Public School Event Held at Private Swim Club - Is this allowed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's really inappropriate and tone-deaf.

Out of curiosity. Do any of the naysayers have kids in low income schools or participate in organizing PTA events?

Yes.

I've been a PTA officer at a MoCo ES and MS and at an independent high school. I've also been on the exec committee for our local swim club. This party is inappropriate and not inclusive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg they are excluding families that don't like to swim. How dare they.

Do you really think that is the only issue?

You can’t really be that dense.

It’s not about excluding people who don’t like to swim. It’s about offering access to teachers only to people who can pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's really inappropriate and tone-deaf.

Out of curiosity. Do any of the naysayers have kids in low income schools or participate in organizing PTA events?

Yes. We work hard to make sure that events are accessible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's really inappropriate and tone-deaf.

Out of curiosity. Do any of the naysayers have kids in low income schools or participate in organizing PTA events?

Yes. We work hard to make sure that events are accessible.

And that the PTO represents a diverse cross-section of families.

[Anonymous]

PTA president here. If this was a PTA event or school sponsored event, then yes, not appropriate. IF it's neither one of these, then it's a private party that unfortunately, is out of the hands of the school. Anyone can throw a party and invite whomever they want. It doesn't have to be supported by the school but it's certainly okay for the private swim club to throw a back to school party for their members and invite teachers. I don't get the outrage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PTA president here. If this was a PTA event or school sponsored event, then yes, not appropriate. IF it's neither one of these, then it's a private party that unfortunately, is out of the hands of the school. Anyone can throw a party and invite whomever they want. It doesn't have to be supported by the school but it's certainly okay for the private swim club to throw a back to school party for their members and invite teachers. I don't get the outrage.

It's fine if the pool wants to have a BTS event for members. But teachers should be declining that invitation, because having teachers attend makes it more like an official school event.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PTA president here. If this was a PTA event or school sponsored event, then yes, not appropriate. IF it's neither one of these, then it's a private party that unfortunately, is out of the hands of the school. Anyone can throw a party and invite whomever they want. It doesn't have to be supported by the school but it's certainly okay for the private swim club to throw a back to school party for their members and invite teachers. I don't get the outrage.

Well the flyer has the Barnsley mascot on it. That would certainly imply that it is school sponsored. Wouldn’t it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our PTA sponsors a meet and greet at a Private swim club most of the PTA Officers are members of. When we put out the invitation we ask for RSVPs so that the Officers can put them down as guests. Our guest fees in the evenings are minimal so it shouldn't exclude anyone who wants to come.

Is this problematic? Yes, it is.

Why exactly is is problematic? It allows people who are not members of the pool (many who do not have regular access to pools in general) to come and meet kids they are going to go to school with. It gives new parents the opportunity to ask questions to returning parents. The school is over 80% FARMS and we have only had positive feedback about it. It is not sponsored by the school and the teachers who attend are mostly members of the pool as well.

If the invitation has a prominent "All Welcome" and makes clear that non-members are welcome to attend, and provides the process for getting on the guest list, that seems okay to me. But if the location given is membership only and you have to be friends with one of the officers to know that you can get a guest pass-that wouldn't be good.

The non-members have to jump through hoops the members do not. The members set themselves up as the gatekeepers permitting non-members access to their private club and to faculty/staff. The non-members have to pay.

Open the event to any child who goes to the school. No member sponsor. No guest fee. Then you can invite faculty/staff and advertise that they will be there.

So if they asked everyone (even members) to respond to an Evite and paid the guest fee you would be ok with it? Part of the reason to request a RSVP is that folks having parties need to give the pool an approximate head count (members and guests) so that they can plan on having enough staff on board. Also if the PTA is going to serve any sort of snacks/drinks an RSVP helps.

Evite and RSVP, fine as long as it is designed to reach the wider school community. Guest fee, no. Again, it is the exclusive access to faculty/staff that is the problem, not a private club throwing a party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PTA president here. If this was a PTA event or school sponsored event, then yes, not appropriate. IF it's neither one of these, then it's a private party that unfortunately, is out of the hands of the school. Anyone can throw a party and invite whomever they want. It doesn't have to be supported by the school but it's certainly okay for the private swim club to throw a back to school party for their members and invite teachers. I don't get the outrage.

Well the flyer has the Barnsley mascot on it. That would certainly imply that it is school sponsored. Wouldn’t it?

Doesn't mean anything. Anyone can pull the Barnsley Mascot and stick it on the flyer- still doesn't mean that it's a school sponsored event. If OP is bothered by this, I suggest writing a note to the incoming PTA president to ask if it's a sponsored event by the PTA or the school. If it's either one of those then I agree it's inappropriately being exclusive. I can pretty much guarantee it's not a PTA or a school thing. I just can't imagine it.

[Anonymous]

I dub this thread 'Grousing Incarnate'

[Anonymous]

Our private pool does a similar event at the end of the school year for the elementary 5th grader as a send off party. Teachers and staff are invited. The pool does not charge a fee for non-members. It is a free event for everyone from the school to enter the pool but the PTA covers the food and DJ expenses. The pool considers the event as community good will and writes it off as a marketing expense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our private pool does a similar event at the end of the school year for the elementary 5th grader as a send off party. Teachers and staff are invited. The pool does not charge a fee for non-members. It is a free event for everyone from the school to enter the pool but the PTA covers the food and DJ expenses. The pool considers the event as community good will and writes it off as a marketing expense.

Fun and inclusive. Wha's not to like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our private pool does a similar event at the end of the school year for the elementary 5th grader as a send off party. Teachers and staff are invited. The pool does not charge a fee for non-members. It is a free event for everyone from the school to enter the pool but the PTA covers the food and DJ expenses. The pool considers the event as community good will and writes it off as a marketing expense.

Fun and inclusive. Wha's not to like?

+1. The lack of a fee for guests makes all the difference in my mind.

[Anonymous]

We are a member of that pool and I have a child at that school. It is extremely exclusive and unfair to host that pool party. The pta at that school has a lot of parents who are also active on the board at our pool. I’m still not sure if we can/will attend the event for various reasons.

However, I doubt all the teachers will be there, so even if a kid goes they might not get to meet their teacher. They’ll just get a popsicle.

And there’s an open house the Friday before school at the school where all kids can meet their teachers, and that’s also unfair because my kid can’t attend at that time due to the fact that I have a meeting at that time and my dh will be out of town.

I don’t think either event will make or break a child’s relationship with their teacher or affect their school year.
Life isn’t fair and that’s something we all have to teach our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a member of that pool and I have a child at that school. It is extremely exclusive and unfair to host that pool party. The pta at that school has a lot of parents who are also active on the board at our pool. I’m still not sure if we can/will attend the event for various reasons.

However, I doubt all the teachers will be there, so even if a kid goes they might not get to meet their teacher. They’ll just get a popsicle.

And there’s an open house the Friday before school at the school where all kids can meet their teachers, and that’s also unfair because my kid can’t attend at that time due to the fact that I have a meeting at that time and my dh will be out of town.

I don’t think either event will make or break a child’s relationship with their teacher or affect their school year.
Life isn’t fair and that’s something we all have to teach our children.

OP again

Thanks for your comments. I agree that sometimes things are just unfair, and agree that it won't make or break a kid's year.

I do find it pretty strange though that this event would be supported by faculty/staff, when the Principal makes a huge deal of trying to be inclusive. There is always much discussion on how Barnsley has so many different types of students (HOH/GTLD/CES/ESOL), and how it's so important to consider that. Barnsley doesn't celebrate Halloween during school hours due to not wanting to exclude students. The field trips are deliberately keep pretty basic so that students don't get excluded.

Yet, the school is holding an event at a private Swim Club that maybe 50% of the families belong to? I don't even know if it's 50%, but I'd be fairly certain that a good portion of the student body can't afford the dues.

I didn't want to say whether or not I'm a member, but I will say that I won't be attending this event. I won't be contacting the principal because I've heard that he's not very responsive. And, we're somewhat new to the school. I don't want my kid being targeted over something like this.

I'll just pray for rain, so the whole event fizzles out on its own.

Also appreciate the comments from others. Good to hear various perspective.