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Establishing a new Parent Group at a new school

23 years 6 months ago #75032 by MightyJo
Hi Maple Brook PTO,
Congrats! Now the fun REALLY starts! Hope all goes well. I have found this site immensely helpful in forming ideas for goals and a direction for our PTO.

Keep us informed of your progress, please.

Good luck,
Jo
23 years 6 months ago #75031 by Maple Brook PTO
Replied by Maple Brook PTO on topic RE: Establishing a new Parent Group at a new school
Well we didi it! Our Username is official...We are now Maplebrook PTO.
100% vote for PTO.
The district PTA was ther and was very helpful with information, but we decided to stay independent and keep all our funds.
I do have to say, Our group of parents are awesome leaders!
We went ahead and voted in our Executive Board so we can get started on all the paperwork and filings that we need to do.
Thanks for the help on this question!
23 years 6 months ago #75030 by Maple Brook PTO
Replied by Maple Brook PTO on topic RE: Establishing a new Parent Group at a new school
How'd the meeting go? It was tonight, right?

LV
23 years 6 months ago #75029 by Maple Brook PTO
Replied by Maple Brook PTO on topic RE: Establishing a new Parent Group at a new school
It's easy. Ask your parents what they want the PTO to do. They'll all say things like fundraise and have spring flings and encourage parent involvement. You can do all that just fine without paying the PTA hundreds of dollars.
23 years 6 months ago #75028 by Maple Brook PTO
Replied by Maple Brook PTO on topic RE: Establishing a new Parent Group at a new school
Tim, I agree with most of what you said there, but you left one thing out. On the national stuff, there is also the question about what the PTA is lobbying for. There's an article on the latest news page right now about Utah (I don't know how to do that link thing) and how some of the PTAs disagree with PTA positions. We don't want to send dues to support a group we don't agree with half the time.
23 years 6 months ago #75027 by Publisher
Hi Maple Brook-

You're not really deciding "which group you want to link with." Rather, you're deciding whether to join the PTA or remain independent. There is no PTO "organization."

In my mind, there are two key questions:

1. What are the goals of your group? Are you organized to play a key role at your school or do you have wider state and national goals? If you're looking for a state and national role, then PTA amy be an effective option.

2. If you're organized to play a key role at your school, then the question becomes: "will the $$ we send out to PTA pay off?" There's a large spectrum of opinion on that (see ptasecty above, for one person's take), but your group needs to decide for itself. If you have 150-250 members and state and national dues total $4 or $5 per member, then you have to decide if you'll get $600-$1250 worth of value from the PTA. In my experience some groups are very happy with that cost-benefit experience; others are not so happy.

In a lot of ways, it's like any other purchase -- What are you looking for? And what's the most cost-effective way to get it?

You'll find two different experiences described here: www.ptotoday.com/0800shesaid.html

Good luck! And let us know how the meeting goes. No matter which choice you make, you'll be doing great work for kids.

Tim
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