APS 8th Grade Trip

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg and Swanson are total shithole schools with very lame PTAs. I don’t know about Hamm. But this fantasy some schools are living large is not true.

The PTAs are not funding Kings Dominion, FWIW. It’s the fact that Williamsburg has a practically nonexistent FARM rate so families can shell out the hundred dollars for the field trip. That’s just not a reality for many of these other schools.

While the three South Arlington middle schools have a fair amount of well-to-do families, the disparity is still fairly stark, when compared to the predominantly wealthy North Arlington middle schools. There are no easy solutions short of massive boundary changes to even out the demographics or a 100% lottery system; neither will likely happen any time soon if ever.

If there legitimate concerns over equity, I hope the wealthier families at the three South Arlington schools can step up to help those who may need financial support. Perhaps this is where parent groups could coordinate such an effort.

Unfortunately, it’s complicated as the national PTA is extremely bureaucratic and has rules that don’t completely make sense in the spirit of giving, but I suppose have to be in place to prevent fraud. What I mean is, it’s not easy to transfer money from one PTA to another. We tried to help a family who lost their entire home to a fire with PTA money and the national PTA told us we could not do that because it was not to the benefit of all students. I’m not trying to be a Debbie downer but just want to point out that many of us over the years have tried to find ways to share funds amongst schools and it’s very difficult. Pretty much a fundraiser would have to be done outside of the PTA, it would have to be like a community fundraiser. Just seems absurd with when some PTA’s raised 30-40,000 a year.

People donate money with the understanding and intention it's going to a certain thing. You can't then just pivot and have a handful of people decide it goes somewhere completely different. Honestly, PTA money is not for a family who lost their home (as sad as that is) so apparently your PTA officers had terrible judgment and that's why the rules exist.

I guarantee you most parents who stroke a check at the beginning of the year to a no-frills fundraiser have no idea what those funds are going to be used for at the school.

They give it thinking it's going to benefit the school and its students and teachers. Not be used for people's pet feel good projects. Are you serious with this? That is unethical what you're suggesting.

You think it’s unethical for a PTA to give excess funds to another Arlington PTA? Is that really what you’re saying? I don’t think unethical is the correct word.

The example given was giving PTA money to someone whose house burned down. But in general yes it is unethical to collect donations for one purpose or cause and then do another thing with them. PTAs could hold a specific fundraiser for a different PTA and be transparent as someone else mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not PP, but here are my thoughts:

1. There should be ONE PTA for all of APS. Funds should be distributed to each school by percentage of overall students each has in the system.

2. Taxpayers shouldn’t pay for fluff, which is what a Kings Dominion trip is. These are not field trips where actual learning occurs. Have a field day at the school, fine, but all fluff trips like these should be done outside of school.

(Does this count as one of the 180 instructional days required by the state? The 180 that we won’t even hit this year? 🙄)

Most people would not donate to one PTA for all of APS. Get real.

[Anonymous]

Im curious also. Is this one of the 180 instructional days required by the state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg and Swanson are total shithole schools with very lame PTAs. I don’t know about Hamm. But this fantasy some schools are living large is not true.

The PTAs are not funding Kings Dominion, FWIW. It’s the fact that Williamsburg has a practically nonexistent FARM rate so families can shell out the hundred dollars for the field trip. That’s just not a reality for many of these other schools.

While the three South Arlington middle schools have a fair amount of well-to-do families, the disparity is still fairly stark, when compared to the predominantly wealthy North Arlington middle schools. There are no easy solutions short of massive boundary changes to even out the demographics or a 100% lottery system; neither will likely happen any time soon if ever.

If there legitimate concerns over equity, I hope the wealthier families at the three South Arlington schools can step up to help those who may need financial support. Perhaps this is where parent groups could coordinate such an effort.

Unfortunately, it’s complicated as the national PTA is extremely bureaucratic and has rules that don’t completely make sense in the spirit of giving, but I suppose have to be in place to prevent fraud. What I mean is, it’s not easy to transfer money from one PTA to another. We tried to help a family who lost their entire home to a fire with PTA money and the national PTA told us we could not do that because it was not to the benefit of all students. I’m not trying to be a Debbie downer but just want to point out that many of us over the years have tried to find ways to share funds amongst schools and it’s very difficult. Pretty much a fundraiser would have to be done outside of the PTA, it would have to be like a community fundraiser. Just seems absurd with when some PTA’s raised 30-40,000 a year.

People donate money with the understanding and intention it's going to a certain thing. You can't then just pivot and have a handful of people decide it goes somewhere completely different. Honestly, PTA money is not for a family who lost their home (as sad as that is) so apparently your PTA officers had terrible judgment and that's why the rules exist.

I guarantee you most parents who stroke a check at the beginning of the year to a no-frills fundraiser have no idea what those funds are going to be used for at the school.

They give it thinking it's going to benefit the school and its students and teachers. Not be used for people's pet feel good projects. Are you serious with this? That is unethical what you're suggesting.

You think it’s unethical for a PTA to give excess funds to another Arlington PTA? Is that really what you’re saying? I don’t think unethical is the correct word.

The example given was giving PTA money to someone whose house burned down. But in general yes it is unethical to collect donations for one purpose or cause and then do another thing with them. PTAs could hold a specific fundraiser for a different PTA and be transparent as someone else mentioned.

Again, we have a budget approved at the beginning of the year. We cant spend money in random areas no matter how noble the cause. In order to do this the PTA would need to amend the budget, likely every line item since it would take money away from other areas. Then you cant amend items spent already obviously. We cant just spend our money willy nilly.

But the sad reality is that tragic things happen every year. We have had parents or kids die. We have had parents deported or families become homeless. It be wonderful if we could help them but that is just not the purpose of the PTA. And we don't have the financial capacity to do so either.

I

[Anonymous]

Of course PTA funds shouldn’t be spent on these issues. Ignore the troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course PTA funds shouldn’t be spent on these issues. Ignore the troll.

I read that as one example of why the simple solution is not just sharing PTA funds amongst schools. That there are rules in place. Did not see anyone suggesting PTA fund should be used for unethical purposes. It was a lesson learned.

The larger discussion here is that it’s not easy to move PTA funds between schools to make things more equitable. We all know the reality is the more affluent schools are going to have more opportunities – and it’s very visible to even kids. There’s very little that the school board can do to address this and boundary changes is not a solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course PTA funds shouldn’t be spent on these issues. Ignore the troll.

I read that as one example of why the simple solution is not just sharing PTA funds amongst schools. That there are rules in place. Did not see anyone suggesting PTA fund should be used for unethical purposes. It was a lesson learned.

The larger discussion here is that it’s not easy to move PTA funds between schools to make things more equitable. We all know the reality is the more affluent schools are going to have more opportunities – and it’s very visible to even kids. There’s very little that the school board can do to address this and boundary changes is not a solution.

The suggestion given upthread was that the wealthy families at the South Arlington schools with higher poverty rates could possibly pool resources to help students go on the field trips. Not for PTAs from North Arlington to contribute.

[Anonymous]

The CCPTA already has a grant fund which they distribute to all schools who apply and qualify

https://www.arlingtonccpta.org/grant-fund/impact-reports

[Anonymous]

Wealthier families will always have a leg up on others. Let’s say (hypothetically, because it’s not going to happen) that PTAs are disbanded due to equity issues. Wealthier families will just do more enrichment outside of school — tutoring, trips, special camps, etc…

There’s no stopping it. The best thing we can do is remind everyone that it costs ZERO DOLLARS to turn off the screens and read your kid a book every once in a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wealthier families will always have a leg up on others. Let’s say (hypothetically, because it’s not going to happen) that PTAs are disbanded due to equity issues. Wealthier families will just do more enrichment outside of school — tutoring, trips, special camps, etc…

There’s no stopping it. The best thing we can do is remind everyone that it costs ZERO DOLLARS to turn off the screens and read your kid a book every once in a while.

None of that enrichment matters if it happens outside of school. The fairness issue is about what happens during the school day or at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthier families will always have a leg up on others. Let’s say (hypothetically, because it’s not going to happen) that PTAs are disbanded due to equity issues. Wealthier families will just do more enrichment outside of school — tutoring, trips, special camps, etc…

There’s no stopping it. The best thing we can do is remind everyone that it costs ZERO DOLLARS to turn off the screens and read your kid a book every once in a while.

None of that enrichment matters if it happens outside of school. The fairness issue is about what happens during the school day or at school.

I mean, of course it matters. It impacts the achievement gap after all.

And continuing to dumb down the curriculum/expectations is leading to affluent families fleeing the school system. That affects everyone, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course PTA funds shouldn’t be spent on these issues. Ignore the troll.

I read that as one example of why the simple solution is not just sharing PTA funds amongst schools. That there are rules in place. Did not see anyone suggesting PTA fund should be used for unethical purposes. It was a lesson learned.

The larger discussion here is that it’s not easy to move PTA funds between schools to make things more equitable. We all know the reality is the more affluent schools are going to have more opportunities – and it’s very visible to even kids. There’s very little that the school board can do to address this and boundary changes is not a solution.

The suggestion given upthread was that the wealthy families at the South Arlington schools with higher poverty rates could possibly pool resources to help students go on the field trips. Not for PTAs from North Arlington to contribute.

I was the poster who mentioned how we tried to see how PTAs could share funds in Arlington. Natl PTA said no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course PTA funds shouldn’t be spent on these issues. Ignore the troll.

I read that as one example of why the simple solution is not just sharing PTA funds amongst schools. That there are rules in place. Did not see anyone suggesting PTA fund should be used for unethical purposes. It was a lesson learned.

The larger discussion here is that it’s not easy to move PTA funds between schools to make things more equitable. We all know the reality is the more affluent schools are going to have more opportunities – and it’s very visible to even kids. There’s very little that the school board can do to address this and boundary changes is not a solution.

The suggestion given upthread was that the wealthy families at the South Arlington schools with higher poverty rates could possibly pool resources to help students go on the field trips. Not for PTAs from North Arlington to contribute.

I was the poster who mentioned how we tried to see how PTAs could share funds in Arlington. Natl PTA said no.

I would not be ok with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course PTA funds shouldn’t be spent on these issues. Ignore the troll.

I read that as one example of why the simple solution is not just sharing PTA funds amongst schools. That there are rules in place. Did not see anyone suggesting PTA fund should be used for unethical purposes. It was a lesson learned.

The larger discussion here is that it’s not easy to move PTA funds between schools to make things more equitable. We all know the reality is the more affluent schools are going to have more opportunities – and it’s very visible to even kids. There’s very little that the school board can do to address this and boundary changes is not a solution.

The suggestion given upthread was that the wealthy families at the South Arlington schools with higher poverty rates could possibly pool resources to help students go on the field trips. Not for PTAs from North Arlington to contribute.

I was the poster who mentioned how we tried to see how PTAs could share funds in Arlington. Natl PTA said no.

I would not be ok with this.

Curious why (no snark). Is your school (since this is anonymous) one of the big $$ raisers (Jamestown, Discovery, Nottingham)?

[Anonymous]

Was anyone tracking that Kenmore decided to go with a devisive approach and sent ONLY choir and band kids to Kings Dominion today and the rest of the kids go to Funland in June? My kids classes were all do nothing classes today since most of the kids were out. How is this fair?