Question: Appropriate Forum
Can PTO be used to discuss safety issues, parental concerns and etc?
Asked by Kateal
Answers:
Advice from PTO Today
Craig writes:Topics about individual students and staff members, curriculum, personnel, etc. should be off limits at PTO meetings. "My child is being bullied," "I don't like the way Mrs. Y treats the class," "Why don't they teach the times tables earlier?" -- topics like those should be discussed with teachers or administrators and not at a PTO meeting. Keep PTO meetings to PTO topics. On the other hand, topics like "How can we support the teachers as they try to raise literacy scores?" or "The bus pickup zone seems unsafe -- what can we do to help?" are appropriate.
Community Advice
jarmstrong writes:I think safety as a broad topic can be addressed by the PTO. Our PTO does it annually by taking one week and holding a series of events related to safety, at school, at home, dealing with bullying, resisting drugs, etc. It is a valuable community service and brings awareness to the issue. As the owner of Guard-A-Kid in Illinois, schools use our program to bring awareness to safety when around strangers and parents are engaged through our child ID program which far surpasses all others in the market. PTOs provide parents access to our product and they either host the program as a community serive or as a small fundraiser.
Advice from PTO Today
Craig writes:To jarmstrong -- Yes, raising awareness among parents, especially regarding issues that affect education, is a good role for the PTO. (Our Internet Safety Night kit is a good example.) That's different, however, than using a PTO meeting to air concerns affecting individual students, discussing the good and bad qualities of various teachers, etc. -- all of which fall under "parent concerns" but will quickly marginalize the PTO's ability to make a difference.
Community Advice
starace writes:There are parents at our school that are concerned about how IEP's are being handled, lack of attention to above average students, safety issues in the parking lot, cleanliness of the bathrooms, violence/bullying, etc. These are just a few things that parents have shared with me. We have a School Advisory Committee that most parents are unaware of. The school does not advertise it. I am usually the only parent that attends. The parents feel frustrated that there is no place to voice their concerns. The principal has much experience but is new at this school. He has explicitly told me that he does not want to make waves among the parents in fear that parents could pull their kids out (it is a charter school with a long waiting list to get in). The parents' concerns are not being satisfactorily addressed. There might be many more concerned parents. We don't want to interfere with the curriculum but we want to make sure each child is equally attended to. We don't want to interfere with policy but if we see an injustice then who speaks out? I am looking for a way to help. Based on your previous answer, you said that PTO is not the appropriate forum. So what is?
Advice from PTO Today
Rose H writes:Hi starace,
The PTO can be a facilitator -- helping to bring together parents with the principal if there are issues and concerns that need to be addressed. You could consider talking to the principal and letting her know that you are hearing parents raise concerns about safety issues and bullying. Perhaps the PTO could help put together an information night. As far as IEPs and attention to individual students, encourage parents to advocate for their children and direct those issues to teachers and the administration. You could even provide information on how to advocate. We have some great info on this topic on our sister site, schoolfamily.com, such as these stories:
All the best!
Advice from PTO Today
Craig writes:The school advisory committee definitely is an appropriate place for those discussions. You could also create a forum with the principal, where parents can express their concerns about specific issues and he can respond to those concerns.
There are two main things you should avoid at meetings:
1. Discussions involving individual students, even children of members. There are confidentiality lines that shouldn't be crossed and if you do cross them, you will have a hard time getting administrators to trust you.
2. Discussions about the school curriculum, IEPs, and similar issues that are the domain of the administration and faculty. The biggest problem with these discussions is they often end up one-sided and negative. Members of the group won't know the reasoning behind choices that have been made by administrators and faculty. If parents express concern about these types of issues, setting up a forum with the principal (or school counselor, etc.) can provide real discussion and real answers. It's much more effective than having a circular discussion at a parent group meeting.
On the other hand, talking about issues like bullying and parking lot safety can be a positive, as long as the discussion works along the lines of "how can we help" vs. what administrators are doing wrong. In these cases, you might be able to come up with a list of suggestions of ways the PTO can make a difference in these areas. You'll still need to discuss them with the principal, of course, but you're starting from a much more positive position.
Community Advice
starace writes:When I said that above average students are lacking attention, I really meant that they are given no attention at all. There is no policy/procedure in place to deal with them. They have volunteers helping in the classroom for those that are below average/struggling. My kid and others are bored and getting in trouble because they are gifted. We need to address this. I hope this make this point clear. Thank you for all you good advice. I have a meeting today with the SAC and will ask them if we should do this as a committee or PTO.
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