Thank you all for your comments. There are some parents who want to be involved. I also know we are lucky to have the teacher involvement that we have. I would like to find a happy median to bring us all together. Right now we have about 20 parents and 30 teachers listed as paid members. If we can come together as a group I think we will have something great.
I sympathize but just as advised above, please hang in there and show them that parents do want to be involved and it will pay off for you. Secondly, you should be thankful it's teachers because there is no one better to tell you what your school's needs are.
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
Remember to look at the name of your parent group... XYZ parent-TEACHER Organization. Any member of a parent group can hold office or serve on an executive board...parents, teachers, grandparents, etc. Personally, I haven't heard of a board that has more involved teachers than parents, but whatever it takes to get the job done, kudos!!!
Pearlie is right. If this group has run in-house for a number of years, it could just take a bit for parents to realize they could get involved. How well does the group communicate their desire to have parents take over? Is it clear to parents that this is supposed to be a parent run group? Politely ask questions and spend sometime standing back and analyzing the group's operations. It could be as simple as spending some time promoting the group to parents so it is clear that the group is theirs to run.
Yup....we have staff on our board with and without children at the school. We appreciate their input and dedication.
I think only having one non-staff parent on the board is a bit unusual though. Is this because of non-involvement of parents in the past and it being difficult to get more parents on the board? I guess you'll never know if you don't ask...maybe some of them would gladly step down if they know someone was interested in stepping in for them.
We allow teachers on our executive board even if they don't have children in the school. It has really helped us in discovering things that are needed in the classrooms and just getting a teacher's perspective on our ideas. It can be a positive situation.
