Swampscott may combine PTOs

SWAMPSCOTT – Swampscott elementary school parent-teacher organizations may soon be combined into one large organization in order to keep the three schools equal in opportunities and resources.The PTOs became an item of discussion at the School Committee meeting Wednesday evening, when member Jaren Landen said parents at the Stanley School were concerned why funds raised at an event last spring were not being used. Landen said that because the PTOs are limited in their use of funds they raised, they were unable to spend the money.Landen wanted the PTOs to be autonomous in their decisions.?If the PTO raises money, their council knows what?s best for that school and they should decide how to use the funds,” argued Landen.Superintendent Lynne Celli said it wasn?t a problem with legality, but the philosophical and ethical framework of the district that kept PTOs from making those decisions.?It?s not always an easy answer,” said Celli. “They cannot operate autonomously if it?s going to give one elementary school an advantage over another.”Celli said if a PTO from one school was allowed to buy a laptop cart with their funds and another school didn?t have the funds to do the same, it?s “not equal access to equal education” under the law.Member Marianne Hartmann pointed out that PTOs will start losing people if volunteers start to wonder ??Why are we raising money if we can?t focus on what we want the money spent on?”?Landen said, “I don?t think our district should have control over PTO funds. Parents donated the money to impact their children and they want it allocated to where they want to have impact ? Not every school has the same priorities.”Landen cited a situation at the Stanley School, where the PTOs bought Apple iPad computers for the students, but they couldn?t be used during the school day, only for after school programs, because it wasn?t a part of the curriculum and other schools didn?t have the iPads.?That?s a waste of resources,” said Landen.Assistant Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said unless the materials benefited everyone in the district, it wasn?t fair to the other schools.Member Rick Kraft agreed.?If the PTO wants to do it, they need to do it for the entire district,” he said.The discussion came to somewhat of an agreement when member Ted Delano suggested a joint PTO where the funded money goes to one pot, and the leftover funds go to enrichment activities such as field trips and after-school programs.Celli liked the idea, and said she would take the suggestion to the elementary school principals.?Many school districts of our size have joint PTOs. They come together and do enrichment outside school day, and the administration team decides what do to with the curriculum as a joint body,” she said.Landen said the joint PTO didn?t solve the problem, saying it wasn?t a “realistic” solution.?I don?t think it?s about merging into one PTO, I think it?s about the administration telling the PTOs how to spend their money,” she said.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].