As for getting teachers to come to meetings, in the past, we offered items for their classrooms like stickers to get them to come. This year, the principal had a list of all the comittees for staff to sign up for and we have 2 classroom teachers, a music teachers and the speech pathologist as regualer members. Our school is also a Comer school and as part of this has several comittee meetings and one of them, the School Planning and Management Team (SPMT) and a PTO rep is required to attend this meeting because it is basically the catch all meeting where a leader from every activity goes to make sure everyone is on the same page. I hope all that made sense. It's a lot when you are first trying to figure it all out.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
Not only in the school I just left and the one we are going to (back in a PTA school now...) there is a PTA representative that attends their staff meetings. They do not stay for all of the meeting but do sit in on a few things that is not a presentation from the PTA. Other units here have a PTA representative (two are Presidents, others are other board members) who sit in on the entire meeting. They are also involved in the interview process for the hiring of their new principals (3 schools this year)
As for teacher attendance to their PTA meetings, it's 50/50 some get good presentation, others get none. But there is still communication because they attend the staff meetings.
We also have PTA representatives on the School Renewal committee, the district audit committee, the rezoning committee and several other district committees. (Some of these committees have two PTA members and two Parent Group members in addition to the PTA representatives)
It is important to remember to keep sensitive subjects and things of a confidential nature confidential but I wholeheartedly support someone from your parent group attending the staff meeting.
I finally got the nerve up to run my volunteer program by our principal and she says, "That's great, can you stay and present it to the teachers this afternoon?" I had on jeans and a t-shirt and didn't have time to go home and change. I figured they would want to run me out on a rail but they were very warm and understanding. I had just became pres and had never spoke in front of a big group like that. I spoke, got their input. Told them surveys would be in their mailbox and leave. Our staff is great. They are always open to new ideas.
Our principle has also been very resistant. His feeling is that we have 5 staff members on the PTO board (2 administration and 3 teacher reps). Anything that should be brought to the PTO would be in his opinion.
As much as I'd like to attend, I'm not part of the staff and need to remember I am just helping out (which I and others tend to forget).
We don't attend every month but if we have something specific we need to talk them about we just let the principal know.
We are usually scheduled for the first few minutes (however long we need) and then we leave and they start their staff meeting. this has worked well for us.
the other thing we did this year is have a time slot at their institute (in-service) day. I gave them a parent club folder with a calendar, list of board members, etc...
