's so "cliquey" and "it's always the same people." Okay, I am far from cliquey and would love to not be the only one doing this.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that only the people who have time do the PTO. That hasn't been my experience. 80% of the PTO members at our school work and manage to get involved in an event at least once a year.