In the past, our teachers sent home notices asking for help when they needed it, usually for classroom parties. It was very informal. This year we had a Room Parent Coordinator. There was a sign-up sheet at Open House that was given to the Coordinator and she was their direct contact. This was not a part of the PTO at the time, something she (the Coordinator) approached the Principal with and offered to do. It was a huge success and the position of Room Parent Coordinator now falls under the PTO. However, when we need the assistance of those parents the request comes from the Coordinator (have I typed the word "coordinator" enough, LOL).

In answer to the question:

"If the PTA can't contact the class moms once in a while (it was the 2nd time I asked their help this year), then what's really the point of having them?"

My feeling is that they're there for the teachers and that particular classroom, not the PTO, but if they can help out the PTO then great. But volunteering to help your child's teacher doesn't mean you want to work an event for the PTO, KWIM? Maybe that's why that one parent got her knickers in a twist, but I see nothing wrong with what you were asking, and it is something that makes sense for the room parents to coordinate. We wanted to make that same request (a booklet for the teachers) but we didn't have time or manpower.

Thank you so much for your responses. I think it's very important to write out the roles of the class mom and how it relates to the PTA and teachers. When we have our open PTA meeting (we have an end of the year one next week) and our beginning of school one after the summer, I will ask which parents want to volunteer as a class mom and explain the job descriptions. This way everyone, including administration, will know what is expected and there's no surprises.

mconnery;143125 wrote: Also, if the expectations are laid out to them in the beginning, then they can decide if they want to continue as a room parent or pass the job on to someone else - that way there are no suprises at the last minute.

Just wanted to toss in a comment on this statement. In the past each teacher has decided if they wanted a "room mom" or not to help out for the year. About 90% of the teachers had one but the other 10% didn't for their own personal reasons. The PTO until about 2 years ago almost NEVER utilized the room moms for anything! It was like we had the PTO and then the room mom (many times the same people were directly involved in both) working separately in some ways to support the school and the staff.

2 years ago when we started having a fall carnival again we needed the room mom's help. We needed them to help make phone calls to their classes, etc. We basically called on them only 2 or 3 times during the year. For the most part it was positive (once again the same crowd doing it), but there had a been a bit of negative response from the parents that are only interested in their child's class and not the overall school, time constraints, etc.

We also struggled with the 10% of teachers who didn't have room moms, which we now needed, and getting the information from the teachers to begin with for some reason.

To get around the assorted problems, in the upcoming school year, we will be giving each teacher a "PTO Class Mom" job description as well as publishing it in the first newsletter edition. This "description" basically lays out what the PTO needs a room mom to do to help us out which goes beyond just helping the teacher throughout the year. The volunteer room mom can then either take on the "PTO Class Mom" duties as well, or for those who really aren't interested in the PTO and the teachers who don't want a room mom at all we will just ask for a "PTO Class Mom" for that class to work with who won't have to work directly with the teacher but will still be there so that the PTO can utilize them as needed.

Hopefully, it will work....

We do the same thing at our school - we go through the calendar of events for the upcoming school year and assign different grades to be in charge of coordinating these events. We invite all room parents (who have volunteered themselves for this position) to one of our first Home and School meetings of the school year and explain to them what we expect of them and how they wil be in charge of finding parent volunteers to staff and plan the various activities. It really took the burden off of Home and School members of not having to worry that things are taken care of. I don't think we've really had a problem with things not getting done.

I do think it is important that you get people to volunteer for something like this, not just be assigned. I think they will be much more committed to helping out if it's their decision. If you do have a class that has no volunteers, then you could ask someone whom you think will be a good choice (we have had to do that in the past).

Also, if the expectations are laid out to them in the beginning, then they can decide if they want to continue as a room parent or pass the job on to someone else - that way there are no suprises at the last minute.

You're assumptions on how the room parent program works is exactly how ours worked at our elementary. One difference is that we had parents sign up for the position(and had a sign up for class activities) at Open House. These parents knew up front that they would be called upon sometimes to help or find help for various events throughout the year. We even had a meeting for them about a week after Open House to explain all the "duties". That doesn't mean that we didn't have some who signed up as room parent because they just wanted to plan the parties, but didn't pull their weight on other activities. It's never a perfect system.

Sounds like maybe a discussion needs to be held as to what exactly are the duties of a room parent and how/if the PTO can utilize them for events. It could be that this parent you had the issue with wasn't aware that those kind of tasks were their responsibility.

I was just wondering if the PTA/PTO in your school is in charge of coordinating class room moms. In the beginning of the school year, I had someone from my board choose a mother from each grade to be the representative of that class. This was the first time our school has done this (it's a fairly new school) and it was in my understanding that if the PTA is working on an event, there are times (not often) where it's helpful for the PTA to call upon the class mom to call the other parents in the class to remind them of something or ask for help. Of course, the other reason for having class moms was for the teacher use. If the teacher needs something from the class (driver for a field trip, supplies,etc.) the teacher can call on the class mom.
Well, I got heck from a parent in the school when I e-mailed all the class moms a week before Teacher's Appreciation Week, to ask them to call the parents in their class to have their child write or draw a picture for a Teacher's Appreciation Booklet the PTA put together to give out to each teacher. Well, for one, the booklets were a success! The teachers loved it! But I'm just confused with that parents comments. If the PTA can't contact the class moms once in a while (it was the 2nd time I asked their help this year), then what's really the point of having them? If anyone has any experience with this issue, I'd love to hear about it. Thank you!