Jones Lane Elementary

[Anonymous]

I have been involved with my child's PTA (not Jones Lane) and I honestly have no idea what the PP would think are the "best" PTA jobs and what are the "worst." I think it's really personal and personality driven what are the "best" or "worst" jobs.

I also felt like our PTA was hard to break into as a (white) person new to the area. Nothing gets done at meetings - all the work is organized outside of meetings by e-mail, etc., and friends are often recruited by the chair of an event to help. But that's because everyone's busy and getting it done in the spare moments between work and kids activities and homework and whatever. Almost no one has time to go to an extra evening meeting and almost no one can meet during the day. I was nervous about being new and joining the Board - it felt like I should get to be "just" a volunteer first - but being on the Board is what let me see how the organization is run and get to know the people involved. There are usually some less time intensive Board positions and I really recommend taking one to see how the organization works and get to know everyone. I guess that might be what PP means by the "bad" jobs but since I kind of hate event planning, they were a perfect way for me to get involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been involved with my child's PTA (not Jones Lane) and I honestly have no idea what the PP would think are the "best" PTA jobs and what are the "worst." I think it's really personal and personality driven what are the "best" or "worst" jobs.

I also felt like our PTA was hard to break into as a (white) person new to the area. Nothing gets done at meetings - all the work is organized outside of meetings by e-mail, etc., and friends are often recruited by the chair of an event to help. But that's because everyone's busy and getting it done in the spare moments between work and kids activities and homework and whatever. Almost no one has time to go to an extra evening meeting and almost no one can meet during the day. I was nervous about being new and joining the Board - it felt like I should get to be "just" a volunteer first - but being on the Board is what let me see how the organization is run and get to know the people involved. There are usually some less time intensive Board positions and I really recommend taking one to see how the organization works and get to know everyone. I guess that might be what PP means by the "bad" jobs but since I kind of hate event planning, they were a perfect way for me to get involved.

DP here and I don't have a child at Jones Lane but I can attest that as a previous PTA PResident at another school, everything that the PP states is true. Being a PTA board member is practically a full time job. It's typically a very small group of board members who are planning the events, doing all the administrative work such as taxes, membership reporting, audits, etc. A lot of the communication is happening via email or get togethers after work or during the weekend at someone's house to do all this behind the scenes stuff; and as a result, friendships are formed. Trust me- no one wants to be on a board and finding people to fill in roles is like pulling teeth so understandably, existing board members would try recruit their friends. I did.

[Anonymous]

It is a great school OP, don't worry, we loved it.

[Anonymous]

Beware of the PTA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I have been a parent at Jones lane for almost 8 years. And while I don’t agree completely with the PP, there is some truth to what he/she is saying. I feel the PTA has gotten better over the years. Recently there has been more diversity involvement at the PTA, but the undercurrent that the PTA is white, and they are the leaders, and a sense of entitlement is still present and visible there.

They might let u volunteer and stuff bc they are desperate for volunteers, but unless u are white or “act white” they aren’t very friendly or welcoming. “It’s like thanks for doing your job and bye!” Over the years I had Several volunteering positions that I held, I always was made to feel like I did my work and thanks but don’t speak to us anymore now that the volunteering for that is done. I felt a bit used.
My views I am writing about are only of the JLES PTA, not of the school. JLES is a wonderful school with great teachers and supporting staff.

We aren’t at Jones Lane, but we were at another school with a similar sounding PTA. I am a white person and they treated me like this too because I wasn’t part of the clique. I thought it was because I work but anyway they were so obnoxious and it made me never want to do anything PTA related. People who take these positions need to welcome others and stop acting like it’s their personal clubhouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I have been a parent at Jones lane for almost 8 years. And while I don’t agree completely with the PP, there is some truth to what he/she is saying. I feel the PTA has gotten better over the years. Recently there has been more diversity involvement at the PTA, but the undercurrent that the PTA is white, and they are the leaders, and a sense of entitlement is still present and visible there.

They might let u volunteer and stuff bc they are desperate for volunteers, but unless u are white or “act white” they aren’t very friendly or welcoming. “It’s like thanks for doing your job and bye!” Over the years I had Several volunteering positions that I held, I always was made to feel like I did my work and thanks but don’t speak to us anymore now that the volunteering for that is done. I felt a bit used.
My views I am writing about are only of the JLES PTA, not of the school. JLES is a wonderful school with great teachers and supporting staff.

We aren’t at Jones Lane, but we were at another school with a similar sounding PTA. I am a white person and they treated me like this too because I wasn’t part of the clique. I thought it was because I work but anyway they were so obnoxious and it made me never want to do anything PTA related. People who take these positions need to welcome others and stop acting like it’s their personal clubhouse.

+1

[Anonymous]

In a nutshell the school is wonderful, but parents need to be wary of the PTA. If you want to be involved with the PTA make sure your are in the "in" group bc is if you r not it will make volunteer involvement unbearable.