Our district went to attendance centers almost 3 years ago. We ended up combining the PTO's into one. We currently have one president and two vice presidents. We represent 3 schools so far it has worked extrememely well. We hold one meeting a month, all fundraisers, etc are run at all three schools. We are lucky that we have such a great staff at each school that the teachers and principals really support every thing that we do. We have become a very strong PTO. Best thing that could have happened. As a parent with 3 children (one in each school) I was not going to attend three meetings a month, etc. It was a bumpy road at first, but this is our third year and it has worked out well.

You mentioned that this was all announced by the school board, my wheels of questioning start with
*What does the district know?
*Do they have someone that has studied this and can answer questions?
*If this is to save money, great, what are we saving money on/what is darn expensive?
ETC
Also, for now, you need to be a parent that just happens to be in the PTO unless agreeded that you are speaking for ALL the PTO members. A touchy one you may want to think about too.
I have been before the school board and school district with questions (not issues) and what helps is to have eveything typed out and copies made for everyone. I offered my personal information and simple asked that I have many questions/concerns as do other members of our group and here they are. 24/48 hours is acceptable time period to allow them to answer and I was luck that was recieved possitive.

I am at a charter school and well, we are a different breed, but when questions arise (i.e. the school became incorporated a couple years back) submitting questions worked for me. Afterwords my questions and their answers were published in the school's newsletter to inform parents as the school saw many shared the same concerns.

Once you know what is their plan, hopefully the other "stuff" will come together easier.

If everyone knows how to build the boat and what the boat needs to carry, construction and and work loads will be easier to manage

[ 01-26-2004, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: mykidsmom ]

There was some discussion in our school district last year about doing a similar thing at the middle school level(one school for 6th, one for 7th, etc.). Parents threw a fit. Families with multiple children would be delivering kids all over town, kids that used to walk to and from school would have to be driven or bussed, separation from friends in other grade levels, trying to coordinate parent/teacher conferences if you have multiple children, getting used to a new building every year, and the list goes on. Those are all convenience and emotional issues, but I don't think the school board could really prove that it was a great option from a financial standpoint either. ( I don't have a middle schooler so I'm just going by what I heard).

From a PTO standpoint, you'd have similar obstacles--is a parent with three kids at three different schools going to get very involved? It might work better to have one organization that encompasses all the grades and have subcommittees at each school that can keep a closer handle on the specific needs at that location.

I don't have any specific experience with attendance centers, but I'm PTO President of a group that takes care of two schools. One is PK-2 and the other is 3-5. We have one PTO for both schools because our enrollment is below 300 kids. It would be impractical to have to PTOs. I don't know your enrollment, but if three PTO's exist now, then why can't three exist later? Or, you could combine and make a BIG PTO supporting all three schools. My only recommendations to combining would be your board make up. That is to have one President/Chairperson, three VP's or V Chairs (one for each school), a Secretary and Assistant Secretary, and the same for treasurer. Try to get equal representation from each school.
As for the issue of what kind of input your groups can provide.... not much. Get the word out to your parents, but it should be a PARENTAL issue not a PTO one.

Our school board has recently announced to the public that they have proposed the three elementary schools in our community become attendance centers. As of now, each school has grades Pre-K to 4th grades in them. In turn the proposal is to split each elementary into grade schools- one school being Pre-K and K, another being 1st& 2nd, the third school 3rd & 4th grade. Public disapproval is rampant. Only two meetings have occured with minimal information on how these attendance centers work and how they save money. My question is to anyone who can give me information about these centers, pro's and con's. Plus one other P.T.O Chair person has contacted me regarding what kind of input the three individual P.T.O's can say about this issue or what will even happen to our P.T.O's. A final vote, yes or no from the school board will be January 28, 2004. Please reply wuth any info ASAP. Thank-you. Concerned Parent & P.T.O. Chair